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ARTICLE · 13 MARCH 2026

When Satellites Think For Themselves: The Governance Vacuum In Low-Earth Orbit

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Orbital AI systems are already making consequential autonomous decisions (e.g., collision avoidance, data processing, communications routing) without human review and without a clear legal framework governing any of it.

United StatesTechnology
Jason Loring
Jason Loring

Author's Note: The author participated as a panelist at the  University of Alabama in Huntsville's 2026 Business of Space Conference, speaking on "Governing AI and Edge Computing in Low-Earth Orbit" alongside Charlotte Houser (Corporate Counsel, Voyager Technologies Inc.), Dan Wald (Director, Artificial Intelligence, Booz Allen Hamilton), and Meg Vernal (Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel, Voyager Technologies Inc.) and would like to thank them for their insights.

Key Takeaways

  • Orbital AI systems are already making consequential autonomous decisions (e.g., collision avoidance, data processing, communications routing) without human review and without a clear legal framework governing any of it.

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