Air and Space Law Commons^™

Sun, Sea, Sand ... And Space: Launching Tourists Into Outer Space From The Dutch Caribbean, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

With the first space tourist flights coming ever closer to reality, the interests in becoming part of this challenging new chapter of human spaceflight are also spreading across the globe. One of the legally most interesting projects concerns the plans of Space Experience Curac;ao, a Dutch company, to develop a spaceport on the island of Curaçao in the Dutch Antilles, so far famous largely for its holiday resorts. The aim is to allow as of 2014 commercial spaceflights to be undertaken from the island as well as to start offering such flights itself from the island. The Dutch Antilles are …

The Legal Framework For Space Projects In Europe: Aspects Of Applicable Law And Dispute Resolution, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Space projects in Europe take place in a complicated environment involving many public, private and intergovernmental actors, where the participation of the private sector, as independent space operators or as sub-contractors to others, is usually subsumed under the label of 'the space industry,' producing hardware, software and services to be used in outer space, in support of space activities, or using products, data or information generated with the help of space activities.

Such private, semi-private and quasi-private actors use contracts as the main mechanism to protect their interests, the freedom to contract within the rule oflaw being the paramount overarching …

Introduction To National Space Legislation In Europe: Issues Of Authorization Of Private Space Activities In The Light Of Developments In European Space Cooperation, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

This book is, at the heart, a result of a Practitioners’ Forum of the European Centre of Space Law (ECSL), organized in Paris in December 2008. Having been established in the early 90s, ECSL Practitioners’ Fora are organized more or less annually, and have presented unique oneday occasions for academics and practitioners from all corners of the European space endeavor and space industry to discuss topical and important legal issues.

Europe And Security Issues In Space: The Institutional Setting, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

In the current timeframe, the relevance of discussions on the existing use of space for national security purposes and the potential of it to be used for non-peaceful purposes are clearly increasing. As a consequence, it becomes more important to address the role of Europe as a geopolitical, albeit far from monolithic, entity in this context.

From this perspective, the present paper analyzes some of the fundamental institutional parameters shaping the European presence in the space security domain, focusing on the two key players in space, which are truly European, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union (EU). …

Too-Close Encounters Of The Third Party Kind: Will The Liability Convention Stand The Test Of The Cosmos 2251-Iridium 33 Collision?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Cynics would say: space lawyers must have been waiting for this for decades, and now will of course immediately call for additional regulation. But indeed, the recent collision between the Cosmos 2251 and the Iridium 33 satellite, the first time since the Cosmos 954 disintegrated over Canada that the Liability Convention stands a chance of officially being invoked, raises a number of issues regarding the applicability of that Convention, and the level of precision with which it can be applied.

The present paper undertakes a critical analysis of some of these issues. Notably, this concerns the involvement of a commercial …

Regulation Of Space Activities In The Netherlands: From Hugo Grotius To The High Ground Of Outer Space, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The Netherlands, being aware of its relative size when compared to the major spacefaring nations not only globally but also in the European context, has always addressed outer space and space activities from the perspective of the role it could feasibly play. It has thus concentrated on a few niche areas which were either closely aligned to existing capabilities and experience or seemed to offer possibilities for mid-size economies and societies to play an important role.

The longstanding focus on scientific/technical aspects of space activities on the one hand, and on an international/legal context for them on the other, constitutes …

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 …

A European “Equivalent” To United States Export Controls: European Law On The Control Of International Trade In Dual-Use Space Technologies, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Abstract This article analyzes the system developed within Europe, more precisely within the European Union through European Community law, to address the security-sensitive issues involved in the export of hardware, software, and knowledge for the purpose of space activities and major space applications. The subject is introduced with reference to the far better known export control developments within the United States, such as those concerning International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and the international understandings under the Missile Technology Control Regime and Wassenaar Arrangement. European Community Regulations for export controls provide for a complex system of balances between national sovereignty and …

European Satellite Earth Observation: Law, Regulations, Policies, Projects, And Programmes, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Outer space is no longer the exclusive domain of the two Cold War superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. In fact, many states now understand the potential benefits that outer space activities can bring and have become active in outer space activities in their own ways. Amongst the major players in outer space, specifically the area of satellite earth observation, one area stands out: Europe. Europe is not a single state, such as the United States, Russia, Japan, China, India, or Brazil; rather, Europe is comprised of a number of sovereign member states. The term Europe as used …

Europe And The 'Resolution Revolution': 'European' Legal Approaches To Privacy And Their Relevance For Space Remote Sensing Activities, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

English abstract: With the increasing general availability of very high resolution (VHR) satellite remote sensing data, issues of potential invasion of personal spheres of privacy will become ever more important. As of yet, there is no international law providing for a clear-cut regime balancing the freedom of information, including information gathering, with the rights of individual persons to remain free from interference with their privacy. The latter issues therefore essentially can be tackled only at a national level, with the obvious disadvantage that any regulation remains principally limited in scope to the national jurisdiction concerned.

