Decolonizing the Internet: Global Governance of Low Earth Orbit Satellite Broadband
An Internet Society Foundation Research Project (2021–2027)
The Project in Three Phases
This project advances a comprehensive, research-based inquiry into the international governance of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband — examining jurisdictional challenges, data sovereignty concerns, and the equity implications of a global infrastructure largely controlled by a handful of private actors from technologically dominant states.
Funded by the Internet Society Foundation under its Decolonizing the Internet and Trustworthy Internet grant programmes, the project has run continuously since 2021 across three phases: from foundational legal and policy analysis, through data governance and capacity building, to its current focus on satellite connectivity and disaster resilience. It has produced peer-reviewed scholarship, policy papers, an open-access edited volume, an international law database, and two editions of the Summer School on Internet Governance and International Law (SSIGIL).
Phase I — Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband (2021–2023)
The first phase established the foundational research agenda, examining the legal and geopolitical challenges arising from the rapid commercial deployment of LEO satellite constellations — including SpaceX's Starlink, OneWeb, Amazon's Project Kuiper, China's Guowang, and the EU's IRIS² — and their integration into the global internet infrastructure.
Three central research questions structured the inquiry:
- What potential challenges of data sovereignty and jurisdiction arise in the integration of LEO satellite constellations into the global (5G) telecommunications ecosystem?
- How might the existing geopolitical and economic dominance of developed states in LEO standard-setting processes affect the interests and participation of developing countries?
- What critical policy issues require urgent attention from governments and civil society in light of the accelerated development of LEO satellite-based internet access?
Phase I culminated in a Final Report accompanied by dedicated policy papers addressing the concerns of civil society and governmental stakeholders, alongside peer-reviewed scholarship, general-interest publications, and outreach activities. A regularly updated International Law and LEO Database was established as a key ongoing resource.
Phase II — Satellite Internet: Trust and Data Governance (2023–2025)
The second phase sharpened the analytical focus to data governance in the context of emerging satellite broadband technologies, and its implications for building a resilient and trustworthy global network. The central research question asked how international and multistakeholder forums can effectively address transnational data governance concerns, promote open and trustworthy internet policy, and bridge the capacity divide between the Global North and Global South in the context of enhanced satellite connectivity.
Particular attention was devoted to:
- The role of international and multistakeholder forums in addressing cross-border data governance concerns.
- Promoting open, inclusive, and trustworthy internet policy objectives.
- Bridging the capacity divide between the Global North and Global South in light of expanded satellite internet capabilities.
Key outputs include an interdisciplinary edited volume and two editions of the Summer School on Internet Governance and International Law (SSIGIL), hosted at the University of Łódź:
- Kulesza, J. (Ed.), & Akcali Gur, B. (Ed.). (2025). Global Governance of Low Earth Orbit Satellites. University of Lodz Press. doi.org/10.18778/8331-719-9. Direct open access download
- SSIGIL 2024 — University of Łódź, Faculty of Law and Administration, 8–12 July 2024.
- SSIGIL 2025 — University of Łódź, Faculty of Law and Administration, 22–26 September 2025.
Phase III — Satellite Connectivity and Disaster Resilience (2025–2027)
The third and current phase responds to an issue that emerged sharply during the preceding research: the increasingly critical role of LEO satellite connectivity in disaster response and humanitarian relief. Recent events — including the 2024 hurricane season in the United States, the 2023 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the 2024 floods in Poland and Andalucía, and the connectivity crises facing small island developing states — have demonstrated both the transformative potential and the urgent governance gaps of satellite-based disaster connectivity.
This phase asks: how can satellite connectivity be effectively integrated into disaster risk reduction law and policy frameworks at national and international levels, consistent with the emerging recognition of connectivity as a human right in times of disaster?
The research engages the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the evolving Convention on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, and the UN resolution of December 2024 affirming connectivity protection during humanitarian emergencies. Five commissioned expert case studies — covering the United States, Turkey/Syria, Poland, Spain, and Central Asia — will be synthesised into an open-source report and dedicated policy papers.
