5 MIN READ TIME

SPACE LAW AND WHY WE NEED IT

Michelle Hanlon

The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, colloquially known as the Outer Space Treaty, provides a sovereignbased construct as a framework for the regulation of space activities. Negotiated during the 1950s and 1960s in the magniloquent shadow of the Cold War, the Outer Space Treaty was focused not on the creation of human communities in space, but on the preservation of peace in this boundless frontier whose resources and potential humanity was just beginning to explore.

As its name suggests, the treaty provides principles and not rules, but perhaps more significantly, the principles are offered to govern nations rather than people. While some see this gap as an opportunity to rid our future spacefaring progeny of the bounds of terrestrial legalities, this is not the case. Nestled among the concept of freedom of exploration and use, the prohibition of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, and multiple exhortations for international cooperation is the statement that countries shall be responsible for the activities of their nationals. The treaty even requires the authorization and continuing supervision of all such activities.

Thus, for six decades, sovereign nations and commercial entities alike have explored and harnessed space to benefit human existence through astonishing advancements in communications, Earth observation satellite technologies and resources, among many others.

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