A New International Order of Outer Space?

The United States has identified the People's Republic of China as the main actor challenging its dominance in outer space. Both global powers have thus embarked on a race to reconfigure the international order of outer space, being international governance a political instrument to achieve a better positioning within the international system. Beijing's main strategy is to expand its collaboration with countries in the Global South, which, in addition to generating commercial benefits, aims to create coalitions that strengthen its power. However, there is not much discussion or academic literature on the role of countries of the Global South in this competition between the two powerful countries. From the perspective of structural realism, this article analyzes the cooperation that countries of the Global South maintain with China and the U. S., respectively. A content analysis of the bilateral agreements on outer space signed by China and the U. S. with countries of the Global South from 1990 to 2022 is carried out. The relevance of this analysis is, on the one hand, to determine the existence of patterns in the cooperation of China and the U. S. with countries of the Global South in the configuration of the international order of outer space. On the other hand, to establish whether the countries of the Global South opt for bandwagoning or balancing strategies in their relations with China and the U. S..