Towards an International Human Rights Law Regime in Outer Space: Ontological and Epistemological Contextualisation of Human Rights for Humankind

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The number of satellites launched into Earth orbit has rapidly increased over the last two decades, underscoring the urgent need to address the status of space as a prominent site for geopolitical and geostrategic contestation, with inherent international legal implications. Satellites positioned in various orbits above the Earth are crucial for telecommunications, navigation, weather monitoring, Earth observation, and other applications. However, the geostationary orbit (GEO) is the only orbit considered valuable and 'prime real estate' in space. In International Space Law (ISL), GEO is a unique orbit and a limited resource. One way to understand GEO is that it is like a belt above the equator connected to states on the equator. Most states on the equator are Global South states, and few have satellites in orbit.ISL stipulates that the use of space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all states, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development. Among other concerns are questions regarding the equitable sharing of space benefits. GEO exemplifies a case where the use of space, specifically the tools and services from satellites, is not equitably benefiting and in the interest of all States.This project will proceed from the premise that Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) may provide the useful explanatory value of ISL and space activities, which brings to light embedded colonial legacies and their nexus to historical and prevailing endemic structural and systemic inequalities. In other words, this research explores the extent to which TWAIL can be useful for contemporary legal issues, thereby broadening the methodological scope of the understanding of TWAIL analysis. It also explores the applicability and relevance of a human rights framework in addressing the inequalities in space activities.