The Possibilities (and the Legal Challenges) are Endless.

The Revolution in Spaceflight (thanks SpaceX) have opened up a future of limitless possibility for the human species. These opportunities will include new services, offered through applications of space data (from precision navigation/agriculture, surveillance, to Earth environment monitoring, etc.), to more futuristic opportunities, such as space tourism, asteroid mining and outer space colonization.

However, consistent with what history has shown us, is the fact that, after an initial phase of “exploration” of a new environment and consolidation of the relevant technologies, what follows is an explosion of businesses to exploit the new opportunities offered by the new environment. This is where we are today. Here is where we can identify a first challenge and learn a lesson from history, preventing space from becoming a lawless “wild west” where the strongest can take an unfair advantage. Indeed, new regulations should be implemented respecting established treaties and principles (e.g., “Outer Space Treaty” or the “Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects”).

Activities in space cannot be contained within the boundary of a country's border and have the potential to affect assets or areas of the planet well-beyond the jurisdiction of a launching country or the nation where a satellite operator is registered. Therefore, the international regulatory framework should clearly prevail on national regulations and limit the capability of countries to use less stringent regulations as a means to attract foreign business. At the same time, some consideration also has to be given to how to enforce at an international level the agreed rules and regulations.

On the other hand, the development of rules and regulations must be mitigated to avoid unnecessary red tape stifling new enterprises, and space law should preserve the freedom to generate new ideas and implement new applications. Hence the challenge lies in balancing these competing requirements: a regulatory framework which protects stakeholders, countries' interests, and current and future human rights on one side, with the freedom to develop and exploit new technologies on the other. Together with the challenge, there is an opportunity to develop new regulations that spur further technological progress.