Air and Space Law Commons^™

Bridging The Digital Divide: The Role Of Evolving Space Law In Ensuring Equitable Access And Ethical Use Of Climate Data, Caitlin B. Riordan

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Transnational Accountability For Space Debris As A Precursor To Maintaining Peace In Outer Space, Bella Alonzo

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Beginning with the Space Age in the 1950s, space exploration has accelerated exponentially as humans on Earth are continuously drawn to the mystery and opportunity that lies in outer space. The United States (“U.S.”) and the Soviet Union led the charge in space discovery throughout the “Space Race,” and once other countries saw the value in developing the technology to utilize space as a resource, multiple nations followed suit. While the U.S. and Russia retain the most dominant presence in outer space, other global superpowers like China, India, and Japan have exhibited competitive capabilities.

Interplanetary Risk Regulation, Jonathan B. Wiener, Charles (Chase) Hamilton

Faculty Scholarship

Space exploration promises new opportunities but also new risks. After centuries of national settlements and international conflicts on Earth, and the Cold War era of two great power states racing to the Moon, today we see a rapidly proliferating arena of actors, both governmental and non-governmental, undertaking bold new ventures off-Earth while posing an array of new risks. These multiple activities, actors, and risks raise the prospects of regulatory gaps, costs, conflicts, and complexities that warrant reconsideration and renovation of legacy legal regimes such as the international space law agreements. New approaches are needed, beyond current national and international law, …

Legal And Ethical Considerations For Balancing Space Innovation And Dark Sky Preservation, Sara M. Langston, Kayla D. Taylor

Publications

The proliferation of satellites in Earth’s orbit has significantly enhanced capabilities in communication, Earth observation, and scientific research. However, this rapid expansion presents considerable legal and ethical challenges, particularly regarding the preservation of dark and quiet skies. As low Earth orbit becomes increasingly congested, the implications for astronomical observation, environmental integrity, and cultural heritage require critical examination.

This presentation provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the legal, practical and ethical considerations essential for preserving dark and quiet skies. It begins by exploring the legal frameworks governing the use of space, highlighting relevant international treaties, national responsibilities, and emerging issues aimed at …

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 …

Markets, Regulation, And Inevitability: The Case For Property Rights In Outer Space, Eliot T. Tracz

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

In 1967, a number of countries—including the United States— entered into the Outer Space Treaty. This treaty established the fundamental rules by which countries are to conduct themselves in outer space. At the time, there was more concern about the possibility of the Cold War, and thus nuclear weaponry, extending into space and very little consideration of commercial activity, which was largely the province of Science Fiction. Today, commercialization of space includes satellites, private companies contracting for government work, space tourism, and the early stages of testing materials for resource extraction. Interestingly, no international system for the recognition of property …

Vulnerability As A Launching State: Why The United States Should Adopt Explicit Indemnification Procedures In Response To The Growth Of The Commercial Space Industry, Mollie Carney

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that the current United States launch license requirements should be amended to include explicit indemnification procedures, should the United States be held liable for damages as a Launching State under the Liability Convention. Part I of this Note examines the evolution of the space industry from a field marked by Cold War tensions to one that is dominated by private industry, and the risks that are associated with the rapid growth of the commercial space industry. Part II will explain the current legal regime by (1) setting a framework of liability generally, (2) examining the Liability …

Confronting Space Debris Through The Regime Evolution Approach, Gershon Hasin

International Law Studies

This article examines the complex policy problem of space debris and elaborates a proposal for a bottom-up cooperative regime for its mitigation. While debris proliferation generates costs and threatens the safety of personnel and equipment, this policy problem is compounded by the realization that debris constitutes a by-product of desirable space activities which facilitate national progress and domestic increases in values. It is further complicated by increased private participation, conflicting interests of participants, and a global order susceptible to outlier behavior.

Scholars attempting to tackle this policy problem have failed to appreciate the complex legislative process through which international rules …

Governing The Unknown: How The Development Of Intellectual Property Law In Space Will Shape The Next Great Era Of Exploration, Exploitation, And Invention, Lauren Peterson

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Full Spectrum Space Deterrence: From Laws To Technology, Joshua Carlson

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

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 …

Armed Conflicts In Outer Space: Which Law Applies?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

International Law Studies

So far, outer space has merely become involved in terrestrial armed conflicts as part of the supportive infrastructure for military activities. Unfortunately, the risk that this changes is considerably growing, and it can no longer be excluded that (armed) force will become used in outer space, either directed towards Earth or within outer space itself.

