Recent achievements by private space companies have widened access to outer space beyond government actors. Such innovation complicates the existing legal framework for outer space, which was heavily influenced by Cold War government policies. It also raises questions about the framework’s continued applicability to contemporary private sector space exploration. As a result of the framework’s potential destabilization by the private space sector, calls for changes to the traditionally state-exclusive domain are being made with increasing frequency.

This Article argues how and why the United Nations should, through its convention process, modify space law to incorporate private actors. Space law is currently fragmented amongst treaties, multilateral agreements, and national legislation, leaving private actors unprotected. An emerging trend of filling gaps in space law with national legislation is worrisome because it encourages post-Cold War geopolitical tensions, in direct opposition to foundational space treaty principles.

Bringing private actors into the legal framework for outer space must be a priority. This article advocates for the United Nations to call a convention to comprehensively modify the outer space legal regime, to create a space court similar to the Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and to include non-governmental interests through the granting of permanent observer status. Using the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) as a guide, this Article argues that an equivalent tribunal for outer space is the best chance for addressing future space disputes and for granting legal protections to private entities operating in space. It further argues that a space court expands the rule of law into outer space, furthers the mandate of the United Nations and existing space treaties, and is adaptable to a rapidly evolving area of law.

Continue reading “Justice for The New Frontier: Why the United Nations Should Create a Space Court Through a Convention Process”