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

在过去二十年中，发射到地球轨道的卫星数量迅速增加，这突出表明迫切需要解决空间作为地缘政治和地缘战略基地的重要场所的地位问题，这必然会产生国际法律的影响。位于地球上方各种轨道上的卫星对于电信、导航、天气监测、地球观测和其他应用至关重要。然而，地球静止轨道（GEO）是唯一被认为是有价值的和空间中的“主要真实的财产”的轨道。在国际空间法中，地球同步轨道是一个独特的轨道，也是一种有限的资源。理解GEO的一种方法是，它就像赤道上方的一条带子，与赤道上的国家相连。赤道上的大多数国家都是全球南方国家，很少有卫星在轨道上。ISL规定，空间的利用应为了所有国家的利益和利益而进行，无论其经济或科学发展程度如何。其他关切包括公平分享空间惠益的问题。对地观测组说明了一种情况，即空间的利用，特别是卫星提供的工具和服务，并没有公平地使所有国家受益和符合所有国家的利益，本项目将从这样一个前提出发，即第三世界对国际法的认识可能对国际空间法和空间活动提供有益的解释价值，它揭示了根深蒂固的殖民遗产及其与历史上和普遍存在的结构性和系统性不平等的联系。换句话说，本研究探讨了TWAIL在多大程度上可以用于当代法律的问题，从而扩大了对TWAIL分析的理解的方法论范围。报告还探讨了人权框架在解决空间活动中的不平等问题方面的适用性和相关性。

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.