Space Law: Property, Tort, and the Environment

Catalog description

This minicourse examines three interrelated areas to consider in space: delict (tort), property, and the environment. In terms of tort law and space, undertaking outer space activities is inherently a risky business. Things blow up, fall down, smash into one another – bottom line, things can go very wrong. And when they do, someone will be liable. How tort law principles apply in outer space will be the first area of focus for the mini course. Property rights, the second area of focus, also are important in space. While existing treaties provide that States cannot take ownership of celestial bodies, there is room for interpretation as to whether a private person (or institution) might acquire such ownership. Moreover, there are property rights already in outer space given the existence of man-made objects, such as satellites, spacecraft, etc. How property law impacts space law is the second topic for our discussion. Finally, we will examine space and the environment. There are environmental impacts of outer space activity not only in space, but also on Earth, including pollution created during launch operations, importing new microbes onto Earth during space activity, and objects falling into Earth’s atmosphere from space. Issues of the environment within outer space will also be discussed in the context of space debris, satellites, space stations, the future of possible space hotels, and more. The course will be taught by Professor Wian Erlank of North-West University in South Africa and will be graded in a Pass/C/Fail basis