Space mining as an emerging organisational field: An institutional logics perspective

Space mining, or the prospecting for and extraction of minerals and other resources from celestial bodies, has emerged as an integral part of the “New Space” economy and has been extensively debated and researched in the space literature. Responding to recent calls for management and organisation scholars to take greater interest in this economy, this paper advances a theoretical framework that conceptualises space mining as an emerging organisational field. In contrast to much prior research, which has debated what might constitute appropriate governance regimes for this field, this directs our attention to how such regimes may be institutionalised as the field continues to evolve over time. To make sense of such processes of institutionalisation, I mobilise an institutional logics perspective. Three institutional logics, centred on concerns with entrepreneurialism, sustainability and regulation, are identified. I also examine how the interplay between these logics has shaped the field of space mining to date and how they may be expected to affect future trajectories of change. I discuss the implications of my observations for future research on space mining as well as the institutional logics perspective.