Space Law: Legal Framework for Space Activities

Outer space is subject to a legal framework; there is a set of rules specifically dedicated to outer space and to the activities carried out there. These rules have developed since 1957, the year the first artificial satellite was launched. Major changes have also affected the technology used and the actors involved, as well as the domains concerned by the exploration and use of outer space. Space Law will lay out the progressive densification of the legal framework that is applicable to outer space and the activities that are carried out there. Without claiming to be exhaustive, the aim of this book is to present the main primary sources of space law, its main principles, the diversity of its fields of application and the challenges and issues that the development of space activities inevitably raises.