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Paper short abstract

This project aims to present diverse perspectives, including local ones, to connect a global outer space infrastructure project to its impacts on local communities. It expands beyond the technoutopian and development emphasis of outer space projects through the case of the future spaceport in Peru.

Paper long abstract

The Peruvian government has made a series of announcements since the end of 2023 about plans to develop a spaceport at the aerial base “El Pato” in Talara, a region in the northern part of the country. These announcements emphasized the support from the US government, through the U.S. Space Command and NASA, as part of the expanding cooperation between the two countries. The spaceport is highlighted as fundamental to the country's and region's development.

Although spaceports are often emphasized as drivers of economic growth and technological advancement, and as symbols of national progress, less attention has been given to how these projects are imagined, justified, and contested by various actors, especially in historically marginalized regions of the Global South. The literature on the interdisciplinary field of social studies of outer space (SSOS) emphasizes the importance of studying local sites to challenge the techno-utopian fantasies of outer space that have detached outer space activities from geography, politics, and power relations on Earth. Thus, it is relevant to study the future spaceport in Peru as a political, ecological, and cultural project.

This research's main scientific issue is the disconnection between national narratives on the economic and technological benefits of a spaceport in Peru and local realities in Talara. This project aims to display diverse perspectives, including local ones, to connect a global outer space infrastructure project to the impacts on local communities. Therefore, the research question for this study is:

What are the potential impacts of the future spaceport in Peru?