Outreach activities include presentations at IGF 2025 (Norway), WSIS+20 (Geneva), and RightsCon 2026 (Lusaka, Zambia), as well as a third edition of SSIGIL and ongoing collaboration with GigaNet, ICANN, and the Internet Society community.
Project Outputs
Research outputs, publications, and events across all project phases
This project has produced a growing body of research and policy outputs across all three phases, freely available below. For laws, regulations, and academic resources relevant to satellite internet governance, visit the International Law & Satellite Governance Database.
Publications
2025 · Kulesza, J., & Akcali Gur, B. (eds.), Global Governance of Low Earth Orbit Satellites, 218 pp., University of Łódź Press · Open Access →
2025 · Akcali Gur, B., Kulesza, J., "The EU's dual policy dilemma: Orbital sustainability and digital autonomy policies intertwined", Space Policy · DOI →
2025 · Kulesza, J., "Space diplomacy and digital sovereignty", EU Institute for Security Studies
2025 · Kulesza, J. et al., "From Łódź to Geneva: On the Future of Satellite Internet" — SSIGIL 2025 final document, contributed to the WSIS+20 process · Download PDF →
2024 · Akcali Gur, B., Kulesza, J., "Equitable access to satellite broadband services: Challenges and opportunities for developing countries", Telecommunications Policy
2024 · Kulesza, J., "Two sides of the same coin? Future of the internet and sustainable development", Issue Brief, European University Institute
2024 · Kulesza, J., & Akcali Gur, B., "Resilient connectivity: SpaceX's stellar solution for Gaza's internet amid conflict", EU Cyber Direct — Directions · Read →
2023 · Akcali Gur, B., Kulesza, J., "Activated! Public dissent, internet access and satellite broadband", Internet Policy Review, vol. 12 · Read →
Events 2025–2026
2026/05/05–08 [Zambia, Lusaka / online] RightsCon 2026: "Disconnected in Crisis: Reframing Connectivity in Disaster Zones as a Human Right" (online dialogue, session #31161)
2025/10/06 [online] S.S. Lotus Project — Seminar 6: "Revisiting the Lotus Principle: Digital Sovereignty, Satellite Internet and Cross-Border Data Flows in the 21st Century" · coordinated by Lund University Faculty of Law, supported by ESIL · www.lotus-100.com
2025/10/02–03 [Belgium, Brussels] Internet Accountability Forum — Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies / Global Initiative on the Future of the Internet (GIFI): panel discussions on disinformation, AI accountability, and human rights in the digital environment
2025/09/22–26 [Poland, Łódź] Summer School on Internet Governance and International Law — SSIGIL 2025: "Satellite Internet: Trust and Data Governance" · hosted at the University of Łódź Faculty of Law and Administration, in cooperation with GigaNet, GFCE, UNU-CRIS, University of Surrey, and Stetson University College of Law · SSIGIL 2025 →
2025/06/22–26 [Norway, Lillestrøm] IGF 2025 — three sessions co-organized with GigaNet, EUI, Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Digitalization:
- GigaNet Symposium: "From the Tunis Agenda to WSIS+20: LEO Satellites as Critical Infrastructure" — with Jonathan Liebenau (LSE), moderated by Jamal Shahin (UNU-CRIS) · Recording →
- Open Forum #68: "WSIS+20 Review and SDGs: A Collaborative Global Dialogue" — with Kurtis Lindqvist (CEO, ICANN), Joanna Kulesza (LCH), Thibault Kleiner (DG CONNECT, European Commission), Sook-Jung Dofel (GIZ / IGF MAG) · Recording →
- Open Forum #10: "Multistakeholder Governance and International Law in Cyberspace" — with Elena Plexida (ICANN), Helen Popp (EEAS), senior representatives of Polish MFA, Ministry of Digitalization, and the Polish EU Council Presidency · Recording →
2025/05/21 [UK, Guildford] Surrey Space Centre — "Mission Sustainable: Sustainable Development of Outer Space"
2025/03/03 [online] RightsCon 2025: "Satellite Connectivity in Conflict Zones" — with Alena Epifanova (German Council on Foreign Relations), Dan York (Internet Society), Peter Micek (Access Now), Joanna Kulesza · moderated by Berna Akcali Gur · organized with support from Internet Society Foundation and Access Now · Session summary →
Events 2024
2024/12/13 [Saudi Arabia, Riyadh] IGF 2024 / GigaNet: "Satellites, Data, Action: Transforming Tomorrow with Digital" — LEO satellites, data governance, and digital infrastructure in conflict-affected regions including Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran · with Berna Akcali Gur (QMUL), Dan York (Internet Society), Jane Coffin (Af-IX) · co-moderated by Joanna Kulesza and Roxana Radu (Oxford / GigaNet Chair) · Session details → · Recording →
