February 2022
A new legal system for space
..., got me thinking about the laws that are applicable in space. Many governments signed the UN Outer Space Treaty (OST) in 1967, but the OST only governs what governments do in space, not private companies. Five decades ago, the thought of a private...
January 2023
Space sustainability imperative
..., it is the big spacefaring nations that are taking up all the space in space. Space cannot be locked up just by 11 launching states. The other 135 signatories to the Outer Space Treaty should also have an opportunity to benefit from that environment...
12 October 2016
‘Asgardia’ to become the first new Space Nation
... their scientific aspirations is exciting.” Under current international space law, including the widely adopted ‘Outer Space Treaty’, states are required to authorise and supervise national space activities, including the activities of commercial and...
30 May 2018
China opens up its space station to the world
... not only to China, but also to the world. Just as the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 proclaimed, the exploration and use of outer space shall be a common province for humankind. Outer space should become a new domain for promoting the common interests...
20 May 2022
Outer Space - future for humankind issues of law and policy
...and development. A key aspect that comes to the fore in any contemporary writing on space law is the fact that existing space law – as enshrined in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and its offshoots – is not directly applicable to many of today’s promised...
01 April 2025
Who Owns Outer Space?
... call ‘non-trivial’. For decades, the answer has been “no-one”, because the 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits national appropriation and declares space to be the “province of mankind”. But those words were written more than half a century...
