Aviation Law in Space Law
Aviation Law in Space Law
The flights of unmanned and manned space vehicles that began in 1957 highlighted the necessity for some legal recognition of spacecraft and activities in space. The UN appointed a Committee for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1959. Its 1967 Outer Space Treaty codified accepted principles of international law relating to outer space and established the proposition that outer space is not subject to national appropriation and is to be used only for peaceful purposes-a proposition disturbed in the early 1980s by U.S. president Ronald W. Reagan’s proposal of a space-based defense system (see Strategic Defense Initiative). A 1968 treaty dealt with astronaut rescue and return and the return of objects launched into space. This treaty provided for the safe and prompt return to the launching state of any personnel of a spacecraft, any space object, or any component part that lands in the territory of another contracting state as a result of accident or other emergency.
In 1971 the UN enacted a space liability treaty providing that the launching country would be absolutely liable to pay compensation for loss of life, injury, or damage to property resulting from objects launched into space by that country. A 1974 treaty required registration of space objects with the UN. A 1979 treaty dealing with commercial exploitation of the Moon, however, aroused controversy and has not yet been ratified by the United States and several other nations. The United States has also made several bilateral arrangements concerning space allocations for communications satellites and the use of data from other applications satellites. (1)
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