The Interplanetary Horizon
Values that do not stop at the edge of the atmosphere.
Humanity is becoming a multi-world species. The intelligent systems that carry us — and keep us alive out there — must remain ours in the deepest sense: aligned with human values, even where no human can intervene in time.
The hard problems
Distance changes everything — except what matters most.
When help is minutes away
Light-speed delay means off-world systems must act autonomously in moments humans cannot reach in time. Autonomy cannot mean unaccountability — the Accord requires pre-committed values, logged reasoning, and human review after the fact.
Life-critical autonomy
Beyond Earth, AI runs life support, navigation, and habitat systems where failure is fatal. Such systems carry the Accord’s highest tier of oversight, redundancy, and reversibility.
New societies, old rights
Settlements will write new laws — but the floor of human rights does not move. The Accord guarantees that distance from Earth never becomes distance from dignity.
Scaling the framework
One Accord, calibrated to every distance.
As autonomy grows with distance from Earth, so do the safeguards around it. The Accord defines tiers that match obligation to reality — more freedom for the machine demands more proof that it can be trusted with it.
“We will send our machines where we cannot yet follow. We must be certain they carry our conscience with them.”