Fostering K-12 educational leadership for sustainable space exploration: an AI-enhanced collaborative framework

Purpose This study aims to examine how the combined use of technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), equity-oriented access strategies and sustainability-infused, interdisciplinary curricula, fosters the leadership competencies that K-12 systems need to support a future, ethically grounded space sector. Design/methodology/approach A PRISMA-guided systematic review of Google Scholar (2021 – May 2025) screened 3,570 records retrieved with the string “K-12 outer space education” AND STEM AND “transformative OR distributed OR instructional” AND “sustainability OR SDG” AND “equity OR inclusion” AND “Artificial Intelligence (AI)”. After dual-reviewer filtering and quality appraisal, 67 high-relevance studies were synthesized thematically and mapped onto a hybrid leadership framework. Findings When transformational vision, distributed decision-making and instructional data routines are present alongside VR/AR or AI tools it raises leadership self-efficacy, widens underrepresented participation and embeds sustainability literacy. AI personalization and analytics act as catalysts, but most interventions are short-term and geographically concentrated in North America and Europe. Originality/value Linking EdTech, equity scaffolds and SDG-aligned interdisciplinarity with a tri-paradigm (transformational–distributed–instructional) leadership lens, it is significant to translate those links into a quality-assurance framework that educational agencies can operationalize for the emerging space-education economy.