Administrative Law in Orbit: Institutionalising Strategic Military Space Governance in Ukraine and Beyond -

Article

Open Access

by Inesa Kostenko¹
¹ University of Leicester (Leicester, United Kingdom); National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29202/asl/15/3
Received: 12 June 2025 / Accepted: 8 August 2025 / Published: 30 August 2025

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Abstract

This article explores the institutionalisation of military space governance in Ukraine as a juridical response to the evolving conditions of contemporary armed conflict and the strategic recalibration of sovereign functions in orbit. Grounded in the doctrine of administrative law and international legal pluralism, the study examines Ukraine’s transition from a passive beneficiary of space services to an active norm-shaping subject, culminating in the establishment of the Space Policy Directorate within the Ministry of Defence in 2025. This wartime institutional construct represents a novel model of legally structured, interoperable governance suited to hybrid conflict and multi-domain security environments.The analysis situates Ukraine’s defence-oriented space governance within the broader disintegration of unitary space law, marked by the normative fragmentation of the Outer Space Treaty regime, the proliferation of dual-use infrastructures, and the growing influence of non-state actors. Drawing on doctrinal interpretation, comparative institutional practice, and legal-institutional analysis, the article identifies a transitional governance paradigm – one that integrates national legal resilience, civilmilitary harmonisation, and strategic autonomy within a pluralistic legal matrix.

Ukraine’s case, it is argued, does not merely reflect reactive legal adaptation under conditions of conflict; rather, it constitutes an emergent prototype of post-Westphalian legal authority in outer space. In this regard, the Ukrainian experience contributes to the theoretical and practical advancement of adaptive, accountable, and legally pluralistic frameworks for the regulation of military space power in conditions of systemic legal uncertainty.

Keywords: Military space governance, administrative law, strategic autonomy, hybrid warfare, dual use technologies, Ukraine-Russian War, Space Policy Directorate.

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Kostenko, Inesa (2025) Administrative Law in Orbit: Institutionalising Strategic Military Space Governance in Ukraine and Beyond. Advanced Space Law, Volume 15, 30-46. https://doi.org/10.29202/asl/15/3

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