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There have been increasing calls in transition research for a global view of sustainability challenges. We argue that this focus should be expanded from a concentration on the Earth's surface and stratosphere to include outer space. The substantial growth of the space sector over the past decade has seen huge increases in the number of rocket launches, the diversity of actors, and the availability of new essential services that depend on space-based infrastructure. In particular, the rise of satellite-based infrastructure could drive the need for inter-related multi-system transitions across a wide range of Earth-bound sectors. These developments, however, cause diverse new sustainability pressures, such as atmospheric pollution, increased energy consumption, and the accumulation of space debris. To address these challenges, this article proposes earth-space sustainability as a new frontier for sustainability transition research, requiring the expansion of conceptual and analytical tools at the interface of transition and global governance research.

The problem of space flights safety arose with the beginning of the first launches of artificial Earth satellites. With expansion of the boundaries of space flights, the area of outer space that must be controlled to ensure flight safety is significantly increasing. In this study, we consider the possibility of capturing space objects into near-planetary space and further movement of these objects. Such statistical analysis is very important when planning the long-term flights. The objects of our research are both: the particles that came from deep space and the evolving asteroids of the Main asteroid belt. A special attention is paid to the evolution of the Griqua family of asteroids, which belong to the main asteroid belt, and move in orbital resonance with Jupiter.

It is widely proposed that Mars will be the next destination for human to expand colonization. However, building up a habitat requires collective work from multiple disciplinaries of which engineering is an indispensable part. Similar to infrastructure construction on the earth, the technical issues of raw material, space construction technologies has to be addressed before human inhabitation. Based on the history of Mars exploration missions and a series of current Mars exploration results, this paper introduces the environment conditions on Mars, reviews the research of the in-situ resources which can be further utilized for infrastructure construction on Mars and proposes feasible infrastructure construction technologies. This paper provides an overview of in-situ construction material resources, possible construction methods and requirements for materials in extreme environment, which can be a valuable reference for future Mars exploration and possible infrastructure construction on the Mars.

The Japanese Act on Launching of Spacecraft, etc. and Control of Spacecraft (commonly cited as “Space Activity Law”) and related documents came into force on November 15, 2018. To implement UN treaty obligations related to outer space accurately and smoothly, to ensure public safety, and to contribute to enhancing the livelihood of people and the development of the economy, Japan established a system related to launch, launch vehicles, control of spacecraft and a compensation scheme for damage to third parties caused by the launch of a launch vehicle. In addition to the Japanese Space Activity Law, there are many other international “space activity laws”. In order to update and harmonize the Japanese Space Activity Law with international space law, the National Space Policy Secretariat (NSPS) conducted an investigation of international and national space laws, especially the United Kingdom, France and United States of America through both documentary research and in-person meetings. This paper provides an overview of the Japanese Space Activity Law.

The accumulating tensions between major space powers increase the likelihood of space conflict. Though outer space is widely militarized, presumably it has not been weaponized. However, the dual-use nature of space technology raises serious concerns about its utilization. The article reviews and compares chosen space systems and technology with the residual offensive capability that could be misused for malicious purposes and could be utilized as space weapons. Demonstrated space-related technology, namely space launch vehicles, small satellites, satellites as weapon platforms, information technology and active debris removal systems, have broad dual-use consequences that can eventually lead to the weaponization of outer space. Nevertheless, space conflict would most likely result in undesired proliferation of space debris with irreversible impact on space environment. The states should promote responsible behaviour concerning emerging space technology and should seek further consideration of space norms that would sustain peaceful uses of outer space.

Entrepreneurs and blue-chip corporations alike are seeking to capitalize on outer space's bountifulness, setting the NewSpace industry's growth ablaze and establishing an engine for an economic and technological revolution. However, meaningful impediments that could stifle the industry's growth are still present. The wide array of newly forming opportunities, pursued by a myriad of actors with various interests, encourages national legislatures to regulate where current international law leaves uncertainty. Such encouragement has created a landscape of conflicting national legislations, which thereby constructs an environment of regulatory competition as states vie for the attention of the NewSpace industry. This paper assesses some of the regulatory competitions already underway as well as provides insights into likely future competitions as technology improves and interest in NewSpace grows. Ultimately, this paper finds and warns of the effects of these competitions; specifically that, in many cases, the rise of regulatory competition threatens to lower the standards of governing policies. In such circumstances, this paper foresees the growing possibility of inhibiting the development of NewSpace, an unsettling outcome and a worthy cause for concern.

The apparently simple and benign process of registering space objects as provided for in Article VIII of the Outer Space Treaty and further refined in the Registration Convention, is really quite complex and controversial. Registration raises numerous questions. They range from meeting its original purpose to its accuracy and efficacy in actual use due to recent technological advances such as the plethora of small satellites being launched, new on-orbit activities such as debris removal and satellite servicing, etc. This paper argues that the current U.N. registration system is so faulty that it is not able to fulfill its original purposes and that many of its objectives are accomplished in other ways. However, there are specific benefits to having and continuing the present registration system, and it has been useful in unforeseen ways: 1) creating a tool for international partnerships such as the ISS to parse ownership and responsibility among the partners, and 2) creating a regime of good will, good faith, and best practices among nations. This paper will address these problems and suggest that the U.N. registration system be improved. It will also argue that associated national requirements such as those found in Art. VI and Art. XII of the Outer Space Treaty should be better coordinated with registration and with overall national transparency in space activities. These efforts will become more important to questions of responsibility, liability, and effective dispute resolution mechanisms as private spacecraft, private on-orbit operations, and other non- and quasi-governmental actors and activities expand in outer space.

