We must not let tech bros and tyrants hijack the race to the stars

Allowing space travel to become the domain of the sci-fi-obsessed private industry will pave the way for the exact dystopias that science fiction has taught us to avoid, writes Borzou Daragahi

There is no requirement to militarise space exploration (Nasa/Getty)

If you hate movies and books about spaceships and aliens and can’t tell Star Wars from Star Trek, much less hyperspace from warp speed, you are exactly the kind of person who should watch The Expanse, now streaming on Amazon.

The sci-fi series is set a few hundred years in the future, at a civilizational moment when humans have colonised the inner solar system. But all is not well. A war is brewing between the superpowers of Earth and Mars. The long-exploited underclass of the asteroid belt is gathering steam for a violent rebellion against both. An oligarch weaponises a dangerous new scientific discovery for power and profit, imperilling all life in the solar system. Armed forces, rebel groups, and powerful corporations regularly commit mass murder against civilians and fleeing refugees.