White Knight carries Space Ship One in a private attempt
to reach into space, defined in this case at an altitude
of 100 km.
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Although many states refuse to legally put an upper limit to their airspace, most do not control their air traffic above 60,000 ft (referred to as Flight Level 600), or about 18 km.
Some states believe that the entire space "above" their country should belong to them. This makes absolutely no sense whatever, and shows a distinct lack of understanding of Earth's place in the Universe. It is in fact based upon the geocentric cosmology that was espoused until its overthrow by Copernicus. If this principle were to apply, some states might lay claim to a star that is 'directly above' their territory at one point in time, only to find that an hour later the same star 'belonged' to a neighbouring state, and so on. Some equatorial states use this reasoning to lay exclusive claim to a portion of the much prized geosynchronous orbit, and feel that they should derive revenue from allocation of 'slots' in this orbit to others. Fortunately they are not in a position to enforce these claims. Neither has the absence of a legal delineation of outer space led to any international lawsuits to this end, for it is virtually certain that even with a reluctance to put a lower limit to the term, only a small minority of states would place it above geosynchronous orbit, at an altitude of 36,000 km.
In pragmatic terms, the height at which sovereign airspace above a state becomes outer space is only the height to which:
A good discussion on the boundary between air space and outer space has been written by Raymond Barrett.
The United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs has available a
compilation of all legal
agreements relating to space law
made available to it by member states up to 1999. This contains lists of
agreements in all of the four space law regimes listed above.
Because of the nature of space operations, international law treaties
and agreements are of vital importance. The UN general assembly has set up
a number of bodies to deal with space related matters.
Under international law there are now five treaties and five principles
governing operations in space. These have been framed to try and ensure
that space operations are to the benefit of all states, not just those who
can afford to launch vehicles into space.
JURISPRUDENCE AND JURISDICTION
There are essentially four regimes applicable to space law:
(eg the issuance of permits for rocket launches)
(eg establishing a tracking station in another country)
(eg the establishment of the European Space Agency)
(eg treaties made at and by the United Nations)
See acronyms list for explanation
The full documentation on the UN treaties relating to outer space may be found at UN Treaties and Principles. An addendum covers the status of those treaties, with respect to which states have ratified them, as of January 2007. |
Australian Space Activities Act 1998 Space Activities Amendment Bill 2002 |
USA National Space Policy 2006 Private Human Space Flight Regulations 2006 |
To this end, COPUOS has
issued a ten question
questionnaire to assess states' beliefs
and opinions in this area. A
summary of replies received
has been made available, and is interesting reading. This question of course
relates directly to the definition and delineation of outer space. Some
of the problems that may arise in this area are illustrated in the fictional
2007 international space
law moot scenario.
In space, materials degrade and detach from satellites; stored energy
in the form of unspent fuel and battery vapours may cause explosive
rupture and fragmentation of space objects. Collisions between space
objects at hypervelocity not only causes damage, but also creates
thousands of other space objects (ie fragments of the original objects)
which themselves then pose collision hazards to active spacecraft.
Although collisions between space objects are now very infrequent, the
growth of collisional fragments will become exponential in less than
a hundred years, and may render the low Earth orbit regime (from about
500 to 1500 km altitude) unusable within a few hundred years. To add
to the 'natural' creation of space debris, anti-satellite tests will
severely exacerbate the problem. On January 11, 2007 China conducted
such a test when a ground-launched missile was used to destroy an old
Chinese weather satellite. That one test created over 2000
objects with a diameter 10cm or larger (that could be tracked from the
ground) and an estimated 30,000 objects under 10cm in size that could
still pose a dangerous collision hazard. This one event alone is
likely to test the UN liability treaty (which China has ratified) in
the next few years.
COPOUS has discussed this issue via its subcommittees (STC and LC) for
the last 10 years, and finally proposed a set of mitigation guidelines
which were adopted in June of 2007.
