From Discourse to Reality: A Critique of the Sustainability Discourse for Activities in Earth Orbits

Political-military-economic elites have exerted hegemonic abuse of power towards the peoples and ecosystem of Earth through production and propagation of misleading and manipulative discourses on the fundamentals of space sustainability. The elites have utilized their discursive powers to create knowledge, attitudes, and ideologies among the general public in favour of geopolitical, military, and capitalist domination, commodification, and exploitation of Earth orbits for their own benefit. Manipulative discourses on space sustainability have enabled the elites to exercise control over the minds and actions of the public while suppressing different forms of resistance and dissidence. A sociocognitive critical discourse analysis of major discourses on space sustainability demonstrates numerous ways through which the elites have led a campaign of mind control to justify their expansionist and imperialist activities in outer space, particularly in Earth orbits. The results of the analysis demonstrate the urgency of challenging and shifting the stream of manipulative discourses on space sustainability, proposing awareness raising, counter-discourse and civil movements as the most effective approaches.