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- Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications (11)
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Articles 1 - 30 of 31
Full-Text Articles in Law
Res Communis Omnium V. Res Nullius In U.S. Space Mining Law & Policy: A Multilevel Theoretical Analysis Of U.S. Public Policy On Space Minerals Mining Under Title Iv, §51301- §403, U.S. 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (Public Law 114-90) & Its Implications For International Space Law Under Articles I & Ii, 1967 Outer Space Treaty, Samuel Chuks Japhets
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The outer space territory and celestial bodies are unfathomably rich in strategic mineral resources worth trillions of dollars such as water ice, helium-3, platinum, iron, cobalt, and ammonia. These space resources, distinct from their space territorial and celestial bodies loci, need to be located, characterized, captured, processed, concentrated, and transported to points of use in-situ or on Earth by capable state and private space investors, stakeholders, or national agencies, for private benefits. Investors in this embryonic space mining industry need legal certainty and predictability under unambiguous legal and policy frameworks that guarantee property interests over extracted minerals. The Problem is …
Romano Named A Rumsfeld Graduate Fellow, James Owsley Boyd
Romano Named A Rumsfeld Graduate Fellow, James Owsley Boyd
Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)
James Romano’s interests are out of this world. The 2L at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law is intrigued by the futuristic sounding concept of space law, but is quick to note that there’s nothing futuristic about it.
“More private companies are rapidly entering space,” Romano said, “and I’m deeply interested in the question of ‘What does the future of space look like?’”
While Romano’s focus may be directed upward, his trajectory on Earth is quickly ascending.
Romano is one of 14 scholars selected as a Rumsfeld Foundation Graduate Fellow for 2023-24. The fellowships, named in honor of the …
Full Spectrum Space Deterrence: From Laws To Technology, Joshua Carlson
Full Spectrum Space Deterrence: From Laws To Technology, Joshua Carlson
Honors Theses
Conflict in space is becoming an ever-real possibility, with the potential of rendering the space completely useless for future generations. Current talks are centered around limiting or preventing any weapons deployed to space, but this is not the most effective way of dealing with the issue. The focus should shift to agreeing on how nations should act responsibly in space together instead of preventing nations from acting at all. The best way of accomplishing this goal is by improving satellite design, creating agreed upon and understood rules of engagement, fostering widespread cooperation between nations, and choosing not to be the …
Legal Issues For Blockchain In An Environment Most Unkind, Tyler Kirsch
Legal Issues For Blockchain In An Environment Most Unkind, Tyler Kirsch
Blockchain Law
SpaceChain is looking to use an operating system based in blockchain for two purposes: first, it can be used to allow a constellation of satellites to communicate; and second, it can be used to ensure compliance to the rules set for the constellation.27 If a group of satellites launch with a smart contract that states both the purposes of the constellation parts and whole, outcomes can be coded into the satellites for compliance purposes.
SpaceChain is hoping, through the use of this OS, to make an “agnostic” jurisdiction. By this, SpaceChain is looking to not build a traditional jurisdiction, but …
Business, Legal, And Policy Issues In Relation To Increased Private Space Activity, Mark J. Sundahl
Business, Legal, And Policy Issues In Relation To Increased Private Space Activity, Mark J. Sundahl
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
Throughout the history of human activity in outer space, the role of private companies has steadily grown, and, in some cases, companies have even replaced government agencies as the primary actors in space. As private space activity has grown and diversified, the laws and regulations that govern private actors have been forced to evolve in reaction to the new realities of the industry. On the international level, the treaties concluded in the 1960s and 1970s continue to be in force today. However, these treaties only govern state activity in space. The rules regulating private industry are necessarily domestic in nature, …
The Regulation Of Space Tourism, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
The Regulation Of Space Tourism, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
Space tourism has to be regulated as a subset of private spaceflight activities, whereby humans are sent to outer space in a fundamentally private context. In addition to space law, air law would be relevant for addressing private spaceflight, but neither regime has at the international level regulated relevant activities to any appreciable extent. They provide little more than a set of guiding overarching principles. Much of the onus of future regulation will fall on the shoulders of individual states, most notably the United States. In the more distant future, this may result in a special international regime, using elements …
Interstitial Space Law, Melissa J. Durkee
Interstitial Space Law, Melissa J. Durkee
Scholarly Works
Conventionally, customary international law is developed through the actions and beliefs of nations. International treaties are interpreted, in part, by assessing how the parties to the treaty behave. This Article observes that these forms of uncodified international law—custom and subsequent treaty practice—are also developed through a nation’s reactions, or failures to react, to acts and beliefs that can be attributed to it. I call this “attributed lawmaking.”
