Space Laws- World beyond World

It is now a difficult task to know and have access to the vast amount of legal texts available and to have a clear, comprehensive, and concrete understanding and definition of space law. Let me take this opportunity to give you a better understanding of this term- What exactly space law is?

Space law can be described as a body of law governing activities related to space. Space law, as well as general international law, encompasses a variety of international conventions, treaties, conventions, and resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, as well as rules and regulations of international organizations.

The term "space law" is most often associated with the rules, principles, and standards of international law set out in the five international treaties and five sets of outer space principles developed under the auspices of the United Nations.

It is important to keep three essential points in mind while discussing space law:

• The 'territory' which is governed by space law-outer space, including celestial bodies-is outside the sovereignty of States and outer space activities are to be carried out for the benefit of, and in the interests of, States;

• Interests of all States, regardless of their degree of economic or scientific development;

• They are the "province of all humanity".

Space law is a branch of international law which is similar to air and maritime law and has the specificity of being influenced by other sources of law, both public and private. As a result, the legislation applicable to space activities is not limited to outer space legislation; on the contrary, some several other laws and regulations should also be enforced, especially because of the increase in privatization.

What is space laws meant for?

The reason for the laws on space is not only to promote access to and use of space but also to encourage cooperation between all nations, not just between space forces. In today’s world, the situation has changed and the goal is to increase the use of space by all and in all areas in order to enhance awareness of the Cosmos, to help manage threats, to protect the atmosphere, to preserve peace and stability and to achieve a high degree of cooperation in the interests of humanity as a whole.

Like any other law even space law faces numerous issues, such as the protection of space and the Earth's atmosphere, responsibility for damages incurred by space objects, conflict resolution, the evacuation of astronauts, the exchange of knowledge on possible dangers in outer space, the use of space-related technology and international cooperation. A variety of universal principles govern the conduct of space operations, including the notion of space as a property of all humanity, the right of discovery and use of outer space by all States without prejudice, and the concept of non-appropriation of outer space.

The factors such as the rise in everyday activities based on space technology, the national interests of the countries concerned, the arrival of new actors involved in space other than Governments, as well as commercialization and privatization of outer space, has been utmost important to make the States aware of the need for a legal and political system and allowing them all to benefit peacefully from outer space.

So, why is there a need to govern outer space activities? It all started with the launch of Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957 and evolved within the context of the UN, which has the primary responsibility for the creation and codification of international law. In particular, the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and its Legal Board, as well as the United Nations General Assembly, had the honor of creating the foundation stones that are still significant today.

The proof of this is the adoption by the General Assembly in 1963 of the Declaration of Legal Principles on the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space and the Development, within the United Nations, of five treaties and principles; the basic one is the - Outer Space Treaty, which entered into force on 10 October 1967 and some 100 States are parties of it.

Having a Mutual Agreements between states is not harm, but the harm lies where the states manipulate those provisions according to their illicit intentions, leading everything to destruction. There is also an optimistic outlook on more and more States becoming parties of these conventions, forming mutual arrangements on the basis of their terms and promulgating national space law. As a result, the work of COPUOS and its Legal Sub-Committee has gained immense respect and continues to guide on the implementation of operations.

Major debates

I would like to stress again that the U.N. conventions are non-binding, but there is some form of diplomatic pressure from other nations when a country strays from the principles. However there have been several controversies over the years on some of the crucial concepts of the space law. Although, the final understanding of these matters falls beyond the expertise of lawyers, leaving them with a few highlighting questions:

Access to space. This is mostly regulated by country. The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 covers launch situations by U.S. citizens. The unscrewed rockets heading for space and high altitudes must receive special permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under FAA Regulation 101.

In most cases, licenses and permits are issued from the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which examines aspects such as launch site and launch/re-entry vehicles. The FAA is also working on guidelines to protect space passengers when tourism companies start operating.

Arms in Space. Perhaps, the most prominent attempt to bring arms into space was the United States Strategic Defense Initiative, also called "Star Wars." It was first revealed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. The elements of this system were checked on Earth but never were completed. The fear which arose was that the parts of the space weapons program would breach the Outer Space Treaty. So did it happen?

Space Debris. Despite half a million of dead objects floating in Earth's orbit, several nations are now actively taking measures to discourage further space debris — such as deliberately de-orbiting satellites from entering Earth's atmosphere. Whereas, some experts are worried that space access would be limited by debris, yet it is not clear what the legal implications would be. In 2007, China received the international condemnation of the deliberate destruction of a satellite in Earth orbit that led to a cloud of space debris. In 2013, a piece of debris was destroyed by a Russian satellite.

The privileges of mining. Throughout the United States, there are two big companies planning to carry out asteroid mining in the upcoming years:

• Deep Space Industries and

• Planetary Resources.

The United States entered the United States in the 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which in a nutshell, allows U.S. people to exploit asteroids and other space resources, but not the land on which the resources reside. Although this makes hunting of resources legal for U.S. citizens, some scholars have suggested that this may breach the Outer Space Treaty.

Litigation and the property rights. For the time being, the Outer Space Treaty specifies that the space and the celestial bodies cannot be claimed by other countries. But will this rule extend to private companies? The U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competition Act (see above) does not permit territorial claims, but with nations thinking about landing in areas like the Moon and the Mars, it is not clear- how the rights of ownership and property rights will be operated, in the case of neighboring colonies. Some propose that Antarctica, a region owned by no country and used solely for scientific purposes, maybe a model to be followed — but not everyone agrees.

Geosynchronous slots for satellites. Satellites positioned nearly 26,000 miles (41,800 kilometers) above the equator have the same rotation period as Earth. This helps them to stay in roughly the same position above Earth for years, while at the same time expending a minimum of fuel, making it useful for telecommunications signals. Such slots are restricted and governed by the Union for International Telecommunications. In 1976, eight nations on the equator ought to practice control of this area under the Bogotá Declaration, which was largely ignored as a result of the treatment of land claims under the Outer Space Treaty.

Global collaboration. Is it beneficial? Well, people agreeing to work together on a space project will encounter difficulties from time to time. For an instance, in 2012, a cut in NASA's planetary science budget caused NASA to withdraw from the European-funded ExoMars project, prompting the European Space Agency to pursue another partner (which ended up being - Roscosmos). The magnificent multinational project, the ‘International Space Station’, has an international treaty (and numerous other provisions) regulating its activity among 15 member states, covering circumstances such as crimes or property rights. In this theory, each nation maintains jurisdiction over its elements and personnel. However, in most cases, the damages cannot be sought on all contracts between the five major signatories to the station under the "cross-waiver of liability" provision.

I hope this will give addition to your knowledge about Space Laws. With this, I conclude this blog.