Of course we don't know what we don't know, but we can speculate heavily on things we don't know. Personally, I would bet the farm that the universe is crawling with life. Maybe not on every planet or every solar system, but in millions of places in every galaxy. The bottom line is that life is nothing special. The fact that elements have an affinity to join with other elements is just basic chemistry. Put oxygen and hydrogen together and add a spark, and you have water. Not all elements combine with that same orgasmic intensity, but combine they do, and life is nothing more than a fairly complex arrangement of elements into molecules. Complex? Certainly, but still unavoidable. It's just one of many outcomes of chemical interactions.
I read an observation once that sticks with me: "At some point in the evolution of chemical interactions, a little bag of complex substances twitched, and life began." That's a paraphrase, but close enough to convey the idea. Life is just chemistry with special properties, but then all chemical combinations have special properties too. So what's the big deal about life? Why is it a bigger deal than quartz or ice? It's just chemistry.
But, but, but... life has a soul or at least a spirit kind of thingy. Ugh.. Don't get me started.