Infinite Canaan: The NewSpace Race in Colonial Context

Monday, November 6, 2023

As the era of NewSpace takes hold, corporations and private capital are increasingly involved in space science, exploration, and conquest. Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University, explains the escalating NewSpace race as a mythological project. Grounded in Gods gift of the Promised Land (Canaan), this mythology backs the corporate-military seizure of the solar system. The question, then, is whether there might be a different approach to exploring outer space. Is there a way to visit or even to live on multiple planets without ransacking them? And might we find ways to heal our ravaged Earth in the process?