Regions in Space

This chart shows current scientific regions of space and the two extra regions that I am proposing:

Orbital Sphere and Inter-planet space.

This chart on “Space Law and Dividing up Space” lends itself to the “grouping of space law into three categories within our solar system. 

1. National Air Sovereignty which is currently in use on Earth would not be applicable to a future colonial setting. I have previously proposed a form of planetary governance applicable to sovereign colonial planets and that concept proposed that each planet we colonize becomes sovereign as one entity unto itself and would therefore not be divided up as is Earth. This one sovereign body would not need nationalistic air sovereignty laws or division. 

2. Orbital Sovereignty is applicable to each planetary system inclusive of its moon and other orbiting bodies. Due to the varying distances and time involved in travel, the moons within the planetary orbit would be self governed but as part of the planetary system government. Orbital sovereignty envelopes extending to a distance of 10,000,000 Km provides a territorial boundary for each planetary system.

3. Inter-Planet Space is an open territory within the solar system where no nation or governance body may apply its own laws or lay claim. This inter-planet region is intended to be a buffer between planetary systems and governance as well as to be freely open for flight and exploration.  IFL or Interplanetary Flight Law is applied to this region as part of the “Common Law” to which all planetary governments abide. 

The laws in this region of “inter-Space” are also intended to be applicable to objects coming and going through this region which are solar or interstellar in origin. This means that asteroids and comets are to pass without interference or resource extraction. Scientific studies can be conducted provided they do not in any way alter the objects trajectory. The exception would be where collision with a solar body is expected.

The reasons for this non-interference policy should be obvious as an alteration today could lead to a lethal trajectory in the future. These defined regions obviously encompass the entire solar system and everything within it, and therefore overlaps all other regions except interstellar space. By defining and accepting these two new regions of orbital and inter-planet space we will be able to write less generic space laws as witnessed in the COPOUS agreements.

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