Space law
Space law is the body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. The parameters of space law include space exploration, liability for damage, weapons use, rescue efforts, environmental preservation, information sharing, new technologies, and ethics. Other fields of law, such as administrative law, intellectual property law, arms control law, insurance law, environmental law, criminal law, and commercial law, are also integrated within space law.
The origins of space law date back to 1919, with international law recognizing each country's sovereignty over the airspace directly above their territory, later reinforced at the Chicago Convention in 1944. The onset of domestic space programs during the Cold War propelled the official creation of international space policy initiated by the International Council of Scientific Unions. The Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, directly spurred the United States Congress to pass the Space Act, thereby establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As space exploration required crossing transnational boundaries,
this era witnessed the emergence of space law as a distinct field, independent from traditional aerospace law.
Since the Cold War, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies and the International Telecommunication Union have served as the constitutional legal framework and set of principles and procedures constituting space law. Further, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, along with its Legal and Scientific and Technical Subcommittees, is responsible for debating issues of international space law and policy. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs serves as the secretariat of the committee and promotes Access to Space for All through a wide range of conferences and capacity-building programs. Challenges that space law will continue to face in the future are fourfold—spanning across dimensions of domestic compliance, international cooperation, ethics, and the advent of scientific innovations. Furthermore, specific guidelines on the definition of airspace have yet to be universally determined.
Early developments
One of the earliest works on space law was Czech jurist Vladimír Mandl's Das Weltraum-Recht: Ein Problem der Raumfahrt, written in German and published in 1932.At Caltech in 1942 Theodore von Kármán and other rocket scientists banded together to form Aerojet rocket company with the help of lawyer Andrew G. Haley. To toast the new corporation, Kármán said, "Now, Andy, we will make the rockets—you must make the corporation and obtain the money. Later on, you will have to see that we behave well in outer space. ... After all, we are the scientists but you are the lawyer, and you must tell us how to behave ourselves according to law and to safeguard our innocence." Indeed, twenty years later, Haley published the fundamental textbook, Space Law and Government.
Beginning in 1957 with the Space Race, nations began discussing systems to ensure the peaceful use of outer space. Bilateral discussions between the United States and the USSR in 1958 resulted in the presentation of issues to the UN for debate. In 1959, the UN created the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. COPUOS in turn created two subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee. The COPUOS Legal Subcommittee has been a primary forum for discussion and negotiation of international agreements relating to outer space.
In 1960, the International Astronautical Congress met in Stockholm and heard several submissions including a survey of legal opinion on extraterrestrial jurisdiction by Andrew G. Haley.
Starting in 1961, the General Assembly Resolution 1721 and later 1802, both titled "International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space", and Resolution 1962, or a "Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space" were passed unanimously. These basic principles formed the foundation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
International treaties
Six international treaties have been negotiated to govern state behaviour in space:| Treaty | Official title | Year signed | Year of entry into force | Number of states parties |
| Partial Test Ban Treaty | Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water | 1963 | 1963 | 126 |
| Outer Space Treaty | Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies | 1967 | 1967 | 111 |
| Rescue Agreement | Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space | 1967 | 1968 | 98 |
| Liability Convention | Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects | 1972 | 1972 | 96 |
| Registration Convention | Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space | 1974 | 1976 | 71 |
| Moon Treaty | Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies | 1979 | 1984 | 18 |
The Rescue Agreement, the Liability Convention and the Registration Convention all elaborate on provisions of the Outer Space Treaty. Some consider the Moon Treaty to be a failed treaty due to its limited acceptance. Others, however, have suggested to complement the Moon Treaty, to accommodate raised issues with it, while employing its qualities.
1998 ISS agreement
In addition to the international treaties that have been negotiated at the United Nations, the nations participating in the International Space Station have entered into the 1998 Agreement among the governments of Canada, Member States of the European Space Agency, Japan, Russian Federation, and the United States concerning cooperation on the Civil International Space Station. This agreement provides, among other things, that NASA is the lead agency in coordinating the member states' contributions to and activities on the space station, and that each nation has jurisdiction over its own module. The agreement also provides for protection of intellectual property and procedures for criminal prosecution. This agreement may very well serve as a model for future agreements regarding international cooperation in facilities on the Moon and Mars, where the first off-world colonies and scientific/industrial bases are likely to be established.International principles and declarations
The five treaties and agreements of international space law cover "non-appropriation of outer space by any one country, arms control, the freedom of exploration, liability for damage caused by space objects, the safety and rescue of spacecraft and astronauts, the prevention of harmful interference with space activities and the environment, the notification and registration of space activities, scientific investigation and the exploitation of natural resources in outer space and the settlement of disputes".The United Nations General Assembly adopted five declarations and legal principles which encourage exercising international laws, as well as unified communication between countries. The five declarations and principles are:
File:Buzz salutes the U.S. Flag.jpg|thumb|right|The deploying of the United States flag during the first crewed Moon landing on the lunar surface does not constitute a territorial claim, unlike historically practiced on Earth, since the US reinforced the Outer Space Treaty by adhering to it and making no such territorial claim.
Province of all mankind
The Outer Space Treaty broadly established the concept of space being the province of all mankind, and has been discussed in comparison to the later by the Moon Treaty invoked concept of common heritage of humanity, while overlapping concepts the latter highlights the proclaimed material nature of celestial bodies and the former the proclaimed access to the use of space.Consensus
The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its Scientific and Technical and Legal Subcommittees operate on the basis of consensus, i.e., all delegations from member States must agree on any matter, be it treaty language before it can be included in the final version of a treaty or new items on Committee/Subcommittee's agendas. One reason that the U.N. space treaties lack definitions and are unclear in other respects, is that it is easier to achieve consensus when language and terms are vague. In recent years, the Legal Subcommittee has been unable to achieve consensus on discussion of a new comprehensive space agreement. It is also unlikely that the Subcommittee will be able to agree to amend the Outer Space Treaty in the foreseeable future. A number of space faring nations seem to believe that discussing a new space agreement or amendment of the Outer Space Treaty would be futile and time-consuming, because entrenched differences regarding resource appropriation, property rights and other issues relating to commercial activity make consensus unlikely.National law
Space law also encompasses national laws, and multiple countries have passed national space legislation in recent years. The Outer Space Treaty gives responsibility for regulating space activities, including both government and private sector, to the individual countries where the activity is taking place. If a national of, or an organization incorporated in one country launches a spacecraft in a different country, interpretations differ as to whether the home country or the launching country has jurisdiction.The Outer Space Treaty also incorporates the UN Charter by reference, and requires parties to ensure that activities are conducted in accordance with other forms of international law such as customary international law.
The advent of commercial activities like space mining, space tourism, private exploration, and the development of multiple commercial spaceports, is leading a number of countries to consider how to regulate private space activities. The challenge is to regulate these activities in a manner that does not hinder or preclude investment, while still ensuring that commercial activities comply with international law. Developing nations are concerned that the spacefaring nations will monopolize space resources. Royalties paid to developing countries is one reason the United States has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and why some oppose applying the same principles to outer space.
Several nations have enacted or recently updated their national space law, for example, Luxembourg in 2017,
the United States in 2015,
and Japan in 2008.
Due to the expansion of the domain of space research and allied activities in India, the draft Space Activities Bill was introduced in 2017.