{"id":591619,"date":"2026-08-13T03:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T03:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/591619\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T03:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T03:32:18","slug":"starwashing-how-space-companies-use-the-greenwashing-playbook-while-engaging-in-environmentally-damaging-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/591619\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Starwashing\u2019: How space companies use the greenwashing playbook while engaging in environmentally damaging practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

From launchpads to low Earth orbit and beyond, space companies and their affiliates are deploying a familiar marketing tactic \u2013 with a new twist. In a space economy projected to reach US$1.8 trillion<\/a> by 2035, they sell space exploration narratives<\/a> by appealing to a desire to expand humankind beyond Earth \u2013 while downplaying or omitting the negative repercussions for Earth and the space environment<\/a>. Welcome to the age of starwashing. <\/p>\n

You may have heard the term greenwashing<\/a>, which describes when companies falsely claim that their practices or products are more environmentally friendly than they are, or when their green efforts are insignificant compared to their harmful environmental practices.<\/p>\n

Some examples range<\/a> from auto companies claiming that dumping cars into oceans<\/a> benefits fish to plastics companies asserting that their products are more easily recycled<\/a> than they are<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, greenwashing often disguises the true nature of corporate activity by appealing to the increasing number of people<\/a> who care about environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n

But greenwashing practices don\u2019t end with those who care about the Earth. As a social work researcher<\/a> interested in the consequences of commercialism both on and off Earth, I\u2019ve studied how space companies<\/a> are using similar strategies. Instead of appealing only to a sense of environmental responsibility, however, they also appeal to your sense of cosmic wonder. I call this practice starwashing. <\/p>\n

Starwashing can also appeal to an interest in learning about life\u2019s origins, Earth\u2019s place in the universe, or the desire for humans to explore places beyond our planet. For example, positioning a space-related idea, activity, product or policy as a benefit to \u201call humankind,\u201d even if it could damage Earth or the larger cosmic environment, would be starwashing.<\/p>\n

For the benefit of Earth?<\/p>\n

Blue Origin is a leading space technology company. Its mission states that it aims both to colonize space and \u201crestore and sustain Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

David Limp, right, CEO of Blue Origin, speaks with J.D. Edwards, president of Explore Mars Inc. The Blue Origin logo and motto is overlaid on the famous \u2018Earthrise\u2019 photo from Apollo 8.
\n Alex WroblewskiAFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

The company\u2019s founder, Jeff Bezos, envisions building space habitats<\/a> that could house billions as a solution<\/a> to environmental catastrophes on Earth. He\u2019s also outlined a vision for moving industry off Earth, most immediately to the Moon<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Bezos\u2019 other company, Amazon, has a carbon footprint<\/a> larger than dozens of nations<\/a>, including Ireland, Bolivia and Norway. At face value, moving some of Amazon\u2019s activities<\/a> into space to lessen its carbon footprint may seem environmentally desirable.<\/p>\n

But even if having a fraction of the human population live and work in space one day far in the future were possible, it would not fix pressing environmental crises such as wildfires or climate change<\/a> in the near term. <\/p>\n

Blue Origin also makes misleading claims about its rocket fuel. Its New Shepard rocket, it says, is \u201cfor the benefit of Earth<\/a>,\u201d with the company claiming that nearly all the rocket fuel\u2019s dry mass is reused. Its engine\u2019s combustion results only in water vapor, with no carbon emissions. But water vapor can amplify<\/a> atmospheric warming that other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide cause, which the statement omits, and on which Blue Origin did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Mining the Moon<\/p>\n

Companies are also racing to extract resources from the Moon for what some, including Blue Origin, say will enable lunar development by reducing trips<\/a> to and from the Moon. Other companies<\/a> aim to harvest valuable resources<\/a> such as helium-3.<\/p>\n

These activities will require more frequent rocket launches<\/a>, which will increase demand for launch sites<\/a> that use more coastal land<\/a> and, potentially, ocean waters<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Such ventures will also affect the environment of the Moon. The lunar surface area<\/a> is less than the combined surface area of North America<\/a> and South America<\/a>, and desirable resources are restricted<\/a> to certain locations<\/a> \u2013 far from limitless. Prime landing locations are also priceless scientific sites<\/a> that human ventures could endanger<\/a>. <\/p>\n

At an annual Space Resources Week event in Luxembourg, businesses have publicly discussed how to make mining other celestial bodies, including the Moon, more palatable for the public. While the host has suggested coming up with a word that sounds \u201cmore beneficial<\/a>,\u201d venture capitalists have proposed a marketing campaign<\/a> to divert the focus from environmental damage off-Earth by espousing space\u2019s promises for pharmaceutical research and wireless connectivity.<\/p>\n

