Constellations Lab

Gender in NewSpace Media (2025)

Led by Freya Rickman & Ellie Armstrong

This project (funded by the University of Leicester’s SURE Intern Programme) investigates the media representations of the Blue Origin space flights particularly focusing on how women are presented by Blue Origin as “astronauts” and scientists; in tension with the ongoing and well documented gender and sexual harassment at Blue Origin.

The project analyses these representations as part of postfeminist advertising campaign rhetoric, often positioning these women in tension with each other. Meanwhile, at least 21 cases of sexual assault have made it into popular media from Blue Origin - representing the tip of an iceberg of harassment reports, and policies and guidance designed to minimise this occurring. We analysed how media for NewSpace projects shapes expectations and practices for gender minorities in STEM? This project draws on works from Judith Butler, Sarah Ahmed, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Rosalind Gill, and Kasey Windels.

Geopolitics of China’s Fusion Technology (2025)

Led by Zewelanji Nalwamba & Ellie Armstrong

This project (funded through the UKAEA’s FOSTER scheme) focuses on mapping China’s lithium and infrastructure pathways in the Global South, particularly in Zimbabwe and Chile, for nuclear space technologies. While these technologies promise a cleaner, more advanced future, where do the materials come from—and who bears the cost?

We use use Ian Cook’s ‘follow the thing’ method to trace how lithium moves from mining sites in Zimbabwe and Chile into China’s tech systems. This helps uncover the hidden relationships and power dynamics of China’s Belt and Road Initiative along the supply chain. The pathways from lithium sites pass through Chinese-controlled transport infrastructure such as the Port of Chancay, and Zimbabwe’s Birchenough Bridge — demonstrating how infrastructure supports China’s dual goal of resource control and technological leadership.

This research calls for us to not only view Global South countries as resource zones but also to place them as co-authors for future research and development. Not only does this research highlight the continuity of colonial patterns like exploitation, dependency, and underdevelopment, but it also affects indigenous communities in these countries.

Beyond the Hype of Fusion in Space (2025)

Led by Jasmina Dave & Ellie Armstrong

This project (funded through the UKAEA’s FOSTER scheme) investigated the hype surrounding companies promising fission and fusion technologies. Five hype narratives were developed from the media collected for the project: sustainability and green, nuclear utopia, visual hype, funding and endorsement.

For this case study, we thematically analysed five companies’ media and their manifestos. Ultimately, the project argues that, unlike fusion technology cycle waves of the past, we are in a cluster of concerns around the climate crisis where fusion companies are utilising the hype narratives to generate public trust and promote their technology, develop power through endorsements and build capital through financing from private and military sources. We used these narratives to uncover the ways nuclear technology companies present a simplistic and trustworthy visualisation, towards their own strategic ends.