2024/07/08–12 [Poland, Łódź] Summer School on Internet Governance and International Law — SSIGIL 2024 (inaugural edition): "Trusted Internet" · hosted at the University of Łódź Faculty of Law and Administration · SSIGIL 2024 →
2024/03/01 [Israel, Jerusalem / online] Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Federmann School of Public Policy and Government, Seminar series: "Satellite Internet: Trust and Data Governance"
2024/02/27 [online] Farabi University Roundtable Discussion: "WTO's role in realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals"
2024/01/10 [Germany, Berlin] Cybersecurity Roundtable: “Satellite Cybersecurity: the case of Ukraine”
Events 2022–2023
2023/10/23 [Germany, Hamburg] ICANN78: "The impact of technological advancements on ICANN: Ensuring the management of unique identifiers remains efficient and effective" · Session details →
2023/10/15 [Japan, Kyoto] IGF2023, WS #311: "Global Digital Value Chain: Africa's Status and Way Forward" · Session details → · YouTube →
2023/10/12 [Japan, Kyoto] IGF2023, WS #307: "Data Governance in Broadband Satellite Services", co-organized with ISOC · Session details → · YouTube →
2023/10/08 [Japan, Kyoto] IGF2023 / GigaNet Symposium, Day 0 Event #112: "Internet Fragmentation and its environmental impact: A case study of satellite broadband" · Session details → · YouTube → · Paper →
2023/09/27 [online] IAB Technical Discussion: Satellite Networking · Minutes →
2023/09/22 [online] ICANN EURALO Roundtable: "Multistakeholder Governance for New Internet Infrastructures: SpaceX, IRIS², and Equitable Internet Access for All" · Session details →
2023/06/05 [Costa Rica / online] RightsCon 2023: Flashtalk: "Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband"
2023/05/15 [Italy, Padova] GigArts 2023: "Cyber Resilience and the Geopolitics of Cybersecurity"
2023/05/10 [Poland, Łódź / online] SKN UŁ, UJ, UW: "Internet z satelity dla każdego? O Elonie Musku, SpaceXie i prawie międzynarodowym słów kilka"
2023/05/05 [Switzerland, Geneva / online] WSIS Forum 2023, session #496: "Lasers in Space! Can Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellites Close the Digital Divide?" · Session details →
2023/04/16 MEDIA REFERENCE [HeiseOnline]: "Missing Link: Space-Race – die Vorherrschaft beim Satelliteninternet" · Read →
2023/03/29 MEDIA REFERENCE [Incyber]: "'Splinternet', 'bureaucratic stalemate': is Internet governance under threat?" · Read →
2023/01/26 [Belgium, Brussels] ESDC Cybersecurity and International Law: "Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband"
2022/12/16 [France, Paris] GEODE — Geopolitics of Internet Routes: "Internet Access, LEO Broadband Satellite Services and international conflict" · Slides →
2022/12/14 [UK, London / online] King's College London, Dickson Poon School of Law Research Seminar: "Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband" · Slides →
2022/12/09 [Slovakia, Bratislava / online] GLOBSEC Focus 2023: "Identifying Priorities for Transatlantic Cooperation in Cyberspace"
2022/12/04 [Israel, Jerusalem / online] Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Federmann School of Public Policy and Government, Seminar series: "Equitable Access to Secure, Affordable, and Reliable LEO Broadband Satellite Services" · Slides →
2022/11/30 [Ethiopia, Addis Abeba / online] IGF 2022, WS #399: "Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband" · Session details →
2022/11/28 [Ethiopia, Addis Abeba / online] IGF 2022 / GigaNet Annual Symposium: "What we owe each other: equitable access to secure, affordable, and reliable LEO broadband satellite services" · Draft →
2022/08/22 [online] Internet Society Foundation Podcast: "LEO Satellites" · Listen →
2022/05/31 [Turkey, Ankara / online] Ankara Bar Association Seminar: “LEO Communication Satellites in International Law”
Project Team
Joanna Kulesza
Assistant Professor of International Law, University of Łódź | Executive Director, Lodz Cyber Hub
Co-Principal Investigator and Internet Society Foundation contracted grantee for this project across all its phases
