Space advocacy can be described as the general position supporting, pleading or arguing for the idea or cause of space exploration

Space exploration

Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....

 and settlements

Space colonization

Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...

. It is a form of advocacy

Advocacy

Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...

 that specifically includes support for private space initiatives

Private spaceflight

Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design...

 and is also a political position that favors the exploration, utilization, and colonization

Space colonization

Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...

 of outer space

Outer space

Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....

.

There are many different individuals and organization

Organization

An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...

s dedicated to space advocacy. They are usually active in educating the public on space related subjects, lobbying governments for increased funding in space-related activities or supporting private space activities. They also recruit members, fund projects, and provide information for their membership and interested visitors. They are sub-divided into three categories depending on their primary work: practice, advocacy, and theory.

History

Historians agree that space flight and especially manned space flight was not inevitable, but rather that society was convinced of the need for it by a few “revolutionaries”, primarily members of the Russian, American, British, and German science communities and starting in the 1930s began to share their individual plans for a future in space to their respective governments and the public.

Influential books and other media began to emerge which included works containing illustrations by Chesley Bonestell

Chesley Bonestell

Chesley Bonestell was an American painter, designer and illustrator. His paintings were a major influence on science fiction art and illustration, and he helped inspire the American space program...

 (based on Wernher von Braun

Wernher von Braun

Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.A former member of the Nazi party,...

's designs) such as The Conquest of Space (1949)and magazine articles including the "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!

Man Will Conquer Space Soon!

Man Will Conquer Space Soon! was the title of a famous series of 1950s magazine articles in Collier's detailing Wernher von Braun's plans for manned spaceflight. Edited by Cornelius Ryan, the individual articles were authored by such space notables of the time as Willy Ley, Fred Lawrence Whipple,...

" series of article in Colliers

Collier's Weekly

Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....

 magazine between 1952 and 1954. Television shows included Walt Disney

Walt Disney

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...

's Man in Space and Man and the Moon in 1955, and Mars and Beyond in 1957.

Actively involved

Organizations that are directly involved in space exploration, having their own active projects.

Organisation	Founded	Purpose and goals	Pursuits	Website
SETI Institute SETI Institute The SETI Institute is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to “explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe”. SETI stands for the "search for extraterrestrial intelligence". One program is the use of both radio and optical telescopes to search...	1960, America	to search for extraterrestrial intelligent life	Runs SETI SETI The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...	link
The Planetary Society	1980, America	to explore the Solar System, search for Near Earth Objects, and search for extraterrestrial life	Launched Cosmos 1 Cosmos 1 Cosmos 1 was a project by Cosmos Studios and The Planetary Society to test a solar sail in space. As part of the project, an unmanned solar sail spacecraft christened Cosmos 1 was launched into space at 15:46:09 EDT on June 21, 2005 from the submarine Borisoglebsk in the Barents Sea...	link
Artemis Project Artemis Project The Artemis Project was a private venture to establish a permanent, self-supporting base on the Moon by 2002. It was named after Artemis, the goddess of the Moon and twin sister of Apollo . The project's creators, The Lunar Resources Company, formed the Artemis Society as a non-profit NGO in 1994...		was a private venture to establish a permanent, self-supporting base on the Moon by 2002	link

Lobbying

Organizations that focus mainly on lobbying government agencies and businesses to step up their efforts.

