Space jurisdiction

Space jurisdiction, a field addressing what countries can enforce various laws in space, has become more important as the private sector enters the field of space tourism. Under the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, while space and celestial bodies cannot be appropriated by nations, objects launched into space and personnel on board them remain under the jurisdiction of the state of registry.

International treaties

The majority of international treaties currently in existence address only specific aspects of space. No major treaties have been passed that have broad, sweeping jurisdiction in space, and it is largely unclear who would enforce such laws. The treaties currently in existence regarding space law include the following:

The Moon Treaty of 1979 was proposed after the Outer Space Treaty, but failed to be ratified by any major space-faring nation such as those capable of orbital spaceflight. If it had been broadly accepted, the result would have been an international regime overseeing extraction of resources from celestial bodies.

Trade in space

Issues of trade and crime in space have not been debated except with respect to the International Space Station. Agreements have involved all units in operation including Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada, and Japan. Three basic levels of agreement include:

International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement, an international treaty signed on January 29, 1998, by the fifteen governments involved in the Space Station project. This governmental-level document provides for teamwork between the involved countries in a peaceful Space Station.
Four Memoranda of Understanding, an agreement between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and each co-operating Space Agency: European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Russian Federal Space Agency, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The objective of these space agencies-level agreements is to specify the roles and responsibilities of each agency in the design, development, operation and utilization of the Space Station.

Space marriage

Space marriage is an aspect of space tourism.
On August 10, 2003, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko became the first human to marry in space. A provision in the marriage laws of Texas, USA, that says one party does not have to be present so long as the couple presents an affidavit explaining why one of the two participants in the ceremony cannot attend. This allowed Malenchenko to marry Ekaterina Dmitriev from the International Space Station.

Other matters of space jurisdiction

Resource extraction

With the failure of the Moon Treaty of 1979, there is no clear rule regarding the development or use of resources located in space, whether by states or private parties. The United States has asserted a right for U.S. citizens to own space resources they obtain, per the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act § 51303:

Criminal law

In one instance, astronaut Anne McClain was falsely accused by an estranged spouse of committing a financial crime while on the International Space Station, which triggered investigations by the US Federal Trade Commission and the NASA Office of Inspector General; the investigation exonerated McClain and the spouse pled guilty to making false statements to law enforcement.