History of Space Law
The European Space Research Organisation
The European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) was an organisation founded by European States with the intention of jointly pursuing scientific research in outer space. It was founded in 1964. Following a general overhaul of the European Space Program decided in 1973, ESRO was merged with ELDO to form the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1975. →
The European Launcher Development Organisation
The European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) is a former European space research organisation. It was first developed in order to establish a satellite launch vehicle for Europe. The three-stage rocket developed was named Europa, after the mythical Greek god. →
John Glenn orbits the Earth
John Glenn (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. On February 20, 1962, he was the first American to conduct an orbital flight around the Earth as part of Mercury’s Friendship 7 mission, nearly ten months after the inaugural flight of the Soviet Yuri Gagarin. →
The 1963 Declaration of Legal Principles
The Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, RES 1962 (XVIII), General Assembly eighteenth session, December 13, 1963, is the second important text concerning Space Law. →
An interview with Jacques Blamont
An interview with Jacques Blamont, former French space agency’s scientific and technical director, father of planetary balloon exploration (Blamont sent in 1985 balloons into the Venusian atmosphere), and space legal issues’ Honorary Chairman. →
Planetary defense
A collision sixty-six million years ago between the Earth and an object approximately ten kilometres wide is thought to have produced the Mexican Chicxulub crater and the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, widely held responsible for the extinction of most dinosaurs. Asteroid impacts are a continuously occurring natural process. Could this happen again? How are we protecting ourselves? →
The birth of the French space program
The French space program started with the creation of the National Center for Space Studies or Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES), the most important national space agency in the European Union. →
The origins of the Apollo program
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy began a dramatic expansion of the U.S. space program and committed the nation to the ambitious goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts – Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. – realized President Kennedy’s dream. →
The General Assembly Resolution 1721
The General Assembly Resolution 1721 (XVI), December 20, 1961, recognized the common interest of mankind in furthering the peaceful uses of outer space and the urgent need to strengthen international co-operation in this important field. It also represented the effort of COPUOS to set aside any statements that outer space could eventually constitute a form of res nullius, therefore subjected to sovereignty claims. →
The Committee on Space Research
The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) is an international scientific group whose purpose is to organise any scientific work related to space exploration. It was created in 1958 by the International Council for Science, during the International Geophysical Year. COSPAR was born just after the launch of Sputnik 1 and its Scientific Assemblies soon became the cradle from which the space research community developed and gave rise to many international projects. →
Explorer 1
Explorer 1 is the first artificial satellite placed in orbit by the United States. It was launched on January 31, 1958 by a Juno I rocket from the Cape Canaveral Launch Pad in Florida. The launch of the satellite was initially scheduled as part of the International Geophysical Year. This objective transformed into a national issue when the Soviet Union succeeded in getting ahead of the United States of America by orbiting Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. →
Animals in outer space
Throughout Space Conquest, humans have always been preceded by animals. It took the dog Laika for the Russian Yuri Gagarin to make his first orbital flight, and the monkey Ham for the American Alan Shepard to go in outer space. Let’s recall the story of those animals. →
The legality of military activities in outer space
The space sector has emerged for reasons related to the military sector. Are we today heading towards a militarization of international spaces (Antarctica, outer space or the high seas)? Let’s study the legality of military activities in outer space. →
The International Academy of Astronautics
The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is a non-governmental independent organization, founded in Stockholm on August 16, 1960 by Theodore von Kármán, of experts committed to expanding the frontiers of space. →
The Paris Convention of 1919
In 1919, the Paris Convention brought together the victors of the First World War with the aim of establishing an international charter for the control and development of air transport on a worldwide scale. →
Yuri Gagarin and the birth of Space Law
On April 12, 1961, Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel into space. This event marked the beginning of manned flight programs and would, a few years later, give birth to principles establishing/organising the status of humans in outer space. →
The definition of a Space Object
A Space Object can be described as any object launched into orbit from Earth, the Moon or other celestial bodies to travel to, in or through outer space, all artificial objects likely to find or evolve in outer space without the bearing strength of the air. →
The birth of Space Medicine
Space Medicine is a branch of medicine born in the 1950s to support human space exploration. At first it dealt with the immediate impacts of microgravity on human physiology. As flight durations increased, so did understanding of longer term effects due to microgravity, radiation, and isolation. →
The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was set up by the General Assembly in 1959 to govern the exploration and use of space for the benefit of all humanity: for peace, security and development. The Committee was instrumental in the creation of the Five Treaties and Five Principles of outer space. →
Question of the peaceful use of outer space
The circulation of artificial satellites around the Earth and that of spacecraft towards other celestial bodies posed the problems of the legal regime of the space and the celestial bodies (by this term being designated any star, planet or natural satellite) and rights that could be acquired by any Launching State. In 1958, the Question on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space was placed on the agenda of the General Assembly. →