Why Does AstrobiologyOU Have Space Lawyers?

55 Years ago today, the Outer Space Treaty opened for signature. By historical coincidence it’s the same day as the Apollo 1 fire, which perhaps made Article V’s duty to render assistance to astronauts in distress more poignant.

There are many things that can be said about the Outer Space Treaty, and many things that have been said. It was an arms control treaty intended to ‘de-escalate’ the space race, in the parlance of the US astronaut corps, it was the ‘no staking a claim’ treaty[1], which reduced the consequences of being the first to land on the Moon[2], and over the past 55 years it has become the foundational framework for the body of space governance. The body of laws and rules that comprise space law ensure that satellites are able to operate which has considerable benefits for humanity (from a better understanding of our weather and climate, to improved communications, and the greater understanding of our universe from things such as Hubble) and in general enable space activities to be conducted. The Outer Space Treaty is a prime example of the infrastructure of global governance at its best. However, as the number and variety of space activities increase this foundational framework will need to be further developed. This in essence is why AstrobiologyOU has space lawyers.

We are entering an exiting period for space law, but one that is fraught with issues. Scientists have essentially had undisputed access to outer space beyond Earth orbit, however that is starting to change. This will probably be one of the most significant developments in space governance since the first stirrings of the commercial ‘revolution’ in the late 1980s. We will need to start considering competing uses for celestial bodies. Do the needs of astrobiologists trump the needs of space miners (or is that a false dichotomy) these will be the central questions of the next 55 years of the Outer Space Treaty. Particularly if a certain space billionaire’s ‘plans’ for Mars come to fruition. So the answer to the question that sparked this blog post, why does the Outer Space Treaty matter for Astrobiology, isn’t so much that it has mattered but more that it will matter. And that is why I matter. AstrobiologyOU has a stake in the future of space law. It is important that planetary protection and the interests of the scientific community continue to be a central stakeholder in space governance, and that requires participating in the debate and the discussions. The future of space law is being written now, so we need to be part of that process.

[1]James R. Hansen, First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong (2^nd edn., Simon & Schuster, 2012), 305

[2]Although being first to ‘discover’, if it ever was a basis for territorial claims had long been surpassed by ‘effective occupation and governance’ as a basis for claiming ‘new’ territory (see Legal Status of Eastern Greenland (Den. v. Nor.), 1933 P.C.I.J. (ser. A/B) No. 53 (Apr. 5) and others), though important to note that ‘effective governance’ has traditionally had no greater respect for the indigenous peoples of those territories than ‘discovery’