New Space
The history of the Conestoga rocket
The Conestoga was a rocket consisting originally of surplus Minuteman missile stages with additional strap-on boosters, as required, for larger payloads. It was the world’s first privately-funded commercial rocket, but was used only three times. →
Why Africa Should Expand its Mega-Satellite Constellation Capacity
Africa would be enriched by the ability to use this new technology to enable users through diverse services, to protect assets within the value chain, or simply to monitor areas of national security such as the environment and borders. →
Understanding the South African Space Policy
This document aims to provide guidance to all actors in the South African private and public sectors in the space field. These orientations go through the support and promotion of scientific research, capacity building, innovation and industrial development. →
Understanding ORBITAL ATK V. WALKER (DARPA)
The plaintiffs, Orbital ATK and its subsidiary, Space Logistics LLC, have brought an action against the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and its acting director, Dr. Steven H. Walker. →
The Danish Space Law of May 11, 2016
The scope of application of the Danish OSA of May 11 only applies to space activities carried out in the Danish State and to space activities carried out outside the national territory on Danish devices or installations or by Danish operators. →
The first satellite of Myanmar
Myanmar is preparing to launch its very first Earth observation satellite, as part of a space program bringing together nine Asian countries intended to better arm themselves in the face of natural or climatic disasters. →
The Nigerian space vision
NigComSat-1, a Nigerian satellite built in 2004, was Nigeria’s first communication satellite. It was launched on 13 May 2007, aboard a Chinese Long March 3B carrier rocket, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China. The spacecraft was operated by NigComSat and the Nigerian Space Agency, NASRDA. →
Space cooperation agreement between India and Nigeria
ISRO will also try to introduce its technologies in satellite communications and broadband connectivity to meet the demands of the African country. It will even offer its launchers to put into orbit platforms that the two countries can jointly develop or that Nigeria can acquire from Indian industry. →
The Rwanda Space Agency
Rwanda’s long-term space program aims to increase the country’s adoption of space technologies and stimulate research and development in space science. Let us have a look at Rwanda and space law in Africa! →
Understanding the Mars Society
The Mars Society is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. The Mars Society was founded by Robert Zubrin on August 13, 1998. →
The Canadian Space Program
Canada has become a pioneer in satellite communications and Earth observation in response to the needs of a population scattered over thousands of kilometers, as well as the need to monitor the longest coastline in the world and second-largest territory. →
The Mars One Project
In 2011, the Mars One project was launched. Founded by the Dutch engineer Bas Lansdorp, its ambition is to establish a permanent human colony on Mars by the early 2030s using existing techniques and components. Let us have a look at Mars One! →
The Space Legal Issues with Mega-Constellations
Nowadays, we hear more and more about constellations and mega-constellations projects consisting of hundreds or thousands of small spacecraft. A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together. Is it legal? What are the space legal issues? →
Anousheh Ansari: The First Female Space Tourist
As a child, Anousheh Ansari used to look at the stars when life became too hard. Born in the 1960s in Iran into a modest family, she emigrated to the United States of America at the age of sixteen, without speaking the language. She became the first female space tourist. →
Space Adventures: The First Private Space Company
On June 25, 2020, Space Adventures announced that it had signed a contract with Russia space corporation Energia to send two tourists in 2023 on board the Soyuz spacecraft to the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS). →
Toucan Space, a French startup by Louis de Gouyon Matignon
With Toucan Space, a French startup by Louis de Gouyon Matignon, send to space or the International Space Station (ISS) any personal object, your photo or a special postcard. Once the mission is completed, receive home your space-flown object and fun mission goodies. →
India is sending astronauts in space in 2022: why it is important
As part of the Gaganyaan mission, Indian astronauts will be sent into space in 2022. This is a true revolution concerning human spaceflight and space legal issues. Let us have a look at it. →
The crazy history of the space OTRAG company and space law aspects
Concerning the OTRAG and after several months of negotiations, mostly in Africa, a contract was finally drafted and signed on March 26, 1976, with Zaïre, to establish a launch center in northern Shaba. →
Conquest of Mars: Phoney War, Cold War or Star Wars?
Protagonists have changed, but motivations remain the same. The conquest of space will always remain the supreme aspiration of countries wanting to assert themselves as a great power in the eyes of humans, through technology. Only a question of cultural soft power? Not so sure. →
Understanding the NASA Artemis Accords
On May 15, 2020, NASA published the Artemis Accords that put in place a set of principles to guide the execution of the Artemis program to send a team of astronauts to the Moon by 2024. →