Capturing the Space Economy: Private and National Appropriation of the Global Commons

Abstract

By international law, space is a global commons, that can be controlled by no single nation. However, states may have a growing vested interest in controlling space and the revenue generating economy it has become host to within the last two decades. With new technological developments, satellites and the services stemming from them are becoming an increasingly lucrative business. Billions of dollars have been invested and billions in revenue are generated by top radiocommunication providers through satellites each year. Furthermore, within the last decade private enterprise has been enabled to conduct earth imaging via satellites for sale for commercial use. Over the past year, I have been conducting research on these areas of the growing satellite economy to understand the tension that has emerged between the understanding of space as a global commons, yet the desire of states and private corporations for appropriation of space. In December, I visited DigitalGlobe, the leading commercial satellite imaging company, in Colorado, for an interview to gain insight on how satellite imaging is conducted and how it has grown in recent years. I have also been researching the financial growth of the largest radiocommunications companies. Finally, I have conducted research on how an international organization, the International Telecommunications Union, plays a role in governance and regulation of the satellite industry, as well as its relationship to the economic activity in space. These pieces of research are instrumental in understanding the size and growth of the space economy, why states and private business have an interest in gaining access to it, and how appropriation of space is handled within the international system while the understanding of space as a global commons remains in tact.