Global Governance of the Space System: A Multilevel Governance Analysis

Abstract

The proliferation of new and more diverse number of actors in the space industry in recent decades has created a more complex, decentralized, and unpredictable global governance of the space system. In the contemporary era, space activities are conducted by a diverse multitude of actors, engaging in a multiplicity of interactions across a variety of levels and arenas. Although there is a substantial body of literature addressing the global governance of space, few of these works have analyzed the multilevel governance of the current space system. The primary hypothesis of this research is that the governance of the space system has become more fragmented, decentralized, and distributed across multiple levels or arenas. This research emphasizes the necessity of utilizing systems approaches and an International Relations (IR) perspective to analyze the global governance of the space system. Therefore, the primary objective of this research is to examine the key characteristics of the 21st-century space system using a multilevel governance framework (MLG) and to assess the relevance and implications of each level. This paper contributes to the emerging field of global space governance by applying a MLG framework to the space system. The result is a comprehensive, multilevel analysis of the contemporary space system, identifying, describing, and explaining the role of the space actors in various levels of analysis (international, regional, national, and subnational).