Marshall is also quite right when he explains the dangers of warfare in space – a catastrophe that would render the domain unusable for generations due to large amounts of space debris that ‘will continue to pose a danger to crucial satellite networks and space stations, and to human life’. The author explains the fraught governance debate on how activities on the Moon should be regulated – if at all – providing much-needed insight into the complexities of lunar exploration. Current international legal regimes rooted in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the author correctly points out, are unable to cope with the growing commercialization of, and the rush of new actors in, space. Marshall is at his strongest when he focuses on the geopolitical and astropolitical issues. Journalist and author Tim Marshall’s latest book on geopolitics provides a useful, if incomplete, primer that delves deep behind often breathless headlines for the non-expert on this renewed competition to exploit space and its geopolitical implications. As a scholar-practitioner in space policy, I have looked forward to this book and the wait has been mostly worthwhile.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the author correctly points out, is unable to cope with the rush of new actors in space

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