This book offers a new understanding of society's relations with the cosmos. Entrepreneurs such
as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk receive a great deal of publicity but offer unlikely and
implausible visions of space tourism for the general public. Meanwhile asteroids are seen as
'rare materials' which will be extracted and used to produce untold riches for earthbound
citizens. The reality is rather different. First there is no evidence that owners of capital
are attempting to extract 'rare' materials in the cosmos. The costs would be 'out of this
world'. But capital not governments is determining how outer space should be used. Capital's
investments in aerospace companies are actively determining forms of military interventions and
the equipment used. And satellite television pumps out forms of culture aimed at a global
audience. But these are being ignored and subverted by for example indigenous peoples. In
short this book setsout a new understanding of our relations with the cosmos. The forces of
capital are certainly powerful but at the same time they are being challenged subverted and
even overturned.
