Space Law: Overview

Space law is composed of disparate elements of ordinary national laws and general international law. It has been created by the agreement of states as to the international law that should govern important technical and technological developments of the later 20th and the 21st century. That agreement is expressed in five general treaties; other treaty-level measures including as to the use of radio, declarations of principle, recommendations on the conduct of space activities, and by state practice. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), serviced by the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), plays a significant role in the development of the many aspects of space law, as do intergovernmental and nongovernmental agreements together with informal arrangements between space-active bodies.

Regulacja górnictwa kosmicznego w polskiej ustawie o działalności kosmicznej

Work on the content of the law on space activities has been going in Poland for several years. So far, the drafters have not directly referred to the issue of space mining in the content of the proposed legal act. In this context, it is worth asking whether it is valuable and permissible, in terms of international space law and EU law, to regulate in the future (Polish) law on space activity the matter of prospecting, acquiring and using space resources, i.e. so-called space mining. If space mining were regulated in the Polish space law, Poland would not be the first country to do so. The discussed issues have already been regulated in the national space legislation of the USA, Luxemburg, UAE and Japan. This paper will analyze the issues of space mining as expressed in the current drafts of the Polish space law and foreign space legislation, of space mining as a means of achieving various goals and of the compatibility of space mining with international space law and EU law.

Lessons from International Space Law: The Role of International Relations in Governing Global Commons Regions

Drawing from an analysis of experiences in outer space law, this paper provides insights into challenges involved with managing the global common spaces of the polar regions. The literature concerning governance of the international commons regions focuses on justice and equity concerning natural resources, climate change, the speed, uncertainty and consequences stemming from key actor activity in the Polar Regions. This usually boils down to successes and failures of treaty noncompliance and enforcement mechanisms, or the lack thereof. This paper highlights a current political process aimed at dismantling agreed upon terms outer space international agreements. This offers a snapshot of a political process, likely to influence evolving polar legal norms for the rapidly melting Arctic and Antarctic regions. This is a conceptual paper borrowing theoretical and methodological approaches from political science and international relations such as a Gramscian analysis, constructivism theory and critical discourse analysis, to present several interesting ideas. The purpose is to enable people to understand and explain that future colonisation patterns are unfolding today. It calls attention to issues likely to challenge and define our world in the twenty-first century.

Air and Space Law Education: Preparing for the Future in China, Indonesia, Italy and Thailand

Aerospace technology has developed rapidly within the last decade. Facing the future, there is an urgency to balance aerospace technology developments with providing sufficient human resources through education, in this context from the perspective of air and space law. From east to west, this article elaborates on air and space law education in four countries with different experiences in aerospace activities, namely China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Italy. The development of higher education in conducting such programs is essential to ensure that the national aerospace industry will never lack proper human resources from its own nationals, including professionals with specific air and space law expertise. Furthermore, higher education has a significant role in bridging the industry with recent developments and advising the government in setting up aviation and space policies, as in the successful case of China and Italy. In the end, this article provides policy recommendations on promoting air and space law in higher education.

SPACE-CENTRIC CONCEPT TO ANSWER TOMORROW SPACE CHALLENGE: A SMALL STEP FOR FUTURE SPACE LAW

Space activities have shown significant progress since they begin in the late '50s. Under current development, the U.S. with Artemis program and Luxembourg with its space mining program will enhance their outer space involvement. Most of those programs will elevate private sector involvement. Furthermore, the future space program will mainly intersect with the space environment as the primary consideration. It remains high-risk activities that could have catastrophic results if not regulated immediately. However, the current existing space law began obsolete because it was composed more than 50 years ago and too geocentric by putting the earth as the primary protection area. Consequently, existing space law could not govern future space programs properly, including protecting the space environment defense, Etc. Afterward, this paper will introduce the space-centric concept. Space-centric concepts create to answer future space challenges from legal perspectives. This concept emphasizes how future regulation and policy should cover all space objects equally, recalling outer space is vulnerable to such activities by humans, and how the best way to mitigate unforeseeable calamity on outer space.

Commercial Human Spaceflights: Legal Challenges for International Regulation

Commercial Human Spaceflight – a new addition to the commercial activities in outer space – is attracting the ultra-rich section of the society. It has enormous potential to accelerate the economic aspect of commercial spaceflight since with the development of reusable technologies it is expected to become cheaper. At the same time, it poses a severe threat in various ways to the status quo of the existing regime of space regulation. Taking humans to outer space as a passenger affects the current social, psychological, political, and legal setup. The paper highlights the legal issues that are arising from commercial human spaceflights. Therefore, in section one, the article discusses applicable international law to this emerging activities. Part two details specifically on the international space law that is relevant to regulate these activities. After analyzing the existing international law on space activities in sections one and two, which are essential for the commercial human spaceflights, part three identifies several legal challenges that are not sufficiently addressed by the existing laws. Section four examines the role played by the regulatory organization to develop the space law, and the role of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has been discussed in detail. As the ICAO holds good experience in handling air transportation, many believe that the ICAO is naturally well placed to regulate commercial space transportation. This aspect has been elaborated in detail in this part. In the fifth, i.e. the last section, the authors conclude by arguing to develop a new international convention to regulate it.

India’s Quest for a National Space Law and the Missing Piece of Possessory Rights

As the commercial use of outer space becomes feasible, the nature of possessory rights will potentially emerge as the central focus of future space-related activities. The existing international law relating to outer space does not address in detail the nature of possessory rights in outer space and is subject to multiple interpretations. Alarmingly, the recently adopted space policies and legislations by some States have taken a definitive position regarding commercial use of natural resources in outer space. In light of India’s increasing involvement in outer space, it circulated the Draft Space Activities Bill, 2017, to formulate a national space law. However, the nature of possessory rights in outer space is not addressed in detail in the Draft Space Activities Bill. This study states that on account of recent developments happening elsewhere, it is extremely important for emerging powers like India to take a position on broader issues like the nature of possessory rights in outer space (which includes celestial bodies as well as resources contained therein). Not addressing the issue of possessory rights in outer space could have profound implications at both domestic as well as international levels.

Space Law Education and Capacity-Building

Space activities can bring tremendous benefits to global development and humanity. For the safety, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space, activities and developments in the exploration and use of outer space must therefore be guided by the effective formulation, implementation, and enforcement of law and governance. Concerted and quality space law education and capacity-building efforts are necessary for the cultivation of competent professionals, scholars, and next-generation experts who are cognizant of the emerging issues and challenges posed by the proliferation of space activities and actors in the global commons of outer space. In order to fully grasp space law, it is important to possess a basic understanding of space technology, space applications, and the space environment in which the exploration and use of outer space take place. Not only should space law professionals and scholars be trained in law and have a deep understanding of especially public international law, but the approach to space law education and capacity-building must also be uniquely holistic and interdisciplinary. Hence, education and capacity-building can stimulate international development and cooperation in space activities and contribute to building expertise and capacity in countries with emerging space capabilities.