it’s unfortunate thats all we will ever be able to do
Yes, we - you and I personally - will never step foot on other planets, but humans, or some derivative, will via Von Neumann craft with AI and a stockpile of genetic material. It may already have been going on for a billion years, and rules established more or less for competing interests as it pertains to ownership/dealing with any quasi-sentients that may be native to the rock.