Dangers in Outer Space: Security Governance and the Role of the Private Space Industry

Human activity in outer space has developed more rapidly within the previous five years than at any
other point in history with the private sector now accounting for 75% of space sector funding.
Simultaneously, humanity's ever-growing orbital presence has generated increased concern,
particularly regarding the potential destruction of space-based confrontations. Accordingly, research
into this essential topic must be undertaken, including the effects of ever-greater private sector
involvement and its relationship to space governance and security with the hope of providing
further insights into space and other 'global commons'. Whilst there remains significant focus on
states within the literature, few thinkers have considered the private sector, and none have offered
an account of their direct impact on security and governance in space. In producing my master's
dissertation on outer space governance, this was an area of key concern and interest that became
apparent through research, however, due to the limited scale of a master's dissertation, this could
not be explored further. Therefore, I seek to undertake this as a PhD project within which I answer
the topic's key questions - namely the questions of the private sector's role in space, the meaning of
security governance in space and the establishment of the relationship between these two factors.
In doing this I seek to utilise relevant case studies including other 'global commons', interviews with
key individuals within the space sector, and textual analysis throughout to ensure the depth of
research required to properly assess these questions and address this key absence in the literature
of the private sector's role in space governance.