Also at the European level …

The International Law Of Outer Space And Consequences At The National Level For India: Towards An Indian National Space Law?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The discussion on a forum on the famous web-based LinkedIn networking site has already taken off: should India, as party to the four most important international space treaties, also develop a national space law, as other states increasingly are doing? That India is currently one of the leading spacefaring nations in the world is beyond discussion. In itself, however, that does not necessarily necessitate going through the trouble of drafting and implementing a national space law.

This article, however, argues that indeed, following the examples of a growing number of spacefaring states around the world discussed in some detail as …

Article Vi Of The Outer Space Treaty 'In The European Context', Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Concludes that a substantive and detailed European "approach" to dealing with Article VI's obligations is yet forthcoming, and suggests that issues like liability, insurance, licensing procedures and registration requirements should be dealt with in a sensible fashion. The European "context" involves a haphazard, fractured process whereby many traditional sovereign forces are only sometimes in agreement. With respect to Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty, there is a need for more European coherence.

United Nations Treaties And Principles On Outer Space, United Nations Office For Outer Space Affairs

Space Law Documents

The progressive development and codification of international law constitutes one of the principal responsibilities of the United Nations in the legal field. An important area for the exercise of such responsibilities is the new environment of outer space and, through the efforts of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its Legal Subcommittee, a number of significant contributions to the law of outer space have been made. The United Nations has, indeed, become a focal point for international cooperation in outer space and for the formulation of necessary international rules.
Outer space, extraordinary in many …

Treaty Law In Support Of Climate Monitoring, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Suggests that, in climate change conventions: appropriate dispute settlement clauses and explicit references to satellite data are included, that the authenticity of satellite data are certified, and that quantifiable parameters are inserted.

A Sleeping Beauty Awakens: The 1968 Rescue Agreement After Forty Years, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Forty years ago, the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space, was put into place as the second treaty on outer space drafted by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). The Rescue Agreement followed on the heels of the "Outer Space Treaty," and in turn was followed by the "Liability Convention" the "Registration Convention" and the "Moon Agreement," before political developments made COPUOS reluctant to draft any further treaties on space. The Rescue Agreement has attracted much less attention than the other …

Defining Subject Matter Under Space Law: Near Earth Objects Versus Space Objects, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

It may seem to be an obvious, instinctive distinction, the one between (natural) near earth objects and (man made) space objects. However, the very recent proposal tabled by the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China for a treaty on the de-weaponisation of space apparently makes reference in this context to a prohibition to use or threaten the use of force against "outer space objects." Such varying use of terminology may raise appropriate concerns about the applicability of any such agreement, or indeed other present or future rules of space law, to the specific case of NED's and any …

As Space Law Comes To Nebraska, Space Comes Down To Earth, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

It is a great honor and an equally great pleasure for me to stand here today and address you by way of an inaugural lecture, embedded in this conference on formalism and informalism in space law that we are currently hosting at the University of Nebraska College of Law.

An inaugural lecture then is perceived essentially as a public lecture where a newly-appointed professor sets out, for everyone to hear, his or her general ideas on, and programmatic approach to, the field that he or she is going to tackle in teaching and research-in my case, all in the context …

Legal Aspects Of Using Space-Derived Geospatial Information For Emergency Response, With Particular Reference To The Charter On Space And Major Disasters, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Increasing attention is being paid today to the potential offered by geospatial information in particular if generated with the help of satellites to contribute to mitigation of major disasters—tsunamis and earthquakes as much as man-made disasters. The current contribution seeks to outline some of the major legal issues involved in the use space-derived data for emergency response, focusing on four topics: copyrights, access to remote sensing data, responsibilities and liabilities, and security and dual use-issues involved. This contribution forms part of the Leiden faculty of Law research program “securing the rule of law in a world of multilevel jurisdiction: (coherence, …

Navigating Safely Through The 21st Century: Icao And The Use Of Gnss In Civil Aviation, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Discusses the European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) with respect to how GNSS will be used in civil aviation within the existing legal framework. Examines the implications of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, 1944, otherwise known as the Chicago Convention, on air navigation services, and its recent integration of GNSS.

Hosting Galileo Ground Stations, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

At this moment, the European GNSS Supervisory Authority, the public agency-half of the Public-Private Partnership principally in charge of the Galileo system, is built up, and the first full-fledged operations on a global scale are currently envisaged by 2010 or shortly thereafter. Thus, one set of legal questions which now becomes of interest concerns those surrounding the possibility for third countries to host Galileo ground stations.

