The Influence of Epistemic Communities on International Political Negotiations about the Space Debris Problem

Abstract

Since the 1970’s the debate about the rising importance of transnational
relations has existed in international relations. Apart from states, the
related research also focuses on other actors, including epistemic
communities. The article uses the concept of epistemic communities and
finds whether the activity of epistemic communities determines the process
of the international management of outer space in the case of the political
negotiations relating to space debris in UNCOPUOS and UNOOSA. The
activity of epistemic communities exists in the political negotiations relating
to space debris in UNCOPUOS and UNOOSA, but it has not been reflected in
the related scholarly literature. Epistemic communities from the
nongovernmental organizations IAF, COSPAR and IISL contributed to
setting the space debris problem on the agenda of UNCOPUOS. Also, under
the influence of epistemic communities from the governmental
organization IADC, UNCOPUOS adopted guidelines preventing the creation
of further amounts of space debris.