Her research engages foundational questions of public international law — sovereignty, jurisdiction, due diligence, and the protection of fundamental rights in the digital environment. She is the author of Due Diligence in International Law (Brill, 2016), Cybersecurity and Human Rights in the Age of Cyberveillance (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, with R. Balleste), and editor of Global Governance of Low Earth Orbit Satellites (Lodz University Press, 2025, with B. Akcalı Gur). Her work on LEO satellite governance examines jurisdictional challenges, digital sovereignty concerns, and the integration of satellite constellations into global internet infrastructure, with particular attention to the interests of developing states and the role of international law in bridging the capacity divide between the Global North and Global South.
She serves as Governmental Advisory Committee Liaison within ICANN and has participated in the Oxford Process on International Law Protections in Cyberspace. She contributes to the Sino-European Cybersecurity Dialogue, co-fostered by EUISS, GCSP, and CICIR, and previously served on the Scientific Committee of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. She has held visiting positions at the Oxford Internet Institute and universities across Norway, Germany, and the UK. She is a member of the European Society for International Law and the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet).
Her current research focus is the integration of satellite connectivity into disaster risk reduction frameworks and the evolving recognition of connectivity as a human right in times of disaster — the central questions driving the project's third phase, launched in 2025.
Berna Akcali Gur
LL.M. Convenor, Outer Space Law, Queen Mary University of London | Associate Research Fellow, UNU-CRIS
Co-Principal Investigator
Her research focuses on public international law, world trade law, and the EU law implications of advancements in information and communication technologies, with particular attention to digital sovereignty, data governance, and the regulation of emerging communications infrastructure. She has held research positions at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London, and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, and previously served as assistant professor at Kadir Has University Law School in Istanbul, where she led modules on WTO Law, Internet Governance, and International and European Media Law. Prior to her academic career, she practised law in Istanbul, New York, and London.
As Co-Principal Investigator, she contributes to this project's analysis of national and regional data governance frameworks in the context of space-based broadband connectivity, building on the foundational phase of the project, which offered an extensive legal and policy analysis of the jurisdictional challenges arising from the integration of mega satellite constellations into the global internet infrastructure.
She is the serving Chair of the Membership Committee and a member of the Annual Symposium Programme Committee of GigaNet, and a member of the European Centre for Space Law, Trade Experettes, the Internet Society London Chapter, and the European Society for International Law. She is a qualified lawyer admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association.
Her current research focus is the regional and global governance implications of the new space race, examined through the lens of her contributions to this project's third phase.
About Internet Society Foundation
US nonprofit corporation (501(c)(3)) governed by a Board of Trustees organised under the laws of the District of Columbia
Its mission is to fund initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach, ensuring it can effectively serve all people — open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy.
The Internet Society Foundation supports research, capacity building, and policy engagement that advances the vision of the Internet Society: The Internet is for Everyone. Its grant programmes — including Decolonizing the Internet and Trustworthy Internet, under which this project is funded — reflect a commitment to addressing the governance gaps and equity challenges that shape who benefits from global internet infrastructure and on whose terms.
This project has been supported by the Internet Society Foundation across three consecutive grant cycles since 2021.
Wydział Prawa i Administracji
Kopcińskiego 8/12, pokój 3.61
90-232 Łódź, Polska
lch@wpia.uni.lodz.pl
+48 42 635 63 78
Projekt Multiportalu UŁ współfinansowany z funduszy Unii Europejskiej w ramach konkursu NCBR