Private Enterprise And Public Interest In The European Spacescape

This book provides a broad set of information and data on the rise of private actors in the space sector, organized into different topics covering the various trends that have shaped the space sector during the last decade. The book, written in a descriptive fashion, concludes with recommendations for future analytical research on the topic.

In National Space Law in China, Yun Zhao examines space laws, regulations and policies in China. As the first English monograph on national space legislation in China, this book shall contribute to the understanding of China’s space law regime.

This book documents the latest research relating to the legal aspects of satellite remote sensing, which is still largely unregulated, and identifies shortcomings in the current legal regime before proposing improvements needed for its full utilisation.

Impacts by asteroids or comets on Earth may lead to natural disasters of catastrophic dimensions. This book addresses legal and policy aspects of ‘planetary defence’ activities by space agencies and other actors aiming at the prediction and mitigation of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs).

A. GENERAL BACKGROUND “The foremost goal of the international community in the area [of private space launch services] should be to induce states to implement effective licensing procedures applicable to commercial ventures for which state responsibility may 1 exist. ” 1. PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN THE SPACE INDUSTRY In the first decades of the space age, military and state security motivations indicated the direction of national space programs. Now the development of space activities depends essentially upon the possibility of recovering 2 investments. Private sector-driven commercial endeavors in outer space have been increasing exponentially and have experienced a significant quantitative growth over the last years. Spacefarers promote commercial participation of private companies in operations related to outer space, and, thus, the private sector is now increasingly providing satellite telecommunications, remote sensing, global positioning and space launch services directly to its customers. In this context, overall revenues for the worldwide space industry 3 amounted to US$ 82 billion in 2001. In the late 1990’s the transponder demand, in particular Ku- band transponders, was consistently on the rise due 4 to the escalated utilization of geostationary satellite transponders. Global positioning systems have been playing an increasingly important role in navigation, and remote sensing systems are mapping and documenting nearly 1 E. A. Frankle & E. J. Steptoe, “Legal Considerations Affecting Commercial Space Launches From International Territory”, (1999) 50 IISL at 10. Emphasis added. 2 H. L.

The book deals with the main themes in implementing international space law vis-à-vis private enterprise theme by theme, with a specific focus on Europe in view of the complicating roles of ESA and the European Union in this context.

Earth observation data policy has received little attention, even though the conditions of access to Earth observation data are fundamental to the exploitation of and the further growth of the Earth observation sector. This unique book addresses this limitation.