From pixels to people: The social footprint of satellite Earth observation in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia

Satellite Earth observations from space are transforming the way governments, civil society, and industry respond to planetary sustainability challenges. Yet, these technologies also generate new governance challenges, in space and on Earth. Viewing satellite infrastructure as a relational data assemblage involving a politics of resource use and material impacts, we draw on social impact assessment scholarship and practice to map the social footprint of Earth observation in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. We focus on seven thematic areas: 1) the materiality of satellite infrastructure, 2) uneven conditions of data access, 3) the distance between satellite Earth observation and local context, 4) issues of trust and surveillance, 5) the commercialisation of space, 6) the cultural, social, ecological or scientific loss of dark night skies, and 7) Indigenous data sovereignty. Addressing these thematic areas is critical to future efforts towards realising locally contextualised, non-extractive, and just possibilities for satellite Earth observation.