International Journal of Cyber Diplomacy / 2026, Volume 7

Bridging Norms of Responsible Behavior: From Cyberspace to Outer Space Governance

Ulpia Elena BOTEZATU

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Abstract

The increasing integration of digital and space infrastructures makes cross-domain governance more than an intellectual analogy: it creates an operational requirement. This article examines which elements of the international framework for responsible State behaviour in the use of information and communications technologies can be adapted to outer space security without obscuring the legal, physical and institutional differences between the two domains. It conducts a structured, focused qualitative comparison of United Nations cyber norms, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe confidence-building measures, the space transparency and confidence-building acquis, the Outer Space Treaty, the Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities, relevant technical standards and selected operational practices. Transfer is assessed against five criteria: functional equivalence, legal compatibility, observability, institutional feasibility and control of unintended effects. The analysis finds that the most promising transfers are not substantive prohibitions copied from one domain to another, but governance design patterns: policy transparency, validated points of contact, protected crisis communications, tiered incident reporting, cooperative assistance, capacity-building and implementation by the actors best placed to manage risk. Three case studies—the political commitment not to conduct destructive directascent anti-satellite missile tests, the 2022 KA-SAT cyberattack and conjunction assessment and coordination—demonstrate both the value and the limits of this approach. The article proposes a phased, measurable roadmap that reinforces existing space law and institutions rather than replacing them. Its central claim is that cyber diplomacy offers outer space governance a method for turning broad expectations into repeatable practice; the content and legal basis of each measure must nevertheless remain space-specific.

Keywords

Cyber Norms, Satellite Cybersecurity, Responsible Behaviour, Space Security, Building Measures, Capacity-building, Outer Space Governance, International law