Sustainable Space Exploration: The Need for Cosmic Development Goals

Space activities have been rapidly accelerating and have become increasingly important on Earth in areas such as Earth observation, communications, and defence. In parallel, exploration tools and technologies for beyond Earth orbit are being developed under a widening range of funding and partnership schemes. Meanwhile, sustainability challenges such as space debris and orbital crowding are becoming critical as space is increasingly dominated by a few private actors. Profit motives and geopolitical competition increasingly shape how outer space is accessed and used. This evolving landscape calls for new governance tools that complement existing treaties and guidelines. By analogy with the terrestrial Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the concept of Cosmic Development Goals (CDGs) is emerging as a candidate framework for responsible and sustainable space activities. Furthermore, space education through school curricula, professional training and public outreach, plays a crucial role in embedding values of sustainability, informing future decision-makers, and empowering citizens. NGOs, civil society actors, and international coordination mechanisms, such as the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) and the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), are key enablers of this process.

This Research Topic aims to explore whether, and how, a structured set of CDGs could guide sustainable space exploration in a multi-actor environment, and how space education can support their development and adoption. On Earth, ESG principles and SDGs, though not legally binding, provide a moral and market-relevant reference for states and corporations, similar to ISO standards. In outer space, the background conditions, actors, and risks differ, and most scholars agree that a simple extension of the SDGs is inadequate. Instead, a tailored but conceptually related framework is needed, aligned with existing space law such as the Outer Space Treaty, yet capable of addressing new realities such as private resource utilization, public–private partnership (PPP) models, cislunar infrastructures, and long-term orbital/planetary environments.

This Research Topic seeks contributions that define CDG concepts and rules, examine governance options (e.g., UN COPUOS, ISECG, COSPAR, and dedicated multi-stakeholder bodies), and analyze how NGOs, educational institutions, and international committees can contribute to agenda-setting, capacity building, transparency, and updating mechanisms for CDGs over time.

We invite conceptual, legal, policy, educational, and empirical contributions, including original research, reviews, perspectives, and case studies. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Conceptualization and formal proposals of CDGs
• Criteria, indicators, and rules for CDGs; links and distinctions with SDGs and ESG frameworks
• Governance models for CDGs (UN COPUOS, ISECG, other international and multi-stakeholder mechanisms)
• Correlation of CDGs with international space treaties (OST, Moon Agreement, Artemis Accords, etc.)
• Roles of NGOs, civil society, and epistemic communities in shaping and monitoring sustainable space exploration
• PPP models and sustainability: incentives, risk-sharing, and accountability
• Planetary protection, space heritage, and long-term environmental stewardship
• Astropolitics, equity, and inclusion (e.g., Global South perspectives) in defining CDGs, and how to take a non-partisan approach to the CDGs
• Space education for sustainability: curricula, outreach initiatives, professional training, and student/young-professional engagement in CDG-related processes
• Conceptualizations of Earth and space as an integrated system, and the role the CDGs will play in sustainable development on Earth.
• Proposals for how humanity might sustainably and responsibly approach expansion within the Solar System and beyond.
• Mechanisms to encourage public outreach acceptance of space sustainable development.

Submissions addressing practical mechanisms for CDG implementation, monitoring, and iterative revision are particularly encouraged.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Artemis Accords, Cosmic Development Goals, Public Outreach, Planetary Protection, Space Sustainability, Outer Space Treaty, United Nations, Space debris

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.