February 2022
Revolution and responsibility: the challenges of space
... to commercialise this field of space activities. What will happen tomorrow to the principle of non-appropriation, to the notion of common heritage? No one can reasonably say. The fact remains that, in its current state, space law is a reference that...
July 2019
Who owns outer space?
... of the National Space Council, Dr Scott Pace, emphatically stated: “It bears repeating: outer space is not a ‘global commons’, not the ‘common heritage of mankind’, not ‘res communis’, nor is it a public good. These concepts are not part of the OST...
May 2019
Wake-up call for debris creation in geostationary orbit
... are threatening mankind’s ability to use space which, as enshrined in the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty, is “the common heritage of mankind”. Yet no-one is obliged to give a public account or explanation for these events, so any general understanding...
May 2017
Humanity is moving towards a new reality
... will involve sorting out issues such as safety, liability, environmental concerns, ownership - or sharing of resources of the ‘common heritage of humankind’ - and so. These ‘rules of the road’ will cover activities like those associated with solar...
October 2020
Is NASA’s Artemis Accords agreement Moon-proof?
... the objective of limiting unrestricted commercial exploitation after defining the Moon and its natural resources as “the common heritage of all mankind”, failed to be ratified by any major space-faring nation. Currently the United Nations Committee...
April 2026
Future-building in space - sustainability as first principle
... begun the work of building entirely new worlds. A previous generation emphasised that we share a ‘common future’. They also said we have a ‘common heritage’ and enshrined this in the Outer Space Treaty and other aspects of space governance, such...