Consider the new commercial space race. Innovators like SpaceX and Blue Origin seek a permissive legal environment. A Cold-War-era treaty does not seem adequately to address contemporary plans for space. The treaty does, …
The Public Trust Doctrine, Outer Space, And The Global Commons: Time To Call Home Et, Hope M. Babcock
The Public Trust Doctrine, Outer Space, And The Global Commons: Time To Call Home Et, Hope M. Babcock
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Space exploration is heating up. Governments and private interests are on a fast track to develop technologies to send people and equipment to celestial bodies, like the moon and asteroids, to extract their untapped resources. Near-space is rapidly filling up with public and private satellites, causing electromagnetic interference problems and dangerous space debris from collisions and earlier launches. The absence of a global management system for the private commercial development of outer space resources will allow these near space problems to be exported further into the galaxy. Moreover, without a governing authority or rules controlling entry or limiting despoliation, outer …
Space Law And Gnss—A Look At The Legal Frameworks For “Outer Space”, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Space Law And Gnss—A Look At The Legal Frameworks For “Outer Space”, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), obviously, make crucial use of satellites operating in an area commonly known as “outer space,” raising issues regarding which specific body of law might rule the operations of such satellite systems. Though the “horizontal” boundary between outer space and the underlying area of airspaces has never been authoritatively defined, it has generally been agreed that those two areas differ fundamentally as to the legal regimes ruling them, giving rise indeed to a specific body of “space law.”
The Cape Town Convention And The Law Of Outer Space: Five Scenarios, Mark J. Sundahl
The Cape Town Convention And The Law Of Outer Space: Five Scenarios, Mark J. Sundahl
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
The adoption of the Space Assets Protocol to the Cape Town Convention marked a new era in the evolution of the law of outer space by providing the first space treaty regarding private international law. This Protocol was not created in a legal vacuum, but was drafted against the background of the existing United Nations space treaties that were drafted in the 1960s and 1970s. Although the existing UN treaties address public international law and therefore cover subject matter that is quite distinct from the private law issues addressed by the Space Assets Protocol, there are still points at which …
Developing Space: Political And Socio-Economic Rationales Of Emerging Space Programs, Sandra Cabrera-Alvarado, Sara Langston, Tanay Sharma
Developing Space: Political And Socio-Economic Rationales Of Emerging Space Programs, Sandra Cabrera-Alvarado, Sara Langston, Tanay Sharma
Publications
A presentation on developing space programs in Latin America and the need to work together cooperatively to maximize budgets to support scientific and technological research.
Space Rock Mining: A Land Rush Without Title, Richard Miyasaki
Space Rock Mining: A Land Rush Without Title, Richard Miyasaki
GGU Law Review Blog
No abstract provided.
The Integrated Approach—Regulating Private Human Spaceflight As Space Activity, Aircraft Operation, And High-Risk Adventure Tourism, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
The Integrated Approach—Regulating Private Human Spaceflight As Space Activity, Aircraft Operation, And High-Risk Adventure Tourism, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
One of the overriding issues concerning private human spaceflight concerns how to properly regulate this specific new type of activity. Noting that in the discussion regarding regulation thereof usually the three distinct regimes of space law, air law and high-risk adventure tourism law are drawn upon to look for solutions, the present paper addresses the key elements of each of these approaches as they are to some extent already currently being applied and where, as a consequence, gaps and overlaps arise, as well as presents an effort to address the latter in a sensible, coherent, efficient and feasible manner.
