Space ethics

Space ethics, astroethics or astrobioethics is a discipline of applied ethics that discusses the moral and ethical implications arising from astrobiological research, space exploration and space flight. It deals with practical contemporary issues like the protection of the space environment and hypothetical future issues pertaining to our interaction with extraterrestrial life forms.

Specific issues of space ethics include space debris mitigation, the militarization of space and the ethics of SETI and METI, but also more theoretical topics like space colonization, terraforming, directed panspermia and space mining. The field also concerns itself with more fundamental moral questions, such as the value of abiotic environments in space, the intrinsic value of extraterrestrial life, and how humans should treat extraterrestrial non-intelligent life (like microbes) and extraterrestrial intelligent life (and whether this distinction should be made in the first place).

Astroethical issues are often discussed as elements of broader issues such as general environmental protection and imperialism. Astroethics have been described as an emerging discipline gaining in attention, a "necessity for astrobiology" and a "true issue for the future of astrobiology".