A crowded low Earth orbit<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence, referred to by financial experts as a \u201ckey\u201d ingredient<\/a> for space economy growth, is also relevant.<\/p>\n

Bezos and Elon Musk both have companies that build and rely on resource-intensive data centers<\/a> based on land. They\u2019ve espoused plans to construct solar-powered orbital data centers and to help other companies such as Google do the same<\/a>. They frame these plans as environmentally beneficial because an orbital data center wouldn\u2019t require the same amount of water<\/a> or electricity<\/a> as a data center on Earth.<\/p>\n

But orbital data centers, made up of satellite clusters, would add<\/a> to an already-crowded space environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Blue Origin has already launched thousands of new internet satellites<\/a> to keep pace with Musk\u2019s company SpaceX, which has launched tens of thousands<\/a> of satellites and plans to launch 1 million<\/a> to power AI data centers. These satellites can threaten Earth-based astronomy<\/a>, pollute Earth\u2019s orbit with debris<\/a> and damage the ozone layer<\/a> when they burn up in the atmosphere. <\/p>\n

In February 2026, Musk admitted<\/a> that terrestrial AI data centers impose unsustainable \u201chardship on communities and the environment.\u201d But his company continues to build them, and analysts suggest that he took SpaceX public to fund AI ambitions<\/a>, not space travel. While the SpaceX brand relies on exciting notions of sending people into space, the company leases<\/a> unused computing power to AI competitors at its Colossus data complex in Memphis, Tennessee, where environmental groups have alleged the center\u2019s emissions violate the Clean Air Act<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Star appeal<\/p>\n

Companies sometimes use \u201cstars\u201d \u2013 as in celebrities \u2013 in these starwashing practices. In 2021, SpaceX partnered with businessman Jared Isaacman<\/a>, who is now the NASA administrator, to advertise<\/a> seats on the first all-civilian flight to orbit, Inspiration4<\/a>. They ran a Super Bowl commercial that showed the Earth reflected in an astronaut\u2019s helmet, accompanied by singer Celeste\u2019s soulful rendition of \u201cTwinkle Twinkle Little Star.\u201d <\/p>\n

Blue Origin transformed celebrities into space tourists<\/a> to display its launch capabilities. On April 14, 2025, it helped an all-female crew, including pop star Katy Perry, fly to suborbital space for four minutes. While Blue Origin showed off its New Shepard rocket, Perry promoted her upcoming tour. <\/p>\n

\"Protestors<\/a><\/p>\n

Protestors in London hold a sign depicting Blue Origin\u2019s 2025 crew, which included pop star Katy Perry.
\n Vuk Valcic\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Benefiting \u2018all humankind\u2019<\/p>\n

The Outer Space Treaty<\/a> of 1967 obligates nations to explore space for the benefit of all countries as the \u201cprovince of all mankind<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

SpaceX, for instance, purportedly aims to save humanity<\/a> from future environmental catastrophes, like the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs<\/a>, by colonizing the Moon and Mars<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This philosophy bypasses intersecting environmental crises<\/a> such as climate change and biodiversity loss that are more probable near-term threats to Earth\u2019s inhabitability<\/a> than the kind of catastrophic asteroid impact estimated to occur once every few million years<\/a>. <\/p>\n

As U.S.-based space companies, principal among them SpaceX, receive billions in taxpayer-funded contracts<\/a>, their environmental effects both on and beyond Earth will grow. An open question is whether all of humankind<\/a> will reap the benefits of space<\/a>, as the Outer Space Treaty asks.<\/p>\n

A new movement?<\/p>\n

In 1968, the Apollo 8 crew captured the first color photograph of Earth from space: \u201cEarthrise<\/a>.\u201d It helped inspire<\/a> the environmental movement of the last century, which included holding companies accountable for greenwashing. <\/p>\n

This past April, the Artemis II crew<\/a> captured the earlier photo\u2019s counterpart, \u201cEarthset<\/a>.\u201d This image of our blue marble<\/a> setting behind the Moon captivated<\/a> people across the world. <\/p>\n

Whether it will motivate an off-Earth environmental movement \u2013 one that holds space companies accountable for starwashing practices \u2013 is yet to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From launchpads to low Earth orbit and beyond, space companies and their affiliates are deploying a familiar marketing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-591619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}