KP Carmody & Co

On 4 October 1957 a Soviet space object, Sputnik I, was launched and subsequently orbited the earth over 1,400 times during the following three-month period. This milestone heralded the dawn of the space age, the space race, and the legal regulation of the use and exploration of outer space. Since then, some fundamental international legal principals have developed that improve the standard of living for all humanity through, for example, the facilitation of public services such as satellite telecommunications, global positioning systems, remote sensing technology for weather forecasting and disaster management, and television broadcast from satellites.

The dream of space and the desire of humankind to engage with space in more ways has driven the development of space-related technology far more quickly and in ways that were not imaginable a few years ago. As typifies much about the development of legal rules in a sphere driven by technological innovation, space law has not kept pace with the multitude of space activities and increasingly struggles to address the complexities that specific uses of space give rise to.

In Australia the Government is carefully assessing its legal framework for space activities and looking to an Expert Reference Group to recommend a space industry capability strategy over the next 10-20 years. It has also announced that it will establish an Australian Space Agency in 2018.

Ideally, binding regulations should be negotiated and adhered to in good faith by all relevant countries, but this is unlikely to come to fruition in the short or perhaps medium term. This represents a major challenge for all who understand the role of law in facilitating the peaceful and sustainable uses of outer space in the future.

We are now faced with the cross-fertilisation of activities in outer space with those in cyber space – sometimes referred to as the “GAFTA phenomenon” (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Apple) – how should the recent interest shown by major digital platform operators be regulated in the space sector? How can/should law react to and properly regulate this rush towards the digitisation of commercial space?

Another challenge is the development of aerospace technology and the legal regulation of human aerospace and space flight. One will need to examine the scope and legal/regulatory implications of, for example, proposals to (re)define the areas of air space and outer space into distinct zones corresponding to differing uses of space-related and high-altitude technology, ie drones, air travel, aerospace flights, suborbital and orbital flights, space stations, and permanent human settlements etc.

No overview of the challenges facing space law would be complete without consideration of the potential for the commercial exploitation of the natural resources of outer space.

The existing regime has largely served us well and, in certain respects, it has been remarkably successful. But the ‘spacescape’ is changing very quickly. We thus find ourselves in interesting times. The need for a more comprehensive and detailed legal/regulatory framework for outer space represents one of the most politicised and complex challenges ahead for humankind.

The advice in this article is general in nature and you should consult your solicitor for specific advice