In the Foundation series, its author, Isaac Asimov, introduces us to Gaia. Gaia is a planet in which all beings and objects, including humans, animals, plants, rocks, and rivers, share a single cohesive consciousness. Isaac Asimov introduces us to a novel assumption: everything is interconnected and important.

Conventional textbooks define consciousness as a subjective experience. It is regarded as something that distinguishes us from everything else around us. However, Isaac Asimov invites us to think of something much richer. Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy offers a unique perspective on consciousness as a river that is shared.

This lens or what I term as ancient wisdom, often ignored in today's age of exploitation and polar, provides a new (at the same time very old) approach to reconsider our place among the stars. Which is not of owners, but of caretakers, as members of a larger cosmic whole.

In an age when we are dealing with space debris, environmental collapse, and a growing disconnect from nature, Gaia provides a conceptual framework that can help us reconsider how we view the larger cosmos.

What is Gaia?

Gaia is a living planet in which individual existence integrates with a bigger collective consciousness. Going back to the Foundation story, Dom, a Gaian elder, explains: "All things on Gaia share in the group consciousness."

Humans, forests, oceans, and even building walls are all aware and connected in some way. Gaia is unique in the galaxy not only because of its living web of awareness, but also because of how it evolved: its founders learnt telepathic talents from robots during humanity's early space exploration.

This collective harmony impacts the way Gaians live.

No animals or plants are hurt unnecessarily.
What is consumed stays a component of the global totality.
Death is viewed as a return to the bigger self rather than the end of life.

"When I die, I, too, will be eaten--even if only by decay bacteria--and I will then participate in a far smaller share of the total," says Dom. Gaia is a self-sustaining cycle of life, death, and renewal, with ecological consciousness integrated in all actions and thoughts.

Essence of technology

In Isaac Asimov's concept of Gaia, interestingly, technology is not used to govern nature. It is used to connect with it. On Gaia, humans use special tools known as Participations. When you place them over your eyes, you do not just see an object; you also feel its existence.

Dom, a Gaia elder, explains: "You placed them over your eyes. They do not transmit light... your consciousness is heightened, and you are free to participate in other aspects of Gaia."

When Pelorat, a visitor from another planet, tries it, he notices a simple wall shimmer, shine, and nearly come to life. He finds it unusual, but Gaians consider it typical. They recognize that when a wall is well-built and harmonious with its surroundings, it can bring delight to itself. "A happy wall is a long-lived wall, a practical wall, a useful wall."

Gaia teaches through these little but powerful encounters that respect and responsibility apply to more than just people and living things. They are for everything. Even the most basic aspects of the world deserve care and empathy.

Lessons on space sustainability

As a space sustainability researcher, advocate, and writer, I want to highlight the growing problem of space debris. The once seemingly empty expanse of space is increasingly becoming cluttered with defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and other fragments. Some of this debris has already fallen back to Earth.

In January 2025, a metal fragment from a rocket crashed in Mukuku Village, Kenya, falling on farmland and remaining dangerously hot for hours. A month later, debris from an old satellite was dispersed throughout outback Australia. Although no injuries were reported, experts warn that similar events are becoming more regular.

If we look at numbers, more than 30,000 pieces of space junk are currently orbiting Earth, with millions of smaller fragments traveling at velocities faster than bullets. Every piece poses a threat not only to satellites but also to people on the ground.

If we do not adjust our approach to space, the risks will only increase. As we fill Earth's orbit with garbage and race deeper into space, Isaac Asimov's Gaia reminds us that exploration requires care, respect, and communal responsibility.

Collective responsibility

According to Gaia, everyone has responsibility for the world's outcome. In space, every government, industry, and individual must share responsibility for space trash, satellite traffic, and long-term exploration.

Holistic space management

Gaia manages its biosphere holistically, treating it as a single entity. Similarly, we must approach space as a unified habitat rather than a dumping ground divided by national interests.

Circular space economy

Gaia prioritizes sustainable utilization, ensuring no waste. In space, we must build satellites and spacecraft with end-of-life methods, debris cleanup, and a low danger of collision.

Technological harmony

Gaians prioritize technological harmony with nature, rather than damaging it. We must do the same. This includes engineering satellites that deorbit themselves, developing missions to clear up debris, and harnessing AI for good to track, prevent, and manage threats in orbit. Technology should protect the space environment, not exacerbate its deterioration. We, like Gaia, can choose to construct for the greater benefit.

Transparency and shared knowledge

In Gaia, awareness is open, allowing for transparency and knowledge sharing. Greater transparency and data sharing among nations in regulating space traffic and debris would reflect Gaia's openness and benefit everyone. Apart from data, it is important that definitions of progress, knowledge and technology be revisited too with alternative lens and wisdom.

Stewardship

Gaia's stewardship prioritizes overall well-being. Similarly, space governance should promote safety over profit, with a focus on future generations rather than immediate advantages. "The ecological balance on Gaia is rather simple... but here, at least, we have the hope of making it more complex and thus enriching the total consciousness enormously."

Isaac Asimov’s warning

Gaia represents a humanity that recognizes its place as a part of the whole, rather than as rulers over it. Will we follow the same economic paradigm on Mars as we did on Earth, as indicated by my teacher, Dr Khurram Ellahi? Will we handle space in the same way that we do on Earth?

The author is a space sustainability researcher and writer. He is a fundamental member of AIAA's first-ever Space Sustainability Task Force. The UN SDG Secretariat in Pakistan's National Assembly recognizes his contribution.