CURRENT ISSUES
Despite the fact that the issue has been discussed without resolution for
40 years, the legal definition and delineation of outer space must still be
listed as a current issue urgently in need of resolution. Australia has
been proactive in this area, and in a 2002 amendment to the 1998 Australian
Space Activities Act has taken the boundary to be at an altitude of 100
kilometres.
A current COPUOS concern is the definition of an aerospace object. Current
UN treaties refer to space objects as man-made objects that have been
launched from Earth into space. However, some are concerned that the
development of vehicles such as space planes, which will be able to fly in
the atmosphere as well as use rocket technology to fly in space, may
cause problems in traversing sovereign airspace, and that such vehicles
may need to be covered by a different definition.
Since the start of the space age the problem of unwanted material or
debris in space has been growing. Each space launch usually leaves
considerably more than the desired satellite in orbit. Expended rocket
boosters, attachment bolts, shields, solid rocket motor slag, and
innumerable other items are placed into Earth orbit. Some of these
decay (lose altitude) and burn up in the atmosphere - some are large
enough to escape complete destruction by ablation and then may pose a
potential hazard to life and property on the Earth's surface.
It is well known that not all space launching countries register all
the objects that are launched into space (eg the USA does not register
military launches). There has been a recent investigation into registration
practice of member states, with an aim to improving compliance with the
Registration Convention.
SPACE LAW ORGANISATIONS
There are many organisations associated with space law. A selected few
of these are listed below to illustrate the diversity of such organisations.
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPACE LAW
The IISL was established in 1960 and is an autonomous component of the
International Astronautical Federation. It holds annual colloquia on
space law. Its aims are to promote international cooperation in space
law and to foster the development of space law and studies on the legal
and sociological aspects of space activities.
IISL
SPACE LAW PEOPLE
Some see this Russian professor of international law as the
originator of space law with his paper "The Conquest of the
Stratosphere and International Law" (English translation) in the
journal "Revue Generale de Droit Internationale Public" (General
Review of International Public Law), in 1934 (v41, pp675-686).
A Polish diplomat and International Court of Justice judge, he
was heavily involved in international law, and in the early
development of space law. After he died the International Institute
of Space Law named their annual space law moot in his honour (ie
the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot).
Australian lawyer in space law with the Australian firm
Adelta Legal.
Brief biography.
Lecturer in space law at various
Australian and Overseas universities. In 2010 he was
appointed to the Board of Directors of the Paris-based International
Institute of Space Law. His details are listed at the
University of Western Sydney.SPACE LAW EDUCATION
Several universities outside Australia have departments dedicated to space
law or air and space law. In Australia, a few universities offer a unit on
space law within their law department, and even more include the topic as
part of an international law unit.
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The European Centre for Space Law hosts a summer school on space law and
policy each year at a low cost which includes accomodation and some meals.
This two week course is held at various sites around Europe. ECSL Summer School |
The International Astronautical Federation's International Institute of
Space Law hosts the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot each year to encourage
students in the practical application of space law. Students from schools
all over the world compete in regional competitions, and then in the final
competition which is held in conjunction with the IAF annual meeting
at different sites around the world. The regional competition for the
Asia Pacific region is held in Sydney, Australia.
Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court
Competition
COPUOS | - COmmittee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space | |
ECSL | - European Centre for Space Law | |
ESA | - European Space Agency | |
IAF | - International Astronautical Federation | |
IASL | - Institute of Air and Space Law (McGill University) | |
ICG | - International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems | |
IISL | - International Institute of Space Law (IAF) | |
ITU | - International Telecommunications Union | |
LS | - Legal Subcommittee (of COPUOS) | |
NASA | - (US) National Aeronautics and Space Agency | |
PSA | - (UN) Program on Space Applications | |
SLU | - Space Law Update (ePublication of UNOOSA) | |
SPIDER | - (UN) SPace based Information and solutions for Disaster management and Emergency Response | |
STS | - Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (of COPUOS) | |
UN | - United Nations | |
UNGA | - UN General Assembly | |
UNOOSA | - UN Office for Outer Space Affairs |
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