UNIDIR Warns Orbital Data Centres Could Deepen Data Sovereignty Gaps

Why orbital data centres raise sovereignty concerns

UNIDIR notes that demand for data storage and processing is putting growing pressure on the financial, technical and environmental resources available on Earth. Driven largely by accelerated AI development, the idea of placing data centres in orbit is being considered seriously, with tests carried out by private enterprises, states and regional blocs.

The commentary says that as data becomes more strategic for peace, security and defence, questions remain about ownership, control and strategic dependence between states. Several states have enacted data protection laws, including rules requiring certain categories of citizens' data to be stored or processed within their jurisdiction. According to UNIDIR, placing data centres in orbit would make this harder to enforce, removing one key policy lever from state authorities.

The concern is especially acute for developing regions, which have not had the chance to properly regulate, control or demand localization of data centres. With nascent or emerging space ecosystems, they also lack the infrastructure, know-how and investment to put data centres of their own into orbit.

An uneven starting point on the ground

UNIDIR describes a pronounced geographical and economic pattern in today's data centre landscape. At present, 77% of global co-location data centre capacity is located in developed regions and operated by private enterprises with a global user base. Cooperating middle-income countries host an 18% share, while only 6% of capacity is hosted in developing regions.

Africa illustrates the gap. The region accounts for 17% of the world's population and is projected to make up a growing portion of usership across data applications. Yet it hosts less than 1% of global data centre capacity and attracted only 3% of data centre investment in 2024, the commentary says.

UNIDIR also points to the use of archived datasets generated by civilian users to improve military AI applications, including surveillance, autonomous weapon systems, predictive analytics and targeting. Developing countries generate much of this foundational data but have little control over the infrastructure that processes it. They end up exporting unprocessed data while importing high-value applications derived from it, with prices and conditions set by the exporting state. Moving that infrastructure into orbit would further institutionalize the imbalance, the commentary argues, at an altitude where significant governance gaps persist.

Earth observation as an early test case

According to UNIDIR, early orbital data infrastructure is leaning towards Earth observation, because the data is generated in orbit and adding compute to the satellites is an obvious step. There is also a commercial logic in avoiding the transmission bottleneck to ground stations by reducing latency and automating processing through on-orbit AI.

The commentary says developing countries typically access these platforms through aid-conditioned agreements, rarely through commercial partnerships. They may receive an analytical product, but gain limited access to raw data, processing algorithms or AI-model parameters, and have little influence over derived products. UNIDIR says this affects technological sovereignty and weakens agency in sectors such as border surveillance, armed conflict, climate security, food security and critical minerals. It also warns of soft-power bargaining, where more advanced states offer capabilities as defence cooperation while exercising asymmetric leverage in wider geopolitical and trade agreements.

Governance gaps and proposed paths

UNIDIR sees an early opportunity for emerging space actors to prioritize research that improves domestic analytical capacity, advances credible positions in multilateral forums and supports informed negotiation on terrestrial and orbital data governance. Regional frameworks such as the African Union's space policy, space strategy and data policy framework, together with the Africa Declaration on Artificial Intelligence, could help smaller states pool technocratic capacity and present unified positions.

The commentary lists governance gaps that need to be addressed:

• Benefit-sharing
• Access rights to on-orbit data processing algorithms
• Obligations on operators, including third states
• Dispute resolution mechanisms available to states lacking independent capability

UNIDIR points to the Outer Space Treaty as a legal foundation, particularly its principle that the exploration and use of outer space should benefit all peoples irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development. It also suggests drawing on norms of responsible state behaviour on information and communication technology, which acknowledge capacity disparities between states.

What it means

The commentary does not describe a finished policy but frames a debate that is still open. Its central message is that decisions on orbital data infrastructure will shape who controls strategic data and the applications built on it. For governments in developing regions, UNIDIR argues, engaging early in multilateral discussions is a way to avoid having terms set by the states and companies that build the infrastructure first.