European trajectories in space law 2007

With satellites used for calling, surfing the Internet, watching television, finding your way by car, or for weather forecasts, space serves a lot of us in everyday life. But it has not always been like that — only a few decades ago, space research had mainly military purposes.

Divided into three time periods — before 1960, between 1960 and 2000, and after 2000 — ‘European trajectories in space law’ describes the history of space research and actions.

The book gives an insight to the political aspects of space, emphasises the need to have special laws on the use of space, rather than linking it to the use of air. One of its conclusions is that 'the use of space must be considered as a full part of European foreign policy in the widest sense. In the European perspective, stress is put on security rather than defence.'

Contents:
Part 1 – Space law before 1960
1. First principles
2. The principle of liberty of space extended to celestial bodies
3. Military grounds for civilian developments
4. Space law as a branch of international law

Part 2 – Space law between 1960 and 2000
1. The Outer Space Treaty (OST) (1967)
2. The Rescue Agreement (1968)
3. The Liability Convention (1972)
4. The Convention on Registration of Objects launched into Outer Space (1974)
5. Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and other Celestial Bodies (1979)
6. The Conventions of the European Space Agency (ESA) (1975–
1980)
7. The International Telecommunication Union Convention (1973)
8. The intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on the International Space Station (ISS) (1988)
9. Commercial development plans in space related to the ISS
10. Space-related resolutions of the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA)
11. The particular problem of space debris
12. The multiple uses of satellites
13. Galileo, the European satellite positioning project
14. Industrial law in space applications
15. Insurance of space activities
16. Dispute resolution — jurisprudence

Part 3 – Space challenges faced by Europe from a legal perspective (2000–)
1. Take-of of a strategic vision for space in Europe
2. Eforts to achieve institutional convergence between the
European Commission and the ESA
3. The Green Paper initiative (21 January 2003) followed by the White Paper (11 November 2003)
4. The setting of a new treaty framework: the European
Convention
5. Towards a European Defence Agency
6. The European military-industrial complex
7. Galileo and GNSS challenges during the 21st century
8. EU cooperation with third countries on space issues
9. A need to clarify the role assigned to ISS
10. Space travel in a privatisation perspective
11. Developments in the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU)
12. Multilateral solutions against increasing environmental
damage originating in space
13. Future insurance of space activities
14. Space competition, claims and dispute resolution
15. Space and security — concentration in the aerospace industry