Organisation	Founded	Purpose and goals	Website
British Interplanetary Society British Interplanetary Society The British Interplanetary Society founded in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest space advocacy organisation in the world whose aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.-Structure:...	1933, United Kingdom	to support and promote astronautics and space exploration	link
American Astronautical Society American Astronautical Society Formed in 1954, the American Astronautical Society is an independent scientific and technical group in the United States dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration. AAS supports NASA's Vision for Space Exploration and is a member of the Coalition for Space Exploration and the...	1954, America	dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration	link
National Space Institute National Space Institute The National Space Institute was a space advocacy group, the first of its kind, established by Dr. Wernher von Braun to help maintain the public's support for the United States space program. It has since merged, in 1987, with the L5 Society founded by Dr. Gerard K...	1974–1987, America	to help maintain public support for the US space program (later became the National Space Society National Space Society The National Space Society is an international nonprofit 501, educational, and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy... )
L5 Society L5 Society The L5 Society was founded in 1975 by Carolyn and Keith Henson to promote the space colony ideas of Dr Gerard K. O'Neill.The name comes from the and Lagrangian points in the Earth-Moon system proposed as locations for the huge rotating space habitats that Dr O'Neill envisioned...	1975–1987, America	to promote the space colony ideas of Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill (later became the National Space Society National Space Society The National Space Society is an international nonprofit 501, educational, and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy... )
Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy The Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy was a group of prominent US citizens concerned with the space policy of the United States of America...	1980, America	was a group of prominent American citizens concerned with US space policy
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Students for the Exploration and Development of Space is an international student organization whose purpose is to promote space exploration and development through educational and engineering projects.-Mission statement:...	1980, America	to promote space exploration and development through educational and engineering projects	link
Space Frontier Foundation Space Frontier Foundation The Space Frontier Foundation is a space advocacy nonprofit corporation organized to promote the interests of increased involvement of the private sector, in collaboration with government, in the exploration and development of space...	1988, America	to promote large-scale settlement of the inner solar system, under strong free market capitalism	link
Mars Society Mars Society The Mars Society is an international space advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin and others in 1998 and attracted the support of notable science fiction writers and filmmakers, including Kim...	1998, International	to encouraging the exploration and settlement of Mars	link
California Space Authority California Space Authority The California Space Authority was a nonprofit corporation representing the commercial, civil, and national defense/homeland security interests of California's diverse space enterprise community in four domains: Industry, Government, Academia, and Workforce. CSA was also a participating member in...	2001, America	"to foster the development of specified activities in California related to space flight."	link
MarsDrive MarsDrive MarsDrive, founded in 2005, is an international non-profit space organization with a worldwide membership and branches across North America, Europe and Australasia...	2005, International	to involve the public, directly and actively, in the settlement and exploration of space	link

Educating and publicising

Organisations involved in educating the public, to boost their understanding and enthusiasm about space.

Organisation	Founded	Purpose and goals	Website
Coalition for Space Exploration Coalition for Space Exploration The Coalition for Space Exploration is an advocacy organization for space industry businesses and non-profit groups supporting continued government investment in space exploration.-Members of the Public Affairs Team:*Aerojet...		to educate and inform the public on the value and benefits of space exploration and to help ensure the United States will remain a leader in space, science and technology	link
Canadian Space Society Canadian Space Society The Canadian Space Society is a federally-incorporated non-profit Canadian corporation. Inspired by the old L5 Society and other space interest groups, its principal objective is to sponsor and promote the involvement of Canadians in the development of Space...	1983, Canada	to sponsor, promote and engage in activities designed to promote increased knowledge of space	link
National Space Society National Space Society The National Space Society is an international nonprofit 501, educational, and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy...	1987, America	an organization with the vision of "people living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth," from the merger of L5 Society L5 Society The L5 Society was founded in 1975 by Carolyn and Keith Henson to promote the space colony ideas of Dr Gerard K. O'Neill.The name comes from the and Lagrangian points in the Earth-Moon system proposed as locations for the huge rotating space habitats that Dr O'Neill envisioned...  and National Space Institute National Space Institute The National Space Institute was a space advocacy group, the first of its kind, established by Dr. Wernher von Braun to help maintain the public's support for the United States space program. It has since merged, in 1987, with the L5 Society founded by Dr. Gerard K...	link
El Club de los Astronautas	2004, Spain	to promote the exploration of space in a wider sense, and to experience the universe	link
SpaceVidcast SpaceVidcast Spacevidcast, often abbreviated as SVC, is a live weekly HD video podcast hosted by husband and wife team, Cariann Higginbotham and Benjamin Higginbotham...	2008, America	a multimedia, internet based broadcaster dedicated to "...getting all of planet Earth excited about space flight and living amongst the stars."	link
Tau Zero Foundation	2004, America	to work together toward practical interstellar flight and to use this quest to teach the about science, technology, and our place in the universe	link

Theorising

Organisations that focus on advocating a theory for space exploration or colonization.

Organisation	Founded	Purpose and goals	Website
Alliance to Rescue Civilization Alliance to Rescue Civilization The Alliance to Rescue Civilization is an organization devoted to the establishment of an off-Earth "backup" of human civilization. This facility, or group of facilities, would serve to repopulate the Earth after a worldwide disaster or war, preserving as much as possible of both the sciences and...		devoted to the establishment of an off-Earth "backup" of human civilization	link
Living Universe Foundation		has a detailed plan in which the entire galaxy Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...  is colonized.	link
Red Colony		strives to collect and develop theories in Mars colonization and terraformation  via contributions and debate from the general public.	link
The Mars Foundation		through its Mars Homestead Project, is developing a unified plan for building the first habitat on Mars by exploiting local materials.	link