This raises serious issues in the legal context, where space law so far has been premised on the hope that armed conflicts in outer space could be avoided whereas the law of armed conflict was not required so far to deal with the use of …

Innovative Thinking: Modernizing Outer Space Governance, Diane M. Janosek

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Space security is essential to global safety and prosperity. International treaties should modernize and reflect the world’s innovation in space and governance needs. One must look back to 1967 for the inaugural “Outer Space Treaty,” the first and only binding multilateral agreement for peaceful space use and exploration. In 50 years, technologies and space capabilities have evolved; an updated global treaty and agreement should be developed and evaluated. Both China and Russia have demonstrated their capability to degrade and/or destroy adversaries’ satellites in space. Space wars are no longer a hypothetical. The future once discussed and anxiously anticipated after Sputnik …

Updating The Liability Regime In Outer Space: Why Spacefaring Companies Should Be Internationally Liable For Their Space Objects, Alexander P. Reinert

William & Mary Law Review

Nothing inspires the human imagination quite like outer space. How many people have laid on their backs on a dark, clear night and gazed up at the stars above? The vast expanse of outer space seems endless. But satellite operators are increasingly realizing that space is not endless. Indeed, space is becoming more crowded with space objects, and the threat of these objects causing damage is rapidly growing. The space industry has changed dramatically in recent years, and the threats facing the industry have concurrently evolved.

The world is experiencing the dawn of a new space race—only this time, private …

Nebulous Law: Using Soft Law To Give Structure To The Amorphous Rpo Industry, Kylie Mclaughlin

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Imagine looking down at your smartphone and realizing that you cannot make phone calls or access the internet. A communications satellite enabling these functions on your cellphone has just been struck by a piece of uncontrolled space debris. Now, imagine being in the aftermath of a natural disaster, and search and rescue teams do not know you and your family are missing or in distress. A satellite within the International Satellite System for Search and Rescue has just run out of fuel. Finally, imagine trains, planes, and ships remaining in their stations, gates, and ports because each has lost …

Climate Change Management In The Space Age, Paul B. Larsen

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article is about how we can use space technology and regulation to help overcome adverse effects of climate change on Earth. It describes the growing use and importance of outer space technology for monitoring, understanding, and resolving the problems of climate change. It describes precedents for the current climate crisis, discusses relevant international space laws, and explains how they fit into the existing international laws on climate change. It emphasizes the oversight role of the United Nations (“U.N.”). It describes the heavy duties placed by current climate laws on the developed countries compared with the developing countries. It explains …

The Cold Vacuum Of Arms Control In Outer Space: Can Existing Law Make Some Anti-Satellite Weapons Illegal?, Jeffrey A. Murphy

Cleveland State Law Review

The current space law paradigm came into existence when two major national powers were vying for supremacy after a catastrophic world war. The nuclear age had dawned. The United Nations drafted and ratified the Outer Space Treaty under these conditions with limited foresight to the specific nature of future space activities. As more nations and private actors enter the space arena, the nature of the weapons used in space has changed, and the number of targets and opportunities for collateral damage has greatly increased.

This Note looks at the weapons aimed at space and the laws that try to govern …

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

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 …

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, The Final Frontier Of Enterprise: Incentivizing Asteroid Mining Under A Revised International Framework, Jack Heise

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note argues that the Outer Space Treaty (the “OST”) should be modified to provide explicit permission for private entities to engage in asteroid mining while maintaining the principles of international peace and cooperation that the treaty espouses as the core of the framework governing outer space. Part I explores the current state of asteroid mining with reference to the current objectives of companies conducting missions in this realm. Part II examines the OST as applied to the enterprise of asteroid mining by private companies. Part III considers the benefits and drawbacks of various regulatory schemes to govern asteroid mining. …

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 Present Developments Of Legal Regulations Of Space Activities In Russia And Commonwealth Of Independent States, Elena Kamenetskaya

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this article is to give general information about basic legal documents on the exploration and use of outer space which appeared in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States in the recent past.

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

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.

International Law Of Outer Space And Its Effect On Commercial Space Activity, James J. Trimble

Pepperdine Law Review

The United Nations, through a series of five treaties, has created a body of international space law which controls the activities in space of states, international organizations, and private interests. Corporations planning an investment in commercial space ventures must consider the restrictions and obligations which space law will impose on their activities. This article discusses the substantive principles of the law of outer space and focuses on those provisions which will affect commercial space activities.

The United States Government As Defendant - One Example Of The Need For A Uniform Liability Regime To Govern Outer Space And Space-Related Activities, Joseph A. Bosco

Pepperdine Law Review

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

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.

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

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

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 …