Sky is the area above the Earth in which the clouds, the Moon, the Sun, and the stars can be seen. It means the region consists of the atmosphere and outer space seen from the Earth. In the ancient time, people only knew “sky” instead of “inner space” and “outer space”, and they always dreamed travelling to the celestial object nearest to the Earth, the Moon. Traditionally, it is the same globally, the Chinese people respect the Earth, the Moon and the Sun with adorations. Therefore, there were many ancient Chinese legends about the sky and space. In this paper, five ancient Chinese legends related to the sky and space are described at first: the story of sky lantern (天燈), the story of Kuafu (夸父), the story of Chang E (嫦娥), the story of ancient Chinese astronaut Wan Fu (萬戶), and the story of Nuwa (女媧) who patched up the sky. Then, three contemporary arts and designs related to the current space explorations are introduced for comparisons: the Museum of the Moon, the worldwide tour of the Earth model Gaia, and the Chinese Suzhou embroideries of Sun spots and Horsehead nebula. Through the presentations, it is very interesting to see the addition to each other's splendour in the ancient mythologies and the modern space arts.

Private commercial space tourism carrying passengers to outer space is no longer a distant or far-fetched fantasy, rather it is at verge of becoming an affordable reality with exponential development in space technology including development of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), increasing involvement of private companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, Blue Origin etc. into research and funding of space tourism explorations and applications. It is also receiving huge attention from the public. These developments reflect the infinite possibilities and inevitability of space tourism in near future. However, space tourism may also pose many critical legal issues which must be addressed to ensure the consistent and sustainable development of space tourism, and to secure the rights of all stakeholders involved including operators, passengers, launching State etc. The research paper would highlight the crucial legal issues associated with the space tourism. The paper would critically analyze the efficiency of the present international space treaties in dealing with these issues. At the end, the paper would also attempt to provide few suggestions and solutions to these legal conundrums relating to space tourism.

Thanks to its exceptional space surveillance capabilities, unrivalled around the world, the US Department of Defense (DoD) plays a key role in space safety. Through the 18th Space Control Squadron, the US military provides space surveillance data to numerous trusted partners (foreign countries and private companies) having signed an agreement with the US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). This paper presents and analyses the origins and evolution of the DoD's SSA Sharing Program and investigates more generally the progressive drive of the US military towards more transparency on its operations in outer space. After introducing the factual, legal history of the SSA Sharing Program and its predecessor the Commercial and Foreign Entities Pilot Program, this article presents the hidden history of the program, by focusing on four factors: (1) the evolution of the outer space environment, (2) the changing culture inside the DoD, (3) the influence of specific individuals in the DoD and the USG, and (4) the pressure exerted by the private space sector. Most comprehensive study of the SSA Sharing Program to date, this article relies on huge quantities of original data collected by the author during interviews with around 40 experts directly involved in different phases of the 20-year history of the program.

Every year the concentration of space debris is steadily growing, which significantly complicates the conduct of both modern and future space missions using automatic, and especially manned space vehicles. To date, over 18,000 artificial objects and fragments recorded in near-Earth space. Therefore, the issues of cleansing outer space of space debris of various sizes are quite relevant. In this article, the concept of a multirole station is studied. For the successful design of such a station that could serve spacecraft in space and successfully cope with space debris, it is necessary to consider and necessarily take into account in its further work the ballistic aspects of the orbital motion of spacecraft and the logistics of building such a station. This station could be a maintenance hub for satellites or a space debris collector. Because some satellites have very precious instruments onboard, it could be a loose of money to launch a new satellite if the first one is out of service because of a system failure or a lack of fuel. In this perspective, an orbital maintenance hub would enable to fix the failure (batteries replacement, refueling, mechanical maintenance) and to give to the satellites a new life. In this article, we also study the possibility of using such a hub to remove space debris from their orbit and to collect them until they can be deorbiting.

The United Nations has addressed the concept of sustainable development on Earth in a number of global summits and fora for the past 40 years. Extending the concept of sustainability to outer space is a much more recent development, arising from the realization that the Earth's orbital space environment constitutes a finite resource that is being used by an increasing number of space actors that include States, commercial actors and other non-governmental entities. The proliferation of space debris, the increasing complexity of space operations, the emergence of large constellations of satellites, and the increased risks of collisions and interference with the operation of satellites raise concerns about the safety of space operations and the long-term sustainability (LTS) of space activities. Addressing these developments and risks requires international cooperation. The leading international forum to discuss questions of international cooperation in space activities is the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS). In 2010, the Committee began its consideration of this topic with a view to producing a set of internationally agreed guidelines that States could follow to ensure that their space activities would not cause harm to the space environment or the safety of space operations. Following a broad international process conducted under the aegis of COPUOS, in June 2019 the Committee adopted a set of 21 voluntary, non-binding UN COPUOS Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities (‘COPUOS LTS Guidelines’). This paper provides a brief overview of the development of these guidelines, summarizes the salient features of the guidelines and discusses the implementation of these guidelines from the perspectives of government, industry and civil society. In adopting this set of LTS Guidelines, COPUOS acknowledged that more work needs to be done on this topic and it agreed to establish a follow-up LTS working group with a five-year mandate to continue the work. The main themes and challenges facing the next phase of the LTS discussions in COPUOS are also discussed.

