Unregulated commercial spaceflight pollutes global atmospheric commons, exposing systemic governance gaps

Indigenous knowledge systems often treat space as sacred and interconnected with Earth, offering frameworks for ethical space governance.

This mirrors past industrial pollution crises, where unregulated industries externalized costs until public pressure forced reforms.

Non-Western cultures often emphasize collective responsibility for celestial bodies, contrasting with the West's commercial exploitation.

The study provides empirical evidence of atmospheric pollution but lacks long-term modeling of cumulative impacts.

Artists have long depicted space as a frontier of human imagination, but few address its pollution as a creative or ethical concern.

Without regulation, space pollution could escalate into a global commons tragedy, with cascading climate and orbital debris effects.

Voices of Indigenous communities and Global South nations, disproportionately affected by atmospheric pollution, are absent from policy debates.