The legal regime of outer space in light of the Law of the Sea

Abstract

11.1 Space law at its inception and analogy with other regimes Outer space is an area encompassed among spaces beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and for this reason its legal regime is often associated with those applicable to other common spaces, such as the high seas and the deep seabed, and to Antarctica. The legal regime concerning outer space, the Moon, and the other celestial bodies does not draw inspiration from a specific part of international law; rather it deals with a mixture of multiple analogies (Peterson, 1997; DeSaussure, 1992; Kopal, 1992). During the 1980s, space law was frequently defined as a special branch of international law. However, this definition cannot be considered more than a ratione materiae criterion, since space law was born in the context of international law, and its applicability to space activities has been confirmed by all of the relevant United Nations general treaties and declarations. Currently, it is commonly also presumed to cover domestic laws and the laws of the European Union concerning space activities. Therefore, space law can be defined as a ‘specific and coherent set of rules applicable to activities of states and other subjects, including private subjects, in outer space or related to outer space activities’ (Marchisio, 2006). The inception of space activities marks the beginning of space law. On 13 December 1958, the General Assembly of the United Nations set up an Ad Hoc Committee as its subsidiary body, with the aim to deal with space matters. Between 1959 and 1962, the Committee for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (Ad Hoc Committee for Peaceful Uses, then COPUOS) released three important resolutions: Resolution 1472 (XIV) (12 December 1959) and Resolution 1721 (XVI) (20 December 1961), both concerning international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space; and Resolution 1962 (XVIII) (13 December, 1963) concerning the legal principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and uses of outer space. Although not binding, these resolutions reflected the opinion of a relevant number of states on basic principles of space law in statu nascendi .