To examine the increasing complexity of space actors and activities, RAND researchers framed space governance as a system using systems thinking and analysis. These recognize complexity and show space relations as a dynamic system of interacting actors with varying interests. The authors applied social network analysis to assess space governance as a system and explored opportunities for achieving sustainable governance options.

Space Governance and Social Network Analysis

A Brief Exploration

Lyndal Thompson, Douglas C. Ligor, C. Ben Gibson, Bruce McClintock, Marigold Black, Jan Osburg, Mann Virdee, Wenjing Huang, James Black, Gianni McClaine

ResearchPublished Jul 23, 2025

To examine the increasing complexity of space actors and activities, RAND researchers framed space governance as a system. The existing governance framework is derived from the governance of earthbound common resources. Some have suggested that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is a suitable model for space governance, while others consider the International Telecommunication Union to be a more suitable model. However, some distinct attributes of space exploration make it a potentially unique operating environment that requires novel approaches to governance.

Systems thinking and analysis recognize complexity and offer the ability to understand space relations as a dynamic system of interacting actors with varying interests. This approach allows the analysis of what happens when an element of the system changes, the effect that this has on the overall system, and any feedback loops. The authors applied social network analysis (SNA) to assess space governance as a system and explored opportunities for achieving sustainable governance options.

Key Findings

  • SNA can provide useful visual representation of actors and ties in space governance. Initial observations of distinct clusters, the concentration of influence, and the influence of individual actors were the starting points for additional investigation.
  • Beyond these useful visualizations, statistical analysis of network structure can be used to provide evidence for hypotheses drawn from systems and network theories of governance.
  • Network analysis can assist in identifying and representing changing relationships between actors and the emergence of new patterns over time.
  • Viewing space governance as a system through SNA can help reveal node-level influence and system-level measures of the concentration of influence.
  • Much more work is needed to think through the best way to represent and analyze governance networks in space to provide greater insight into existing and potential governance systems.

Recommendations

  • Examine how best to represent actors, relationships, and attributes over time and the potential need for new or modified governance arrangements and instruments in space. Collect and create new data for use in an SNA.
  • Collect more data and use more-advanced methodology to uncover the mechanisms that drive space networks.
  • Use these methodologies to forecast the timing of, participants in, and other aspects of future agreements or treaties and gain valuable insights into the trajectory of space governance.
  • Assess interventions' potential effect on networks and compare how strategic paradigms could affect future network structure.

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Thompson, Lyndal, Douglas C. Ligor, C. Ben Gibson, Bruce McClintock, Marigold Black, Jan Osburg, Mann Virdee, Wenjing Huang, James Black, and Gianni McClaine, Space Governance and Social Network Analysis: A Brief Exploration. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3822-1.html.
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