Not because it is easy … accounting research enters the space age

• Published in: Accounting, auditing & accountability journal auditing & accountability journal, 2024-07, Vol.37 (5), p.1245-1257
• Main Authors: Tucker, Basil P., Alewine, Hank C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic staff; Accountability; Aerospace engineering; Business models; Collaboration; Decision making; Information systems; Innovations; Management accounting; Moon; Public spaces; Space exploration; Supply chains
• ISSN: 1368-0668; 0951-3574; 1758-4205
• DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-04-2024-7023

PurposeThis article introduces the AAAJ special issue's content and, in so doing, aims to reflect on the contribution that accounting as a discipline is placed to make within the more contemporary context of space exploration, the space economy and public space policy.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws together, identifies, expands upon and advances opportunities available to researchers seeking to investigate the ways in which accounting research and practice might inform the modern space sector.FindingsPapers comprising the AAAJ special issue are informed by authors with diverse research backgrounds (including various accounting subfields and non-accounting business disciplines) and varying methodological approaches, including positivist, interpretivist as well as critical research paradigms. Interestingly, the call for papers also attracted several non-accounting academics or academics who have not traditionally undertaken or engaged appreciably with accounting research. This diverse approach to addressing initial space accounting questions should help establish a firm launching point for future research advances.Originality/valueThe paper's originality lies in advancing a need to engage with the unique demands of “the New Space Age”, requiring fundamentally innovative approaches to many aspects of accounting such as financial accounting, management accounting and sustainability accounting as well as contextualising or re-contextualising current accounting concepts, principles and thinking to apply to a new setting.