Private Space Activities and Solar System Technosignatures: Anticipating a Potential Wild Card Event

The rise of private space activities has begun to push the boundaries of the space industry, both in science and exploration and in engineering services, in the orbital and deep space, including the Moon. In parallel, research in astrobiology is still plagued by a number of policy gaps, particularly involving the implementation of private space activities, such as the gaps in preparing for and managing the discovery of extraterrestrial life. Considering that scientific discoveries can also occur via serendipity, i.e. unintentionally, accidentally, and luckily, the forthcoming growth of private space activities could make possible a wild card (low probability and high impact) event of a serendipitous detection of a potential technosignature by a private actor on the Moon. In this regard, space policies aimed at proactively handling the relevant existing policy gaps may benefit from the application of anticipatory practices that have been applied in emerging fields of science.