50 years of Space Law: The 1967 Outer Space Treaty

The Outer Space Treaty, as it is most commonly known, celebrates this year five decades in existence and offers a reason to reflect on the development of international space law in the past half-century.

Dimitra Stefoudi • December 20, 2017 • 1 comment

Jurisdiction in the Moon Village

The Moon Village is a trendsetting project involving multiple uses by multiple users. The industry has no way of knowing whose governance they might be swept off to. So it is necessary to clarify rules on jurisdiction allocation in this community.

Laura Wanlu Zhang • March 20, 2017

Will the United States rule space resource mining?

The USA passed a new law making it legal for US companies to own resources obtained in outer space. Will this lead to a ‘gold rush’ by U.S. companies, or is there hope for an international agreement?

Tanja Masson-Zwaan and Bob Richards • December 22, 2015 • 1 comment

Gaining Freedom, Losing Space

Classic international space law instruments promote the freedom of States to explore and use outer space for peaceful purposes, providing only vague restrictions on this freedom. Should the freedom of use be restricted?

Neta Palkovitz • August 26, 2014 • 2 comments

A National Park on the Moon: When Moot Court Cases Come to Life

A proposed U.S. Bill brings the 2013 space law moot court case to life. Read how the hypothetical case related to the Moon is relevant to the discussions around the Bill, and how Leiden University students are involved.

Neta Palkovitz • July 16, 2013

Space Junk and the Law

Another collision between a satellite and a piece of space debris has occurred. Will states manage to agree on rules to reduce the creation of debris and start cleaning up their mess?

Tanja Masson-Zwaan • May 28, 2013 • 3 comments

Back to the Moon and on to Mars: how to engage the public, youth, and funding

Golden Spike announced plans to offer routine exploration missions to the Moon by 2020. Forty years after the Apollo program ended, private enterprise brings new hope. But it will require a predictable legal framework.

Tanja Masson-Zwaan • December 07, 2012 • 4 comments

Will YOU own the next space project?

From private owned launchers to private missions into deep space, governments are no longer the sole promoter of space activities. As crowd funding for small-scale space projects becomes a reality, some legal questions arise

Neta Palkovitz • August 17, 2012 • 7 comments

Pioneers in space, work for lawyers

The conquest of outer space may soon move to the next level. Private entities have the funds, know-how and drive that most States nowadays seem to lack. Additional regulation is needed to complement the UN space treaties concluded in the cold war era.

Tanja Masson-Zwaan • June 22, 2012 • 2 comments

leidenlawblog

space law

Blogs