The Future of Outer Space Law

This book identifies and discusses problems and opportunities for the future theory and practice of outer space law.

The corpus of outer space law, including the Outer Space Treaty 1967, has faced multiple challenges and critiques. In recent times, these have included advances in technology, the militarisation of outer space, space debris, and geopolitics. The prominent and emerging contributors to this collection draw on diverse research frameworks to discuss proposals for the future of outer space law and policy. These include addressing regulatory gaps and under-examined and emerging areas of the law, but also beyond, the Outer Space Treaty – especially related to potential extraterrestrial settlements, satellites technology, self-defence, self-determination, and the environment. The book discusses the tensions between universalism and localisation, as well as the regionalisation of outer space law and policy – and how these approaches might adapt to create a dynamic space industry for the future.

This book is both practical and theoretical in scope and will be of interest to academics, researchers and students. It will also be of interest to international organisations, diplomats, and other government officials and policymakers.

Anna Marie Brennan is Senior Lecturer in the School of Law, Politics, and Philosophy at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Her teaching and research interests address international criminal law, human rights law, international humanitarian law, and outer space law. She was previously a lecturer in law at the University of Liverpool in United Kingdom and at University College Cork in Ireland. In 2023, she was the Acting Dean of Te Piringa Faculty of Law and is currently the New Zealand Chair of the AI and Space Law Society.

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