# Is the Solar System a Wilderness or a Construction Site? Conservationist and Constructivist Paradigms in Planetary Protection

## TL;DR

This paper compares conservationist and constructivist paradigms in planetary protection, arguing for pragmatic space exploration protocols that integrate environmental preservation with constructive scientific development.

## Contribution

It introduces a constructivist paradigm based on recent solar system evolution findings, challenging traditional conservationist views in space governance.

## Key findings

- Conservationist paradigm relies on terrestrial wilderness analogies.
- Constructivist paradigm emphasizes planetary evolution and scientific construction.
- Pragmatic protocols can balance protection and exploration.

## Abstract

Outer space exploration is one of the most prominent domains of earth-space governance. In this context, multiple policy documents by the UN, NASA, or Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) pledge to protect extraterrestrial environments from harmful human influence under the framework of planetary protection or planetary stewardship, understood primarily as the isolation of other celestial bodies from possible biological contamination. This paper analyses justifications of this framework that rely on analogies with the protection of terrestrial wilderness and nature's intrinsic value, portraying them as representative of a conservationist paradigm of earth-space governance. After presenting this paradigm, the paper builds an alternative constructivist paradigm, grounded in recent findings about the evolution of the solar system, planets, and life. Ultimately, the paper argues that conservation is not the opposite of construction but one of its modalities: a conclusion that encourages the development of pragmatic protocols for space exploration instead of absolute imperatives.