A FERREIRA-SNYMAN & G FERREIRA PER / PELJ 2019 (22) 1 Abstract The military and commercial exploitation of outer space has received increasing international attention since the United States of America announced its intention to establish an outer space military force to protect its interests in outer space. Simultaneously, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and private enterprises such as Blue Origin and SpaceX declared plans to colonise the Moon and/or Mars in the near future. While technology is advancing rapidly to make these objectives a reality, the international legal rules related to these developments are completely uncertain, and in some instances non-existent. It is evident that these developments may have a direct impact on the internationally protected human rights of individuals, taking into account the extremely adverse conditions in outer space and the dangers involved in creating sustainable human living conditions in outer space. International discussion of and action on these legal issues are needed urgently. As a starting point, this contribution discusses the question of whether existing international human rights instruments enjoy extra-territorial application in outer space, given the current status of outer space law. In answering the question, a broad overview is presented of some human rights issues that may be relevant to living in outer space, and the role that the doctrine of effective control may play in this regard is analysed. Keywords Commercial exploitation of outer space; outer space settlements; effective control in outer space; constitutions of outer space settlements, human rights issues in outer space; international human rights treaties in outer space ………………………………………………………. The Application of International Human Rights Instruments in Outer Space Settlements: Today's Science Fiction, Tomorrow's Reality A Ferreira-Snyman* and G Ferreira** Pioneer in peer-reviewed, open access online law publications Authors Anél Ferreira-Snyman Gerrit Ferreira Affiliation University of South Africa North-West University South Africa Email ferremp@unisa.ac.za Gerrit.Ferreira@nwu.ac.za Date Submission 31 December 2018 Date Revised 26 April 2019 Date Accepted 24 May 2019 Date published 25 June 2019 Editor Prof C Rautenbach How to cite this article Ferreira-Snyman A and Ferreira G "The Application of International Human Rights Instruments in Outer Space Settlements: Today's Science Fiction, Tomorrow's Reality" PER / PELJ 2019(22) - DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727- 3781/2019/v22i0a5904 Copyright DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727- 3781/2019/v22i0a5904