Book Review: Who Owns The Moon?: Extraterrestrial Aspects Of Land And Mineral Resources Ownership, F. Tim Knight
Book Review: Who Owns The Moon?: Extraterrestrial Aspects Of Land And Mineral Resources Ownership, F. Tim Knight
Librarian Publications & Presentations
This is a review of Who Owns the Moon?: Extraterrestrial Aspects of Land and Mineral Resources Ownership by Virgiliu Pop (ISBN: 978-1-4020-9134-6)
Towards 'Flags Of Convenience' In Space?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Towards 'Flags Of Convenience' In Space?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
With the increasing privatization of outer space activities, the issue of appropriate national licensing thereof and the consequent risks of cheap 'flags of convenience' being sought for the purpose is becoming more relevant. The paper assesses the possibility of such 'flags of convenience' arising in the context of space activities, as well as what could be done about it, all with reference to the law of the sea where the concept originally was coined.
Contradictio In Terminis Or Realpolitik? A Qualified Plea For A Role Of 'Soft Law' In The Context Of Space Activities, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Contradictio In Terminis Or Realpolitik? A Qualified Plea For A Role Of 'Soft Law' In The Context Of Space Activities, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
Discusses the issue of 'soft law' in the context of space activities, the characteristics of 'law' and '(international) space law,' the role of 'law' per se in the context of space activities, the use of qualified language in legal documents (including clauses beginning with words like should or may).
It is finally submitted that, while never losing sight of the benefits of a clear and coherent legal framework probably still best reflected through a treaty regime, in the arena of space activities there is considerable benefit from such mechanisms usually labelled 'soft law', whether in the context of customary …
The Origins Of Authorisation: Article Vi Of The Outer Space Treaty And International Space Law, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
The Origins Of Authorisation: Article Vi Of The Outer Space Treaty And International Space Law, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
First three paragraphs:
The issue of authorisation of private space activities, the key theme of the present book, ultimately goes back to the principled political disagreements in the 50s and 60s between the two (then) superpowers in space, the United States and the Soviet Union, on the proper role of other entities than states in space activities. The Soviet Union, true to its communist ideology, was squarely against any private activities in most economically-relevant areas of society, but certainly so in an area of such strategic concern as outer space. l By contrast, the United States throughout its existence has …
Liability And Insurance In The Context Of National Authorisation, A. Kerrest De Rozavel, F. G. Von Der Dunk
Liability And Insurance In The Context Of National Authorisation, A. Kerrest De Rozavel, F. G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
First three paragraphs:
It is probably difficult to overstate the importance of liability and the related area of insurance when domestic legislation in the field of space activities is concerned, as such activities still constitute a relatively hazardous undertaking and the risks of something going horribly wrong are always close at hand. Moreover, though fortunately so far major accidents as a consequence of space activities—at least on earth—have not occurred, if they would occur there should be little doubt that they may cause major damage, potentially even of a catastrophic size. As a consequence, the question as regards who would …
The Issue Of National Security In The Context Of National Space Legislation—Comparing European And Non-European States, F. G. Von Der Dunk
The Issue Of National Security In The Context Of National Space Legislation—Comparing European And Non-European States, F. G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
First three paragraphs:
The inherent dual-use character of most, if not all space activities cannot fail to exercise a considerable impact also on the involvement of private actors in space. Much technology used for and/or developed by private space activities may potentially be put at the use of those wishing to change a particular political status quo, and likewise the material results of some private space activities may, consciously or inadvertently, come to be used against the national security interests of one state or another. Hence, issues of national security will likely also have an effect on the issue of …
Developing The Final Frontier: Defining Private Property Rights On Celestial Bodies For The Benefit Of All Mankind, Taylor R. Dalton
Developing The Final Frontier: Defining Private Property Rights On Celestial Bodies For The Benefit Of All Mankind, Taylor R. Dalton
Cornell Law School J.D. Student Research Papers
Sustainable colonization and exploitation of the lunar surface, Mars, or near by asteroids is still decades away. However, NASA, the Obama Administration, and other agencies around the world have shown a growing interest in establishing a human presence on the moon, mars, and beyond.