The early space governance mechanisms aiming at ensuring peaceful uses of outer space opened the way to a formidable growth in space activities. These policy coordination steps achieved during the height of the Cold War can be regarded as pioneering steps towards ensuring the long-term sustainability of the space domain. Yet threats to the continued safe, secure and sustainable use of outer space have been dramatically increasing over the past decade calling for an evaluation of the existing governance mechanisms. This paper presents the intermediate results of a doctoral research on the emergence and progress of space debris governance mechanisms, the orbital debris issue being considered one of the major threats to space sustainability. An innovative international relations' framework is used drawing upon two studies, namely Peter Haas' [1] seminal work on epistemic communities' influences over international policy coordination and Thomas Weiss and Ramesh Thakur's work [2] on the United Nation's contribution to global governance gaps. The doctoral research findings highlight the essential role of ‘epistemic" knowledge experts in the emergence and evolution of cooperative steps affecting the debris issue, regarded more widely as illustrations of contributions of the epistemic model to space sustainability governance. The study's timeframe covers governance progress from the 1950s until nowadays. This research also identifies levels of governance progress achieved thanks to epistemic influences and provides avenues of thoughts for overcoming obstacles in international cooperation when national security interests are at stake.

The increasing gap in the space capabilities of different countries has led to the need for capacity building in modern times. Space capacity building of countries without or with limited space capacity via international cooperation with advanced spacefaring nations is a good practice towards intragenerational equity among all spacefaring countries, and between spacefaring and non-spacefaring countries at the same period of time. A case study is used here to show the current situation of the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) and its member states that are associated with their space capacity building. The study finds that neither the satellite technology development model developed by Wood and Weigel (2011) nor the model developed by Ercan and Kale (2017) is a good fit for the development of space capability in all of the developing countries. Therefore, using the APSCO member states as a case study may offer guidelines towards the space capacity building of other developing countries. Moreover, an in-depth analysis of the merits and flaws of APSCO’s capacity building programs through comparing them with similar projects carried out by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) and some other countries is conducive to providing some references for regional cooperation in the field of space capacity building. While international space law and the APSCO Convention can provide the general principles for capacity building activities under the framework of APSCO, they are only relevant to the development of scientific and technological capacities for space and human resources rather than organizational development and legal frameworks. Some international soft laws can likewise provide guidance for the capacity building activities of APSCO and its member states in the areas of international direct television broadcasting, remote sensing and cooperative way. To enhance its and its member states’ space capabilities, APSCO, in the context of space commercialization and maintaining the long-term sustainability of outer space activities (LTSOSA), should establish a comprehensive internal regime that addresses scientific and technological capacity building for space, human resources, organizational development and legal frameworks, a flexible regime for international cooperation with other developed spacefaring nations and international organizations with relevant technical capabilities and an internal research center for space law, and actively expand its membership by embracing other economically or technologically developed spacefaring nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

In this paper, drawn from anthropological research done for a project on Mexican imaginaries of outer space, I consider the role of the AEM, or Mexican Space Agency, in space education and outreach in Mexico, focusing on the ways in which the AEM engages with different sectors and social groups, including elementary age children, college students undertaking STEM careers and artists who use space imagery and technology in their work. The research undertaken for this project consists primarily of formal and informal interviews with key actors engaged with outer space who project space into Mexican futures from different perspectives, from enthusiastic involvement in technological advancement as a means of fomenting social and economic progress, to the artistic uses of space and technology as a means of critically reflecting on earthly issues of human relationality and geopolitical power. In addition to interviews, I draw on information gathered from documents, works of art, online discussion groups and attendance at events sponsored by the Mexican Space Agency. I am particularly interested in exploring the implications of the agency's mission to “promote space culture”, as I critically confront anthropological notions of “culture” with the uses of this concept in the public sphere. I am also interested in understanding what is “Mexican” about Mexican space culture, and how national institutions and actors relate to their international counterparts.

Cosmic radiation hazard is cornerstone of space flights safety. Different properties of solar electromagnetic and corpuscular radiation with emphasis on its dangerous influence on astronauts and spacecraft equipment and systems are discussed. Solar and galactic cosmic rays (SCR and GCR) pose a serious obstacle in terms of safety and security of space flights, especially beyond the Earth's magnetosphere. Solar flares and GCR are of special concern. Solar flares are distinguished as extremely complex phenomena observing across the whole electromagnetic spectrum from radio wavelength to extreme ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma ray. Powerful fluxes of energetic particles in very wide energetic spectrum are generated which interact with the home planet and disturbing tremendously our space environment. Altogether, it is referred to as space weather. Geomagnetic storms induced by solar flares affect the ground facilities, social-economic infrastructure and global system operations involving electric power supply, aviation and ground transportation, oil-gas pipelines, geographic information system/data management (GIS), etc. As systems become more complex over time, the impacts of space weather on space flights and humanity in general are likely to increase. We analyze flares complexity and classification depending on their size, duration, morphology or magnetic topology and characteristic corpuscular radiation based on different classification systems as well protective measures to mitigate their consequences. Humans will encounter extremely serious problems of space flights safety at the beginning of new phase of the Moon exploration. Of the risks evaluation of habitation in the lunar hostile environment, specifically in the potential sites of Lunar Base deployment, monitoring of radiation doses absorbed by astronauts on the lunar surface is the first one. Underground shelters could be used to provide safe habitation and maintain the long-term humans' activity. Nowadays we face numerous problems involving many unknowns and dangers of the natural origin in the outer space, which runs in parallel with the needs of great technological advancements and breakthroughs. It is incremental in the course of growing complexity of space flights and progressive development of the human missions with an ultimate goal of undertaking manned flights to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Hazards from the outer space environment either natural (space weather and asteroids) or artificial (space debris and the growing number of satellites launched to orbit) pose a rising risk to space flight activities. The awareness for space sustainability and space safety has seen a continuous increase in recent years and does not stop at the Earth's sphere of influence. The first spacefaring nations start thinking about sustainability in cislunar space and the Martian environment. This work deals with the issue of space debris in Martian orbits in the light of planetary protection. A Mars Sustainability Framework has been developed. This includes a study on the orbital and regulatory environment of Mars, long-term propagation of orbits of artificial objects and the two natural moons, and the analysis of objects evolution and first approaches for collision probability computation. With this work, the issue of space debris beyond Earth orbit is analysed at an early stage.

The Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space is a United Nations treaty that serves as a means of identifying which States bear international responsibility and liability for space objects. It is an important mechanism of international coordination, forming part of the existing international legal framework that governs outer space activities. This study establishes the capability of using a graph database to quantitatively analyse overall adherence by member States to the Registration Convention. We further investigate the timeliness of adherence by quantifying the delay between the date of launch and registration. It is found that overall adherence to the registration convention has declined over time, with the percentage of adherence fluctuating between 70% and 90% in the past decade. The median registration delay varies for different States, ranging from 83 to 342 days for countries with greater than 100 registered satellites. The graph database connects multiple data types from a variety of public sources, enabling further analysis of factors influencing space object registration, including satellite type and orbit regime. This approach generates insights that may prove useful in expanding our understanding of registration practices, and could be implemented as a method of monitoring progress toward “completeness” of the international space object register.

The concept of sustainable development has been at the forefront of conversations around humankind's shared future for several decades. With expansion into outer space likely to be a prominent feature of that future, it is important to consider how our actions in outer space may impact sustainable development. Definitions of sustainable development share the idea that we must work to preserve our environment, lift people from poverty, and reduce economic and social inequalities, all while looking to ensure inter-generational equality. With many resources becoming increasingly scarce on Earth, providing resources for future generations may mean looking to extraterrestrial bodies such as asteroids, the Moon and Mars to top up our dwindling supplies. There are numerous studies exploring the technical and economic considerations necessary to make resource extraction in outer space a reality; however it is important to also consider the social, socio-economic, and environmental impacts of such an undertaking. This paper discusses whether mining resources from celestial bodies is compatible with the international goal of achieving sustainable development. Mining in space has not yet begun in earnest, providing us with the unique opportunity to establish sustainable mining practices before any resource extraction takes place. As such, we make suggestions for a sustainable off-Earth mining framework, emphasising space mining practices that are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.

Although the majority of humanity's current space programs are currently limited to the operation of the international space station and the deployment of probes to analyze distant planets, visions for future space exploration have long-duration missions in sight (such as manned missions to Mars and asteroid mining). According to contemporary literature these missions have the potential to provide tangible and intangible benefits, but they are also subject to public criticism given that increased awareness for environmental protection and preservation has ignited debates surrounding the socio-environmental and financial sustainability of space exploration. In hindsight of past advancements in outer space exploration, the authors follow the assumption that the commercial development will flourish and will provide auxiliary opportunities to overcome existing challenges. However, it is clear that the germination of private investment in the field of space exploration is contingent on the existence of unequivocal international space laws that permit and stimulate pro-profit decision making. Following this line of thought, this paper will explore the divergent definitions of sustainability that exist in the rhetoric of space exploration and will additionally expound on the privatization of space exploration and its relevance to the controversial legal rationales of international space laws.

In order for astronauts to live and work in outer space, environmental conditions must be maintained within very strict parameters. Any change in these conditions (such as atmospheric composition, pressure, and/or temperature) could pose a risk to the astronauts and ultimately to the success of the mission itself. In particular, changes in pressure could place the astronaut at risk for decompression illness (DCI), a potentially life-threatening condition related to the presence of nitrogen bubbles within the body. There are a number of strategies in human spaceflight designed to minimize the risk of DCI or treat it if necessary. However, as humans prepare again to travel beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the risk of developing DCI may increase, as would the difficulties in treating it, given that evacuation to Earth will become substantially less feasible. Even though hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is the accepted gold standard for the treatment of DCI on Earth, there is currently limited capacity for this treatment option in space. Expanding HBOT capacity in human spaceflight could prove useful, given that this medical capability can also be used for the treatment of a number of other potentially life-threatening conditions, such as carbon monoxide poisoning, thermal burns, and gangrene. This paper will examine the current issues related to HBOT in space and discuss the opportunities for its use in future human spaceflight endeavors.

The significant increase of manned private space activities brings to the fore the discussion about the appropriateness and the feasibility of a ‘one-stop shop’ space safety regulation. At national level, both outer space and aviation authorities could be competent for the safety of private manned spaceflights. At international level, there seems to be no common understanding on safety requirements for manned spaceflights, contrary to what is in force in aviation. Thus, to comply with the applicable safety requirements a private operator may have to adhere to a plurality of national and international safety provisions, the scope of which is often uncertain, but the oversight of which belongs often to different authorities. This paper examines the reasons for such situation and proposes possible solutions. One cause is regulatory and oversight “inertia” and habit, i.e. national agencies are used to have specific competencies for specific issues and encounter difficulties in adjusting to new situations either by relinquishing or assuming new responsibilities. Another reason, at both national and international level, is the traditional dichotomy between the fields of aviation and space law, which have been developed independent from each other, based on different principles and situations. At international level, despite the freedom of use of outer space, States often act unilaterally and connect outer space with national security, which makes them reluctant to delimitate outer space and entrust an international organization with promulgation of safety regulations. In addition, private manned spaceflights are just starting to develop their potential, which means that so far uniform regulation appeared to be no real necessity. To overcome these issues, at national level, a mixed aviation and space (aerospace) authority could be created, which would combine expertise from both fields. Such authority should be competent for all flights into/from outer space (orbital, suborbital, deep space) and in airspace. Furthermore, new rules applicable to all spaceflights, irrespective of their specifications, could be developed, or existing rules could be amended to accommodate spaceflights. At international level, such a task would require either the expansion of regulatory authority of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to spaceflights or the institutional upgrading of the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) to an autonomous international spaceflight organization, with powers to issue uniform technical safety standards. Ultimately, an international organization competent for all flights should be created. In the meantime, private international initiatives in the form of private certification standards are expected to play a key role.

