Space Law

 Common Space Law
of Governance and Responsibility

(A Utopian Approach to Space and Colonial Governance)

“Space law is the body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. Parameters of space law include space exploration, liability for damage, weapons use, rescue efforts, environmental preservation, information sharing, new technologies, and ethics. Other fields of law, such as administrative law, intellectual property law, arms control law, insurance law, environmental law, criminal law, and commercial law, are also integrated within space law.”

There is still much to be written in the way of space laws. The more important point to note though is that the international / interplanetary regulatory body of space law and space activities and development needs to be independent of nationalistic or business influences to ensure equitable access to space. The U.N. does not have this luxury as long as certain players have veto rights.

The U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) do not have a direct roll in the development of space laws. Their stated purposes seem to be in the capacity as a muse more than a development body. 

Because space exploration requires crossing transnational boundaries, space law has become a field independent from traditional aerospace law. Numerous national space agencies and other organizations such as the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) have debated issues of international space law and policy for many years. 

One clear message is that to avoid nationalistic conflicts in space and on other celestial bodies there is a need for one single entity to have the authority to write binding laws applicable to all players operating off planet. 

The goal is the creation of a single set of space laws written by and accepted by the global space law community and other participants. (independent of nationalistic or business influences). Such laws would circumvent certain players at the U.N. who have veto  powers over resolutions and treaties.

The laws written here are those space laws that are applied to all regions of space acting as an applied "Common Space Law of Governance and Responsibility". The purpose of these laws is to provide a common base set of laws to which all space faring nations, businesses and individuals or organizations are held accountable by the space community. Acceptance of these laws will be more beneficial and practical than independent attempts to manage or govern space activities.