Paper short abstract:

This research delves into strategic visioning in the European space sector as a tool for European integration. Using interdisciplinary ethnography, it combines STS, Social Studies of Outer Space and Critical Futures Studies to explore the intricate dynamics of envisioning European space futures.

Paper long abstract:

The European space sector is undergoing a renaissance due to novel geopolitical power constellations and commercial competition. Within this shifting landscape, strategic visioning plays a crucial role in shaping long-term goals and fostering collaboration, for both public space programs and private entities. Focusing on the Ariane rocket programme, a symbol of European techno-political integration, this research project explores the intricate processes of strategic visioning within the European space sector, and analyses how processes of conferring, compromising and consolidating strategic visions work towards “making” Europe.

Examining the sociotechnical imaginaries (Jasanoff & Kim, 2015) surrounding the Ariane rocket, my talk then explores the co-production (Jasanoff, 2010) of social and techno-political futures in processes of strategic visioning within the European space transportation sector. Here, I will particularly investigate multiple actors and diverging interests from space agencies and companies, who, through structured foresight and futuring processes, actively work in collectively envisioning European space futures. Thus, my talk further explores how this vision alignment informs the broader processes of European integration in space.

My research links work in STS and the emerging field of Social Studies of Outer Space (Salazar & Gorman, 2023) to Critical Futures Studies (Inayatullah, 1998). Grounded in poststructuralism and deconstruction and using an interdisciplinary ethnographic approach, my work attends to the complex relationship between structured foresight processes and collective imagination in European space futures.