The growing amount of space debris poses a threat to operational spacecraft and the long-term sustainability of activities in outer space. According to the orbital mechanics, an uncontrolled space object will be tumbling, bringing great challenge to capture and remove it. In this paper, a dual-arm coordinated “Area-Oriented Capture” (AOC) method is proposed to capture a non-cooperative tumbling target. Firstly, the motion equation of the tumbling target is established, based on which, the dynamic properties are analyzed. Then, the “Area-Oriented Capture” concept is presented to deal with the problem of large pose (position and attitude) deviation and tumbling motion. An area rather than fixed points/devices is taken as the object to be tracked and captured. As long as the manipulators’ end-effectors move to a specified range of the objective areas (not fixed points on the target, but areas), the target satellite will be hugged by the two arms. At last, the proposed method and the traditional method (i.e. fixed-point oriented capture method) are compared and analyzed through simulation. The results show that the proposed method has larger pose tolerance and takes shorter time for capturing a tumbling target. Keywords: Area-oriented capture, Dual-arm coordination, Space debris removal, Space robot, Tumbling target capturing

After successfully launching two space laboratories, namely, Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2, China has announced her next plan of constructing the Chinese Space Station (CSS) in 2022. The CSS will provide not only platforms for Chinese scientists to carry out experimental studies in outer space but also opportunities for open international cooperation. In this article, we review the development of China's manned space exploration missions and the preliminary plan for CSS. Additionally, China has initiated space radiation research decades ago with both ground-based simulation research platform and space vehicles and has made noticeable progresses in several aspects. These include studies on human health risk assessment using mammalian cell cultures and animals as models. Furthermore, there have been numerous studies on assessing the space environment in plant breeding.

Outer space exploration has been an area where the international community demonstrated a significant level of co-operation, successfully transcending geographical, national and cultural boundaries. In the age of global governance, international co-operation has never been more important in resolving today's global challenges. One of such challenges is the growing amount of space debris in orbits, which, if unresolved, will not only undermine global information and communications technology (ICT) system, but will also hinder areas of sustainable development where outer space activities contribute to. (e.g. satellite imaging for disaster warning and management, satellite imaging for agricultural purpose) This paper proposes to conceptualize space orbit and radio frequency as essential global commons, whose governance requires international co-operation. In examining potentials and challenges in moving forward space orbit governance, the paper pays particular focus on ensuring space safety and sustainability through the introduction of on-orbit servicing (OOS) operations. The paper will identify aspects of OOS that warrant further collaborations, specifically, the standardization of docking and rendez-vous practices that could facilitate future space activities. Recognizing the potential of future commercialization of refueling, repairing and debris removal operations in orbits, this paper argues that standardization practices would be the first step towards enhancing international co-operation, as well as in strengthening the existing regime of peaceful use of outer space. Ultimately, it could play a role in addressing one of today's most imminent challenges – ensuring sustainable use of global commons.

This article addresses the growing problems of space debris elevating the increased risk of orbital collisions as well as the difficulty of accurate space situational awareness, especially with regard to smaller space debris. These problems of space situational awareness (SSA) and space traffic management (STM) will become more acute as perhaps as many as twenty thousand new satellites are deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO) as part of new large scale constellations. This problem will grow as these LEO satellites need to be replaced within a cycle of perhaps every five to seven years . Many believe that there is now a need for space traffic management (STM) capabilities to cope with all these issues. There are no specific agreements, however, on how space traffic management might be systematically accomplished at the international level. The good news is that the Working Group on the Long Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities (LTSOSA) and COPUOS agreed to 21 new guidelines relating to the longer term sustainability of space and which help to establish a foundation for future efforts to create a process that could aid future space traffic control processes. Several key guidelines which were discussed extensively within the Working Group which could have aided the future prospects for traffic management, however, were not agreed before the Working Group adjourned in June 2018. This article also highlights the problem of space traffic management in near-space or ‘protospace’. These concerns grow as there is more activity in the stratosphere due to deployment of high altitude platform systems, more launches through the stratospher to deploy satellite constellation, more de-orbit operations, and perhaps increased operation of spaceplanes and hypersonic transportation in these upper altitude areas not covered by current commercial air traffic management and control. This article not only addresses these types of issues in terms of safety concerns and increased risks, but also suggests new and innovative ways that these concerns might be addressed through regulatory reforms and codification of best practices. These proposals thus outline new ways forward and suggest reforms that could supplement the efforts of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in its efforts to address these safety and security concerns.

It is only in the last couple of years that the concept of Space Traffic Management (STM) has come into the spotlight in the political stage with the United States Trump administration issuing Space Policy Directive 3 (SPD3), creating a national STM policy for the first time in history. SPD3 is a revolutionary step forward, not only because it introduces the STM concept into mainstream space policy, but also because it attracted the attention of the international community to focus on this concept of STM. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the brief history of STM in international initiatives for sustainable space activities by identifying and linking certain fragmented elements that gave rise to the concept. Based on a conceptual discussion on the reluctant nature of international space law regarding the issue of controlling traffic in outer space, this paper will highlight the importance of the role of spacecraft operators for rule-making toward an international STM regime. This paper will also provide observations from a Japanese perspective to these initiatives by introducing some political and/or industrial movements of the Japanese space community and its contemporary challenges.

