2023 HS spUN Resolution:
Government funding of astronomical and planetary space science projects should be prioritized to support humanity's survivability on Earth.
Consideration of important words found in the resolution are:
Earth -- The earth can be defined as the immediate planetary body without its atmosphere or inclusion of the atmosphere up to 100km, which is what the U.S. military defines it.
Humanity's Survivability-- this could be defined as "the continuation of the human species", or it could be defined as "the continuation of a modern civilization", or a more liberal definition might be "the ability to live in decent life with food, clothing, shelter, and medical care."
Astronomical and Planetary -- from astronomy and planet; this could be defined as a phrase that indicates "any projects whose objective is exploration of any object in space other than the earth".
Universalization -- the next phase of human development, marking the transition from nation states to a single world view of humanity where all individuals are treated fairly without regard to nation of origin, race, sexual orientation, and physical or mental ability.
Please see attached videos for more information on the concept of Universalization. A reference and connection to universalization in the debate arguments and in the team activities will be part of the debate assessment during the tournament.
It will be important for the affirmative team to clearly indicate the types of projects they would like to defund or reduce funding and the type of projects they want to prioritize. This should be in their affirmative plan.
The affirmative team has the "burden of proof" to establish why the resolution is necessary. Take a case on space debris, for example. The affirmative team can make arguments to establish that space debris could result in a Kessler effect, make lower earth orbit unusable, and then explain how this impacts humanity's survivability. But then the affirmative must explain how their re-prioritizing of projects will solve this problem. Are there enough funds in other projects to create a proper program to combat space debris? Exactly which projects will be eliminated to do this- all projects?
Please see attached videos for more information on the concept of Universalization. A reference and connection to universalization in the debate arguments and in the team activities will be part of the debate assessment during the tournament.
It
will be important for the affirmative team to clearly indicate the types of
projects they would like to defund or reduce funding and the type of projects
they want to prioritize. This should be in their affirmative plan.
The 2023 spUN (space policy and UNiversalization) Debates will mark the sixth year of these international debates. 
Debate Organization.
The 2023 spUN Program Debate format calls for a debate session of 60 minutes and allows a presentation of Pro and Con arguments to: