Human Readiness as a Missing Layer in Responsible AI Governance Complementarity Between the UNOOSA Responsible AI Framework and the Orbita Prime Human Readiness & Safety Architecture

Abstract The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into space and Earth-observation systems is reshaping how data are generated, interpreted, and operationalised across civilian and institutional contexts. Recent governance efforts by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) have established important principles for responsible AI in space, with emphasis on transparency, fairness, sustainability, and data integrity. This Annex argues that, while such frameworks provide essential technology-anchored guidance, an additional governance layer remains insufficiently addressed: human and institutional readiness. Advanced AI systems increasingly operate in high-risk, high-impact environments where technical safeguards alone cannot ensure safe, legitimate, or trusted outcomes. Human oversight, accountability, and resilience depend not only on system design, but on the capacity of institutions and societies to meaningfully govern, absorb, and respond to AI-enabled decision-making. The Orbita Prime Human Readiness & Safety Architecture is presented as a complementary, non-binding governance framework that operates horizontally across sectors. It focuses on the conditions under which AI deployment becomes safe or unsafe for human exposure, including institutional capacity, asymmetries of vulnerability, trust architecture, and long-term societal resilience. By mapping Orbita Prime against the responsible AI objectives articulated by UNOOSA, this Annex demonstrates structural complementarity rather than overlap. Together, these frameworks support a more complete governance ecosystem—one that combines sector-specific AI safeguards with human-centred readiness and accountability—thereby strengthening the legitimacy and sustainability of AI-enabled systems in space and other high-risk technological domains.