SUPPORT “HI” EVERYWHERE! – SRI Newsletter November 2025

Artificial Intelligence and Civilian Space Development: A Call for Synergy, Not Substitution!

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rising at an extraordinary speed, emerging as an entirely new industrial pillar. Leading corporations—NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet—are achieving unprecedented revenue growth, reshaping global markets in just a few years. According to market analysts, the global AI market is likely to overtake the space market before 2030.

Today, the global space market is valued at roughly $512–613 billion (2025) and is projected to grow to $800–1,000 billion by 2030, with continued expansion expected through 2034. Growth drivers include next-generation satellites, launch services, and escalating commercial and governmental investments. Analysts from Grand View Research, the Space Foundation, and GlobalData forecast the space economy surpassing $1 trillion in the early 2030s.

Yet these projections are increasingly compared with the explosive ascent of the AI sector—a sector still in its infancy. This raises several important questions.

• Is AI drawing investment away from the space industry?
• Will AI accelerate or hinder humanity’s expansion into space?
• Can AI sustain its current growth pace—or are we witnessing another bubble?
• And, critically: can Earth-based energy and water resources support AI’s massive supercomputing demands?

Elon Musk recently voiced doubts about the sustainability of Earth-bound AI growth, pointing to limited terrestrial energy capacity and the enormous cooling-water requirements of data centers. He suggests that space may offer a more suitable environment for large-scale AI development, providing limitless solar energy and superior cooling potential.

There is no question that AI is an extraordinary tool for addressing human challenges. But confined within Earth’s physical limits, AI could also unintentionally slow the opening of the space frontier—much like previous technological revolutions (industrial automation, the internet, robotics) that gave humanity the illusion it could restart development indefinitely while remaining on a closed planet. Each time, the resurgence of global crises revealed the truth: no long-term progress is possible without expanding into the high frontier.

For the first time in history, we are aware that the new revolution—AI—cannot sustain itself within Earth’s resource limits, particularly energy and water. This presents a stark dilemma:

1. Continue developing AI exclusively on Earth, risking the implosion of its economic potential as resource bottlenecks emerge.
2. Shift main AI development into geo-lunar space, using AI to build the space infrastructure, and support civilian space settlement.

The warning has been raised. AI and space development are not adversaries; they can be profoundly synergistic. The question is whether political leaders will act in time. Space advocates have the responsibility to amplify this message before it is overlooked.

Meanwhile, the broader global crisis is hitting younger generations hardest. The COVID-19 pandemic confined them indoors, depriving them of essential social development. In many countries, students were directed to rely solely on remote schooling, undermining both learning and socialization. Today’s geopolitical climate—marked by nationalism, war, and international tension—further restricts opportunities for young people to explore the world and define their path. Increasingly, they are presented with a worldview where survival outweighs culture, and loyalty to narrow national or ethnic identities is valued above global human cooperation.

At SRI, we strongly reject this trajectory. We believe human intelligence exists everywhere—across all nations, cultures, and faiths—and that Human Intelligence (HI) shall remain ascendant over Artificial Intelligence (AI). Our goal is to find and support HI wherever it lives. Rather than attempting to build an artificial superhuman mind to replace our own, we choose to search for the real Einsteins and Mozarts of tomorrow. We know that genius may be found in a child living in a slum, playing football with a ball made of rags. We champion Human Intelligence—and we continue to use AI as a powerful tool, not a substitute for human insight, creativity, and vision.

The above concept is at the core of the SRI IV World Congress preparation: “Quality of Life, on Earth and Beyond”. The Congress will take place, virtually, from 30 June to 4 July 2026. Some of the key tracks:

• Status of civilization and quality of life
• Civilian Space Development and Artificial Intelligence
• Space resources: who are the owners? We speak for Space Settlers!
• Human rights in space
• The permanent space revolution: 100% inclusivity
• Protection of life and health in space
• Beauty and ergonomics of habitats as an essential life requirement
• Space to Space transport vehicles
• Orbital Debris recovery and reuse
• Cloud computing and big data centers in space
• Producing fuel in space

Check the Call for Papers, and submit your abstract(s)!

Register here.

To understand more about the Congress symposia, sessions, and proposed topics, also watch the SRIC4 #00: “Announcing the 4th SRI World Congress”, on the Space Renaissance YouTube channel!

Let’s work together to make a great congress!

Join the Space Renaissance!

Watch and subscribe to the Space Renaissance YouTube channel.

Also download a pdf version of this article!

Want to discuss? You can do it on the SRI Open Forum!