"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it." These words from Karl Marx's "Theses on Feuerbach", if twisted in an extraterrestrial direction, take on a special pertinence in the age of space exploration.

They provoke the question: Does the human species have merely scientific and speculative interests in the remainder of the solar system, or does it also have practical interests there - development prospects in the most expansive sense?

During the early years of space flight, dominated by the US-Soviet "space race" both scientific and economic considerations were eclipsed by military and diplomatic issues; missile technology and international prestige. While astronauts became popular heroes in both societies, and throughout the world, little seemed to have been achieved by sending people into space, beyond the narrow confines of "rocket science" itself.

To date, the enduring economic benefits of space flight have been almost exclusively focused in the area of communication satellites, where a human payload is entirely unnecessary.

In respect to science, as well, critics of human space flight seem to have an impeccable case. Robot probes and landers make far more efficient information gathering tools than people, since human beings are not only bulky and awkward in themselves, but also require elaborate life-support systems, exacting safety standards and retrieval strategies. Seen more positively, space exploration has provided a powerful impetus to - and playground for - the development of robotics.

If extraterrestrial space were no more than an immense and fascinating scientific object, the dismissal of manned spaceflight as a political stunt would probably be impossible to counter. Such a perspective, however, is far too limited to be accepted uncritically. "Outer space" is inextricably connected to human - and trans-human - prospects even wider than the accumulation of knowledge, marking a social frontier of unbounded potentiality for liberty, development, practical experimentation and the transformation of nature (including human nature itself).

Countless multitudes worldwide will celebrate China's bold venture into orbit as an event marking a new wave of productive space competition, a global expansion and deepening of human exploratory ambitions. These untold millions will not merely be rejecting the narrow utilitarianism of elite - or contemplative - space science. More comprehensively they will be renewing their sense of participation in a tide of life, intelligence and freedom implacably opposed to limitation and rigid constraint, drawn irresistibly to a horizon of yet unimagined possibilities.

It is perhaps too conspiratorial to describe the US space agency NASA as a bureaucratic institution relentlessly dedicated to keeping people out of space, but such a judgment is far from being entirely false. It will require far greater competition, both international and commercial, to ensure that extraterrestrial expanses are conceived once again as places for the human species to grow and change, rather than merely as a panorama to observe with ever more ingenious instruments.

So far the world's space agencies have only investigated the solar system in various ways; the point, however, is to colonize it.

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