Chapter 19 - The ICAO’s legal authority to regulate aerospace vehicles

Abstract

The chapter deals with Chicago Convention without any restrictions on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)'s authority to control civil aircraft simply due to the traverse of the aircraft as it reaches upper layer of the reaches of Earth's atmosphere. According to the principle, civil aircraft engaged in international flight are subject to ICAO jurisdiction. The chapter also denotes that interpreting the definition of “aircraft” in the Chicago Convention—an instrument of international public law—to include SATVs which might possess consequences with regard to the interpretation and application of other public and private international air law instruments. The Conventions seek to attain, inhibit investment, and retard the development of commercial space transportation when the conflicts and inconsistencies are embedded in the respective legal regimens of Air Law and Space Law threatening to unravel the uniformity of law. The laws governing commercial space transportation required to be integrated with the prevailing rules of safety, navigation, security, and liability applicable under Air Law are revealed here. The public's safety is the foremost important among those dealt in the chapter.