The present paper seeks to analyse these issues from the perspective of space law, in particular as regards issues of international responsibility and liability under the Outer Space Treaty and the Liability Convention, and …

The 'S' Of 'Security’: Europe On The Road To Gmes, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

In November 2001, by means of a Resolution, the European Union officially launched 'Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security' (GMES), the second European space programme (after Galileo) essentially driven by the Union. The Resolution inter alia calls for the European Commission to coordinate with the European Space Agency (ESA) the realisation of "an operational and autonomous European capability for global monitoring for environment and security" by 2008, crucially involving a satellite system. Relevant data which are to form part of such a capability may, in principle, come from a number of different sources: space-based data, airborne data, and in …

Fundamental Provisions For National Space Laws, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Whilst national space laws currently are a 'hot' topic in general discussions on space law and policy, and rightly so, one should never lose sight that 'national space law' is not something self-evident or nature-given. In each case there is a general need to justify any efforts and resources inevitably required for establishment to start with, then continuing adaptation and implementation, of a national space law. From that perspective, the present paper tries to answer three questions that are of paramount importance. Firstly, why do we need or want national space laws in the first place? Secondly, the question follows …

Space For Tourism? Legal Aspects Of Private Spaceflight For Tourist Purposes, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

It is barely five years ago since the first space tourist proper, Mr. Dennis Tito, made his much-publicised 20 million-dollar flight to the ISS. And now, purportedly thousands of prospective customers are lining up with such nascent companies as Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, for a 200,000-dollar, few-minute flight into the nearest part of outer space. In other words: it looks like space tourism is here to stay.

This obviously raises a number of key legal issues, stretching from proper application of such international space treaties as the Liability and Registration Conventions to national legal issues pertaining to liabilities, licensing …

Towards Monitoring Galileo: The European Gnss Supervisory Authority In Statu Nascendi = Zur Künftigen Überwachungsagentur Des Galileo Systems, Vers Une Autorité De Surveillance Du Système Galileo, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

There is little doubt that one of the most interesting and revolutionary, but also complicated and challenging space projects of today is Galileo, Europe’s own full-fledged second-generation navigation satellite system. Developed jointly by the European Union through the Commission and the European Space Agency, Galileo should by the end of the decade have thirty operational satellites in middle-earth-orbits providing timing, positioning and navigation signals across the globe.

From the very beginning Galileo was envisaged in particular by the Commission as a public-private-partnership (PPP). On the one hand, a private concessionaire should operate the system as of full operational capability (originally …

Bringing Space Law Into The Commercial World: Property Rights Without Sovereignty, Henry R. Hertzfeld, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

International agreements declare that no government can claim outer space or celestial bodies in outer space as its own. Private firms seeking to invest in potential space enterprises frequently point to these provisions as a major barrier to the future commercial development of space. Such businesses contend that the absence of property rights prevent them from obtaining external financing, hinder the protection of their investments in space, and deprive them of the assurance that they can appropriate income from their investment. In short, the lack of sovereignty in space jeopardizes the ability to make profits from private investment.

This article …

Intellectual Property Rights As Revenue-Generation For Galileo: To Own Or Not To Own, That Is The Question, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

One of the major issues surrounding the future Galileo concerns intellectual property rights and their potential for revenue-generation to the benefit of the future private concessionaire. This article investigates some of the key aspects concerned, with a view also to downstream value-added service providers using Galileo signals and services.

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 …

Current And Future Development Of National Space Law And Policy, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

In a highly political, highly visible area of society such as that of space activities, 'law' and 'policy' are not always clearly distinguishable - and more often that not, the ties between the two are very short and very direct. If a distinction would need to be made, certainly to the public eye 'policy' would focus more on the day-to-day handling of affairs with 'flexibility' as the key concept, whereas 'law' would be - focusing more on long-range stability, with inherent 'inflexibility' almost inevitably following from that. Whatever the value of such evaluation, essentially the ties between the two are …

The Sky Is The Limit--But Where Does It End?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The discussion on the delimitation, and hence definition of 'outer space' as an area, and subsidiary to that on the need or desirability to have such a delimitation and definition, harks back to the beginning of the space age. Until then, it had been quite clear that every state exercised full sovereignty over the sky above its territory and territorial waters, whilst no one felt the need for finding out how high upward such sovereignty would exactly extend. With Sputnik, for the first time the practical question arose however whether there indeed was an upper limit to airspace, and if …

Review Of Aerospace Marketing Management, By Philippe Malaval And Christophe Bénaroya, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

From time to time, especially among space lawyers, discussion flares up on the wisdom of treating air law and space law as similar branches of law, and on the justification for teaching and doing research on both at the same venues and in the same contexts. Whatever the merits of keeping a keen eye on the particularities of the two legal fields, however, one should never loose sight of the fact that space law is intricately linked to issues not only of space policy, but also of economics and technology, and that the worlds of aviation and the space industry …