| Sumario: | Space exploration over the past 50 years has opened up many opportunities for its exploitation. Nations, corporations, and multinational companies are working on data from Space to make freely accessible detailed maps of planet Earth and of resources available to the world; in the near future there may also be an active trade in mining minerals from small asteroids which pass near the Earth. We must recognize the benefits of these activities for humanity, but, as Pope Francis’ Laudato si’ encyclical reminds us, we must also be aware that they involve social costs, such as the disruption of third-world economies and unemployment for the unskilled workers.
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