Unfortunately, the legal regime concerning the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies, which is necessary to further development in outer space, is largely unsettled. One important unsettled area is the ownership status of celestial bodies and whether private property rights on those bodies are permissible and desirable.
This Paper takes the view that private …
Space Tourism And Export Controls: A Prayer For Relief, Mark J. Sundahl
Space Tourism And Export Controls: A Prayer For Relief, Mark J. Sundahl
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
The recent emergence of the commercial human spaceflight industry is a transformative moment in the history of mankind. Multiple space tourism companies are planning to send private passengers on suborbital flights in the coming years, private spaceports are being built around the world, and at least one company, Bigelow Aerospace, is planning to build private space stations. Moreover, the new U.S. Space Policy recently announced by the Obama administration promises to accelerate the development of the spaceflight industry by relying on private companies to meet governmental needs, such as ferrying goods and people to the International Space Station.
This article …
Access Mars: Assessing Cave Capabilities Establishing Specific Solutions: Final Report, Abdul Mohsen Al Husseini, Luis Alvarez Sanchez, Konstantinos Antonakopoulos, Jeffrey (Johannes) Apeldoorn, Kenneth Lowell Ashford Jr., Kutay Deniz Atabay, Sara Langston, Et Al.
Access Mars: Assessing Cave Capabilities Establishing Specific Solutions: Final Report, Abdul Mohsen Al Husseini, Luis Alvarez Sanchez, Konstantinos Antonakopoulos, Jeffrey (Johannes) Apeldoorn, Kenneth Lowell Ashford Jr., Kutay Deniz Atabay, Sara Langston, Et Al.
Publications
The human race has evolved, grown and expanded through the exploration of Earth. After initial steps on the Moon, our next challenge is to explore the solar system. Mars shows potential for both scientific discovery and future human settlement, and so is a prime candidate for the next leap of human exploration. Such a bold endeavor will be a driver for an unprecedented worldwide cooperative effort and the catalyst for a new era of international, intercultural and interdisciplinary human relations. Scientific and technological progress will also accelerate as mankind is ushered into a new era of space exploration.
Currently proposed …
Space Law In The Age Of The International Space Station, Frans Von Der Dunk
Space Law In The Age Of The International Space Station, Frans Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
This article focuses on the special context where humans from various nations work and live together in one orbiting laboratory, the International Space Station (ISS), and the legal rules pertinent to those activities. This essentially concerns the application of an existing body of international treaties on space and space activities to the ISS, as well as the special legal framework that has been established to deal with the various ramifications of this very international operating environment. Within that context moreover, the specific European parameters stemming from the fact that the European Space Agency (ESA) serves as the vehicle for the …
The Duty To Rescue Space Tourists And Return Private Spacecraft, Mark J. Sundahl
The Duty To Rescue Space Tourists And Return Private Spacecraft, Mark J. Sundahl
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
International space law has long imposed a duty to rescue astronauts and return errant spacecraft to the launching state. However, the existing space law treaties contain a number of gaps and interpretational problems that, among other things, call into question whether the duty to rescue and return applies to space tourists and spacecraft owned by private companies. These issues are of critical importance to the survival of the new space tourism industry, which is made up of a growing number of companies - such as Virgin Galactic, Rocketplane, and Blue Origin - that intend to launch their maiden flights in …
Rescuing Space Tourists: A Humanitarian Duty And Business Need, Mark J. Sundahl
Rescuing Space Tourists: A Humanitarian Duty And Business Need, Mark J. Sundahl
Law Faculty Contributions to Books