The 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon presents an opportune moment to reflect on the security, safety and sustainability challenges that humankind will have to confront as we expand the sphere of human economic, political and social activity beyond low Earth orbit over the next 50 years. Three overarching challenges are identified: the challenge of governance; the challenge of information sharing; and the challenge of maintaining strategic stability in the military uses of outer space in order to preserve outer space for peaceful use and exploration.

In recent decades, the outer space environment has become increasingly congested as a result of the proliferation of space activity, the growth of space debris, and the diversification of parties entering space. This has caused serious threats to the safety of space activity and operations. Space traffic management (STM) is an effective way of monitoring space traffic, protecting the space environment, and securing space safety. The establishment of an international STM regime requires sufficient technical capacity, and more importantly, effective regulatory arrangements at both the domestic and international levels. This paper aims to examine China's domestic legal and policy arrangements, its efforts and practice at the international level, and underlying concerns regarding STM. In this regard, China has established several departmental rules governing regulatory management, such as the registration of space objects and the acquisition of permits for civil space launch projects. As to the remediation of space debris, the recently issued Interim Measures on Space Debris Mitigation and Protective Management deals with the problem of space debris from various aspects including RD at the international level, China would continue to promote international cooperation, particularly, space data sharing, participation in related international space legislation, and facilitation of the establishment of an international regime of STM.

As it has accrued meaning over time, outer space has become as much a social construct as a physical reality. Because space is a product of the imagination, its contours are not stable and are subject to needs and desires that shift and evolve according to social, political, and economic priorities. This article examines differing relationships to space that shed light on the social and political dynamics that defined their historical moments—in particular the different iterations of the democratic impulse that these relationships express. This article compares the emergence of the dualistic and nation-based discourse of the late 1950s and 1960s Cold War era out of the first satellite and rocket launches to present-day ‘NewSpace,’ which is characterized by free enterprise and the logic of commodification. In the process, it touches on the 1986 by the Challenger mission and the emblematic figure of school teacher Christa McAuliffe; however, attention is paid primarily to how she represented a transitional moment between the global, nation-building priorities of the Cold War and the contemporary profit-driven individualism of NewSpace. The article concentrates on Cold War spaceflight and contemporary space tourism because they offer in the most vivid way a glimpse into how society's own projections have populated the universe.

GNSS-related activities qualify as ʻspace activities’, and it thus make international space law applicable. However, it is quite reticent to broadly interpret GNSS signals under the term ʻspace object’, due to the lack of material and physical properties. The discussions on whether GNSS damage qualifies as indirect damage, and whether the Liability Convention cover that indirect damage, are irrelevant to the applicability of GNSS damage to the outer space treaties. GNSS damage may apply Article VII of the Outer Space Treaty and the Liability Convention as long as the causal link between the damage and GNSS satellites (not GNSS signals) is unbroken, logical, foreseeable and not too remote under the sense of general international law.

Space capabilities play a crucial role in ensuring human security. One of the threats coming from space is the possible damage to our assets by an asteroid or comet impact. As demonstrated by the object entering the Earth's atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013, the threat of an asteroid or comet impact is a real and global issue demanding development of an international response. Addressing such a hazard, by first identifying those objects that pose a threat to enable planning a corresponding mitigation campaign, require international coordination. The United Nations Member States, especially those with capabilities to engage in a possible planetary defence mission, already share a number of common activities in this field. This paper outlines the progress made in the implementation of recommendations for an international response to the NEO impact threat, as agreed under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and welcomed by the UN General Assembly in its resolution 68/75 of December 2013. The recommendations provide for a coordinated international response to a possible NEO threat. They aim at ensuring international information-sharing in discovering, monitoring and physically characterizing potentially hazardous NEOs with a view that all countries, in particular developing countries with limited capacity in predicting and mitigating a NEO impact, are aware of potential threats. They emphasize the need for an effective emergency response and disaster management in the event of a discovered NEO impact threat. The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) and the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG), which are the two entities established in 2014 as a result of the UN-endorsed recommendations, are important mechanisms at the global level for strengthening the coordination in the area of planetary defence. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) acts as secretariat to SMPAG and works with both IAWN and SMPAG in addressing this global issue. In the event of a credible impact prediction, warnings would be issued by the IAWN, the SMPAG would propose mitigation options and implementation plans for consideration to the Member States. The goal is the global protection of the eco-system, of human beings and their properties on Earth, and of the civilization of humankind from a devastating asteroid impact. The current paper outlines the work of the IAWN and the SMPAG towards a road-map for planetary defence at the global level, including agreements on initial criteria and thresholds for impact threat response actions, consideration of mitigation mission types and technologies and mapping of threat scenarios to mission types as well as developing a plan for action in case a credible threat is discovered. The paper also reflects on how to convey information about the NEO impact warnings and associated impact probabilities to the public and governmental decision-makers as part of the agreed communications guidelines, which are another important pillar in the work of the IAWN.

This article deals with the possibilities and challenges of Japan's dual-use space situational awareness (SSA) systems. Japan is unique in a way that military use of outer space was completely prohibited for almost 40 years until the Basic Space Act (2008) became effective. The change in its space policy was decided because of the rapidly worsening security environment in East Asia, accompanied by preeminent threats to the safety, stability and sustainable use of outer space that constitutes a prerequisite for the safety and welfare of any country. This has led Japan to begin developing a full-scale SSA operation. However, Japan's long-standing non-military practice forces it to design and develop its SSA systems in a different manner than other advanced spacefaring nations. Given such conditions/restrictions, this article first identifies a Japanese means of constructing full-scale dual-use SSA systems, particularly taking into account the functions and capabilities of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the significance of the Japan-U.S. Alliance and a series of recent governmental decisions. The merits and challenges of Japan's whole-of-government construction of the dual-use SSA will then be explored; this involves difficult processes to coordinate different defense and civil mission requirements. The conclusion envisions a balance between the Japan Air Self Defense Force's superior air defense capability and JAXA's accumulated technical capabilities, which together would enable full-fledged defense space utilization starting with the SSA.

