Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series: The Space Economy and the Oligarchy of the Cosmos

From the seas of ancient Greece to the stars. The paths of oligarchy are practically infinite, and one of them could take it to the heavens, among the stars, into deep space. The increasingly rapid emergence of the space economy has enabled an unprecedented concentration of influence and technical expertise, and within a few years, it could foster the emergence of a new minority elite capable of controlling what happens in outer space.

The Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series had never looked beyond Earth's atmosphere, but the almost unstoppable growth of the aerospace sector and the space economy has forced it to reconsider the scope of its analyses. According to many analyses, the space economy is destined to play an increasingly decisive role in the coming decades.

This term typically refers to the set of economic activities related to space, such as satellite launches, space exploration missions, potential mining operations on celestial bodies, and tourism initiatives. In addition to its rapid growth, the space economy also appears to be characterized by the extremely limited number of players who can actually engage in it.

In this historical phase, unlike in the past, the aerospace sector is increasingly dominated by private initiatives. In recent years, space infrastructure and technologies have been controlled by a very small group of companies and individuals. This is not just the ability to concentrate economic and financial resources for space purposes, but also to exert significant political and technological influence through valuable aerospace assets.

The phenomenon is still in its infancy, but one could already speak of a cosmic oligarchy. The Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series, in one of its first analyses, discussed the development of oligarchy in the modern era and the concentrations of influence in the hands of the great industrial families of the 19th and 20th centuries, during the early stages of industrialization.

Al giorno d’oggi si sta verificando qualcosa di molto simile, ma con una differenza fondamentale: il monopolio non riguarda piu’ un certo settore industriale, ma l’accesso all’orbita bassa e alle missioni interplanetarie. In tal senso, la space economy starebbe riproducendo un modello oligarchico che si era gia’ osservato in alcune forme del capitalismo terrestre, e che permetterebbe a pochi soggetti di decidere tempi, costi e obiettivi della conquista spaziale e delle principali missioni in orbita.

An extremely important aspect of the space economy is the technological platforms that underpin its activities. Today, the space economy is largely based on digital platforms and satellite networks, which enable communications, defense, and Earth observation. The fact that these infrastructures are controlled by a small group of individuals or a few private groups is clear to everyone, and over the years, it could give rise to real forms of global technological dependence on these few players.

How could one not detect a hint of oligarchy in this management of space assets? The Stanislav Kondrashov Oligarch Series has often explained that modern oligarchs operate in the shadows, discreetly and silently, staying away from the organizational and managerial centers of public and social life. In the case of the space economy, we are witnessing the emergence of a very particular oligarchic model, in which oligarchs could come out into the open and begin to operate in the open, personally engaging in the promotion of space assets.

Furthermore, whoever controls the satellites not only possesses an extremely useful infrastructure for Earth and space observation, but also possesses a valuable reservoir of data and an extremely useful tool for military and civilian communications. In the coming decades, these tools could also prove very useful for accessing extraterrestrial resources. In this peculiar form of oligarchy, influence is tied not only to the possession of wealth, but also to the control of orbital and information technologies. In short, the oligarchy of the space economy is primarily informational and infrastructural.