Work

Blue Origin, Pinkwashing, Green Concerns: “Chromatic” Paradoxes of Space Tourism

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Contemporary space tourism presents a spectrum of contradictions spanning social, environmental, and legal dimensions. This article employs a chromatic metaphor to analyse these tensions through the lens of comparative law: Blue represents the corporate identity of commercial space ventures and geopolitical concerns arising from regulatory vacuums; Pink symbolises the appropriation of feminist imagery to enhance corporate reputation, as exemplified by Blue Origin’s April 2025 all-female mission; Green addresses environmental externalities whose carbon footprint contradicts sustainability claims. Drawing on public and private law perspectives, we examine how the traditional public/private divide—already problematic in terrestrial governance—becomes particularly acute when projected into orbital space. Existing international space law frameworks, developed during the Cold War for governmental actors, remain ill-equipped to regulate billionaire-led corporations. Adopting the framework of negative comparative law , the article contends that the task ahead is not incremental reform but the reconception of legal categories themselves—a shift from a purely international to a genuinely transnational dimension.

Source: International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique

DOI: 10.1007/s11196-026-10492-z

Authors: Enrico Buono, Anna Marotta

Institutions: Saarland University, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli"

Language: English

Topic: Space exploration and regulation

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,090