Several national governments have recently taken substantial steps toward creating policies that apply to new, path-breaking activities at asteroids in outer space. Near-term activities on asteroids are likely to be various, including mining initiated by private firms and planetary defense activities pursued by public agencies. Current perspectives on making policy toward asteroid activities often presume that the different goals pursued by actors interested in asteroids are mutually supportive and that diverse actors’ common focus on asteroids builds momentum for creating an enabling policy environment. In contrast, we argue that the 4 main categories of asteroid activities envisioned today—scientific research (science), human settlement of other parts of the solar system (settlement), planetary defense (security), and mining (sales)—are best served by policy regimes with distinct features. Different activities require different policy arrangements, which are not straightforwardly compatible. The incompatibilities present policymakers with trade-offs. This article discusses the 4 main types of asteroid activities and their related policy needs to highlight these trade-offs and influence debate.

Outer space is a congested strategic domain. The issue of space debris mitigation is one of the key issues of safe space traffic. However, active debris removal (ADR) systems may raise concerns about their dual-use capabilities. In this article, the authors have analyzed the ADR systems focusing on their potential as space weapons. The article concludes that ADR systems can be utilized for harmful purposes, although with limited impact. This limited potential of ADR systems to become antisatellite weapons allow for the development of such systems keeping in place basic confidence and trust building measures. The authors believe the further commercialization of space sector could enhance the space debris mitigation efforts.

Space exploration is a trailblazing project endowed with multiple uses by multiple users. The human settlement project on celestial bodies, such as the Moon Village, will give rise to complex activities. To regulate these activities, it is necessary to extend earthly countries' jurisdiction into outer space. This article examines existing rules on extraterritorial jurisdiction and identified possible problems thereof. This article offers solutions by making reference to the jurisprudences from human rights law. For the jurisdictional quasi-territorial jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction, this article offers new criteria in establishing them.

Outer space can be used for military and strategic purposes. The growing dependence of militaries on outer space assets in pursuit of operational and communicational undertakings make them productive assets and plausible targets for adversaries. Such threats push the states to take measures to secure their space assets. India is developing its dedicated military satellites for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence and Surveillance (C4ISR) capabilities. The progress in military assets in outer space, Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, antisatellite weapons, surveillance, and intelligence capabilities are a major concern for Pakistan. Strategic stability in South Asia is under question, and there is a need to analyze the changing security dynamics of the region. This article provides a detailed overview of India's recent development on BMD system and other space assets of India and Pakistan. The emerging technologies will have serious implications for strategic stability in South Asia. This article is an attempt to understand the potential security scenarios between India and Pakistan and concludes that the technological asymmetries may lead to strategic instability.

This article provides an analysis of the concept of sustainable development in the context of current international space law. The extent of doctrinal conflicts and consensus of the international space law conventions and instruments with the concept of sustainable development could be well understood from this analysis. The result clearly indicates that there is consonance between the legal concept of sustainable development and international space law framework. At the same time, the article points out that the various issues relating to the long-term sustainable use of outer space and concerns faced because of a gap in international space law still exist. To curb this problem, it is important to improve the normative nature of international space law. The analysis helps in highlighting that incorporating the legal concept of sustainable development in a proactive manner into international space law would help in increasing the normative character as well as increasing its effectiveness.

The Outer Space Treaty (OST), which entered into force on 10th October 1967, has served as a foundation of international space law since the second decade of the Space Age. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty's entry into force, a special panel event was organized during the 68th International Astronautical Congress held in Adelaide, Australia, from 25th–29th September 2017. The authors of this viewpoint were invited to share their perspectives on the governance framework for outer space activities underpinned by the OST and to reflect on the prospects for the future of global space governance, and the opportunities presented by UNISPACE+50, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the first UNISPACE conference in June 2018. This viewpoint begins with a retrospective reflection of 3 panellists on the contributions of the OST to global space governance in the past 50 years and the challenges facing the OST at present. The fourth reflection focuses on the potentials of UNISPACE+50 in 2018 to strengthen global cooperative space governance for the next 50 years of the space age.