This paper explores the controversial topic of the duty to rescue under existing space law treaties and makes the case for an expansive interpretation of the treaties that would require states to rescue space tourists. This being said, space companies are advised not to rely on state action to rescue tourists in distress, but are instead urged to make their own arrangements to help ensure the safety of their customers and, in turn, limit their exposure to liability. To assist companies in this task, this paper sets forth the essential components of a rescue policy that should be adopted by …
Big Brother Or Eye In The Sky? Legal Aspects Of Space-Based Geo-Lnformation For Disaster Management, Frans Von Der Dunk
Big Brother Or Eye In The Sky? Legal Aspects Of Space-Based Geo-Lnformation For Disaster Management, Frans Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
Amongst the methods of gathering geo-information inter alia for disaster management purposes, the use of satellites is a particularly interesting one in view of their global coverage. In this area a number of recent interesting developments have taken place, such as the establishment of a Charter on Space and Major Disasters, and the rapidly evolving plans for GMES and GEOSS. These developments raise a number of legal issues, related to state responsibility, state liability, and the respective roles of intergovernmental organizations and commercial and/or private entities in this regard. These issues cannot be easily solved, since the international legal environment …
The Precautionary Principle As The Law Of Planetary Defense: Achieving The Mandate To Defend The Earth Against Asteroid And Comet Impacts While There Is Still Time, Evan R. Seamone
Journal Articles
Current legal and policy efforts to enable adequate defense against potential asteroid or comet collisions with the earth are insufficient because they are indirectly premised upon theories that require verification of a clear and imminent threat before governmental agencies can act. This Article identifies the "precautionary principle" as the preeminent law of planetary defense against asteroid and comet impacts. The precautionary principle requires governments to take action to prevent harm even when it is uncertain if, when, or where the harm will occur. It requires governments to implement specific frameworks for making prompt decisions, directs intergovernmental bodies to plan for …
Sovereignty Versus Space - Public Law And Private Launch In The Asian Context, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Sovereignty Versus Space - Public Law And Private Launch In The Asian Context, Frans G. Von Der Dunk
Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications
In the more than forty years which have gone by since the birth of space law, there has not been a more revolutionary development than the rapidly increasing involvement of private entities in space activities. International space law in the narrow sense—essentially five space treaties and five United Nations Resolutions on space constituting the core of the corpus juris spatialis internationalis— developed for its most fundamental part when only states (and a few international organisations) were undertaking space activities in any meaningful sense of the word. Its exclusively public character, for example in terms of rights and obligations provided …
Space Resources, Common Property, And The Collective Action Problem, Glenn Reynolds, Robert Merges
Space Resources, Common Property, And The Collective Action Problem, Glenn Reynolds, Robert Merges
College of Law Faculty Scholarship
The subjects of lunar mining, asteroidal resource extraction, and orbital solar power are again attracting considerable attention, leading to more discussion of space property rights regimes. This article discusses both private-property regimes and centralized regulatory regimes of the sort envisioned by the 1979 Moon Treaty, and also notes that private property regimes may actually be both more productive of wealth and more beneficial for the space environment than centralized regulatory schemes.
Space Resources, Common Property, And The Collective Action Problem, Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Space Resources, Common Property, And The Collective Action Problem, Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Scholarly Works
The subjects of lunar mining, asteroidal resource extraction, and orbital solar power are again attracting considerable attention, leading to more discussion of space property rights regimes. This article discusses both private-property regimes and centralized regulatory regimes of the sort envisioned by the 1979 Moon Treaty, and also notes that private property regimes may actually be both more productive of wealth and more beneficial for the space environment than centralized regulatory schemes.