space law
The birth of the Brazilian space program
The Brazilian space program started in the 1960s with a commission that elaborated a national program for the space exploration. Then, the main objectives were set in 1979 by the Brazilian Complete Space Mission, and then, by the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB). →
KalamSat, the lightest and smallest satellite
KalamSat, the lightest and smallest satellite, designed by an 18-year-old boy from Tamil Nadu in India, is a femtosatellite. KalamSat was launched by NASA along with several other experiments on Terrier Orion sounding rocket on June 22, 2017 from Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in Virginia. →
The Rescue Agreement of 1968
The Rescue Agreement of 1968 provides that States shall rescue and assist astronauts in distress and promptly return them to the Launching State, and that States shall provide assistance to Launching States in recovering space objects that return to Earth outside the territory of the Launching State. →
Interkosmos
Interkosmos (1967) was a Soviet space program designed to help the Soviet Union’s allies with manned and unmanned space missions. The program of international cooperation had primarily political objectives: establishing good relations with the countries of Eastern Europe. →
Meteorites and their legal status
Let’s study for this article meteorites and their legal status. The question we are asking ourselves is the following: who do meteorites belong to? “The heavens, the stars, are goods so common to the whole society of men, that no one can master them, nor deprive others of them”, Jean Domat, Lois civiles dans leur ordre naturel (1689). →
The birth of the Indian space programme
With the live transmission of the 1964 Summer Olympics, Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India’s space programme, quickly recognized the benefits of space technologies for India. →
An interview with Pierre-Henri d’Argenson
An interview with Pierre-Henri d’Argenson, the author of La fin du monde et le dernier dieu – Un nouvel horizon pour l’humanité, about mankind’s future, global warming, Mars, Space Law, spatiopolitics… →
Is the International Space Station a launching State?
Satellites launched from Earth require dedicated launch vehicles to propel them into the proper orbit. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) found a way to cut the costs of this activity by designing a small satellite launcher, installed recently on the International Space Station (ISS). Is ISS therefore a launching State? →
Mazaalai, the first Mongolian satellite
Mazaalai is the first Mongolian satellite; the CubeSat, designed and built by three young researchers of the National University of Mongolia was launched into outer space on a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) as part of the SpaceX CRS-11 mission in June 2017. →
The Soviet Buran spaceplane and its legal status
Buran, meaning Snowstorm or Blizzard in Russian, was the first spaceplane to be produced as part of the Soviet Buran programme. What was Buran spaceplane’s legal status? Was Buran an aircraft or a spacecraft? →
Mission Shakti and Space Law
The Indian government announced on March 27, 2019, it successfully fired a ground-based anti-satellite weapon against a satellite in Low Earth Orbit, a test – Mission Shakti – that is likely to heighten concerns about outer space security and orbital debris. →
PTScientists, Mission to the Moon and Sanctuary
For this new article in Space Legal Issues, let’s take a look at the German New Space company PTScientists and the Mission to the Moon and Sanctuary projects. →
The Te Awa Tupua Bill
As part of our research on Space Law and Public International Law, let’s look at New Zealand’s Te Awa Tupua Bill. In March 2017, the Whanganui River became the first river in the world to be legally recognised as a living entity. The river, of a special and spiritual importance for the Māori people, was granted the same rights as a human being. →
The Kessler syndrome
In an article published on June 1, 1978 in the American Journal of Geophysical Research, authors Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais identified the risk of an exponential increase in the number of space debris or orbital debris under the effect of mutual collisions. →
GhanaSat-1, the first Ghanaian satellite
In 2017, Ghana sent its first satellite, the 1-kilogram GhanaSat-1, which can take images, collect atmospheric data, measure space radiation, and transmit uploaded audio, into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Ghana entered the closed club of African states in orbit. →
The United States Space Force
The United States Space Force has been much discussed about for the past year. What is a “Space Force”? What do international treaties say about it? Did Donald Trump’s announcement in 2018 affect spatiopolitics? What are the potential dangers? →
Dong Fang Hong I, the first Chinese satellite
The first mention of a Chinese space project goes back to 1957, after the launch by the U.S.S.R. of Sputnik 1. Mao Zedong would have had the following words: “We too will make satellites!”. Dong Fang Hong I, which literally means “The East is Red 1”, is the first Chinese satellite; it has been orbited into a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by a Long March 1 rocket on April 24, 1970. →
The lawfulness of mining activities in Antarctica
Today, as many private companies are aiming at exploiting outer space’s resources, and as even more specialists of space law – or corpus juris spatialis – are debating about the lawfulness of the exploitation of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, let’s focus on Antarctica and the legal aspects of mining in Antarctica. →
An interview with Jean-Pierre Sanfourche
An interview with Jean-Pierre Sanfourche of the Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France (3AF) about scientific ballooning, the future of aeronautics, the Hermes spaceplane, the Moon village… →
The difference between Public and Private International Law
International law, which consists of two branches: public international law and private international law, is the set of legal rules that govern relations between states (and international organizations) or between private persons in an international context. →