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DOI :10.26650/PB/SS46PS01.2023.004.006   IUP :10.26650/PB/SS46PS01.2023.004.006    Full Text (PDF)

The New Dimension of Accounting in the 21st Century: Space Accounting

İsmail TekbaşArzu AktaşMurat AzaltunAyşe Atasoy

Beginning with Ancient Mayan astronomy, the curiosity of humans in outer space has continuously increased throughout history. It is a fact that the interest in and desire for space is as old as the history of humankind. Although humankind’s desire to live on other planets was initially regarded as impossible, the world has reached the level of exploring space travel and the unknown through technology by the second half of the 20th century. Advances in technology will make spaceflight a regular part of our daily trips around the planet in the next 50 years. (Reed, 2017).

Economic and technological conditions that change over time require accounting practices to change and adapt to new processes. In this context, accounting science can recognize the developments expected to be experienced in space. For example, the claim that American astronaut Anne Mcclain accessed the bank accounts of her husband, who was about to get divorced from the international space station in 2019, went down in history as the first financial crime committed in space (https://tr.euronews.com/2019/08/24/uzayda-islenen-ilk-suc-iddiasi-astronot-bosanma-davasi-acan-esinin-banka-hesabina-girdi). While even going to space was perceived as a difficult task in the past, the science of law had a difficult time in the face of this event. It was faced with the questions of by which rules and methods the American astronaut should be tried. Undoubtedly, since the incident is related to a financial event, it will affect accounting science. Starting from this point, the need will arise for accounting to examine, evaluate, and report space activities within its field of interest, just like aerospace engineering and space law. As the size of the space economy grows, it will be necessary to seek and find answers to many questions that may arise within the science of accounting, which will be indirectly affected by this (Reed, 2017).

Due to the structural characteristics of the economic activities in the space industry, today’s accounting practices and systems may need to be revised to solve such issues. An international accounting authority, including new measurement methods and measurement units, may be required for the healthy and reliable accounting and reporting of activities in space by their true nature. In other words, developing a common accounting language will be necessary to enable similar events to be understood and interpreted similarly.




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