page_title: Space colonization
section_title: Location
hierarchical_section_title: Space colonization / Location
caption_attribution_description: English: NASA artist's conception of a human mission to Mars (painting).
context_page_description: Space colonization is permanent human habitation and exploitation of natural resources off the planet Earth.
  Many arguments have been made for and against space colonization. The two most common in favor of colonization are survival of human civilization and the biosphere in the event of a planetary-scale disaster, and the availability of additional resources in space that could enable expansion of human society. The most common objections to colonization include concerns that the commodification of the cosmos may be likely to enhance the interests of the already powerful, including major economic and military institutions, and to exacerbate pre-existing detrimental processes such as wars, economic inequality, and environmental degradation.
  No space colonies have been built so far. Currently, the building of a space colony would present a set of huge technological and economic challenges. Space settlements would have to provide for nearly all the material needs of hundreds or thousands of humans, in an environment out in space that is very hostile to human life.
context_section_description: Location is a frequent point of contention between space colonization advocates. The location of colonization can be on a physical body planet, dwarf planet, natural satellite, or asteroid or orbiting one. For colonies not on a body see also space habitat.
caption: Artist Les Bossinas' 1989 concept of Mars mission
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