The development of the antisatellite (ASAT) weapons is a crucial process of the second era of space militarization. As a result, outer space loses the status of a sanctuary. However, this process does not steam only from the technological advance but also from strategic circumstances. The increasing number of space actors makes the system less stable. The degree of dependency on space assets is significantly different in different countries, what creates the vulnerability gap. What is more, the capability to defend a space infrastructure is profoundly limited due to physical and technological limitations, favoring offensive actions. Outer space is turning into offense-dominant domain. The growing risk of using ASAT weapons and the paramount importance of satellites in supporting armed forces prompt a search for protecting space infrastructure. Therefore, the space deterrence seems to be an attractive tool of increasing the security of space assets. So far, this branch of deterrence has been in the margins of strategic studies as the possibilities of undertaking action against space assets were very limited. The aim of the article is to analyze the adequacy of the development of the space deterrence concept, with the respect for strategic and technological circumstances and to compare it to nuclear deterrence as being one of the most examined deterrence concepts. The starting point for the analysis is the general characteristics of deterrence concept with special regard to nuclear deterrence as an example of its effective application (even though the capability to generate deterrent effect is still in dispute). This article subsequently examines the reasons making the space deterrence a current and important issue – the end of sanctuary and the creation of new battlefield in outer space, resulting from the pursuit of operational deployment of ASAT weapons. The strategic consideration is taken into account, including asymmetric dependence on space assets and, consequently, unfavorable to US military benefit-risk balance of space warfare. The difficulties in protecting the space infrastructure, favoring offensive action, are examined. The parallelism between nuclear and space deterrence is indicated two key differences – the lack of existential threat and retaliation credibility characterizes space deterrence. Based on these theoretical frameworks, the sample of escalation ladder in space is proposed. It should be stressed that the ladder refers only to the attack on space infrastructure (and the attack from space at the top of the ladder). The subsequent section thus attempts to answer the question where an attack on satellites should be placed on the escalation ladder. Should the hypothetical retaliation be limited to space infrastructure? The key conclusion of the analysis is that building space deterrence as an independent construct is not justified.

Existing analyses of US-China relations in matters of space policy have overwhelmingly focused on the contemporary relationship, with a tendency to represent the interaction between the 2 states as primarily competitive for its entire existence. By making use of American archival materials, this article argues that these characterisations are misleading. Instead, the historical evidence shows that an iteration of a ‘Chinese space threat’ predates contemporary threat perceptions by almost 5 decades. Crucially, however, this first iteration of a ‘Chinese space threat’ was side-lined to such an extent in the 1970s that cooperation in space policy became possible, leading to some significant technology transfer. This cooperation lasted until the modern articulation of a ‘Chinese space threat’ began to make such exchanges controversial once again. Analysis of these archival materials, therefore, shows that, while contemporary tensions between the United States and China in outer space are not new, they are also not the norm.

This article provides a summary on the origins of the concept of the long-term sustainability of outer space activities (LTSOSA) by reviewing previous discussions related to the definition of this concept with the conclusion that the LTSOSA is in fact derived from the concept of sustainable development and comprises 5 legal elements, including the principles of intergenerational equity, sustainable use, intragenerational equity, integration, and peaceful purposes. In this regard, the LTSOSA to some extent has been already reflected in international environmental law and international space law. This article, therefore, argues that to enhance the LTSOSA, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO), which is a regional intergovernmental cooperative organization, has to embrace an LTSOSA regime because of its own interests, the need to fulfill its international obligations that have been imposed by international environmental law and international space law, and the need for regional efforts, which can complement both national and international efforts. Finally, it is concluded that the APSCO should establish internal legal regulations that address issues related to the LTSOSA, at least those that take into consideration space debris mitigation, space weather, space traffic management, capacity building (especially the transfer of space-oriented environmentally sound technology), and radio frequency interference.

On June 6, 2017, a draft bill entitled the American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act was introduced to the US House of Representatives. Even though the bill has not been enacted into law yet, its relevance should not be underestimated. Indeed, it not only represents the latest step in regulating the nascent space mining industry but also contains several provisions that, to a large extent, challenges the traditional understanding of basic international space law rules. For example, the draft bill refers to the right of the US entities to engage in space undertaking without conditions or limitations, argues that not all the obligations of the Outer Space Treaty are imputable to those entities, and claims that outer space is not a global commons. In the light of the above, the purpose of the present viewpoint was to review the most innovative, yet controversial, elements of the draft bill and to assess their possible impact on future space resources utilization activities as well as on the overall stability of the space law regime.

The Moon Farside is the only place in space, and not too far from the Earth, where radio transmissions and noises produced by Humanity on Earth may not reach since the spherical body of the Moon blocks them, acting like a shield. Thus, protecting the Moon Farside from all kinds of non-scientific future exploitations (e.g. real estate, tourism and military) has long been a concern for many far-sighted space scientists as well as for several IAA Academicians. We started facing this problem in the 1990s, when the French radio astronomer Jean Heidmann of the Paris Meudon Observatory first promoted an IAA Cosmic Study about which areas of the Moon Farside should be reserved for scientific uses only. But Heidmann passed away on July 3rd, 2000, and his work had to be continued by others. This author took over his IAA Cosmic study and a paper describing both the scientific and legal aspects of the problem was published in 2008 (see Ref. [1]), Later, on June 10, 2010, this author was the first scientist to present the case for the Moon Farside Protection at the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs in Vienna (see Ref. [2]) during a meeting of UN-COPUOS, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Unfortunately, the undeclared but quite real “current, new race to the Moon” complicates matters terribly. All the space–faring nations now keep their eyes on the Moon, and only the United Nations might have a sufficient authority to Protect the Farside and keep safe its unique “radio-noise free” environment. But time is money, and the “Moon Settlers” may well reach the Moon before the United Nations come to agree about any official decision concerning the Farside Protection. Quite an URGENT ISSUE. In this paper, we firstly define the PAC (= Protected Antipode Circle), i.e. a circular piece of land on the Farside having its center at the Antipode of the Earth and tangent to the +30° and -30° parallels. This turns out measuring about 1820 km in diameter on the surface of the Moon Farside. Then we propose that the new “Moon Village”, supported by the vision of the ESA Director General, Jan Woerner, be located OUTSIDE the PAC (obviously not to interfere with the detection of radiation coming from space) and also SOUTH OF THE PAC, to be “close” to the South Pole as much as needed in order to benefit of frozen water there. It thus appears that the best venue for the “Moon Village” would be on or around the 180° meridian and possibly quite close to the South Pole.

Summary The sun and outer space are the two most important fundamental thermodynamics resources for human beings on Earth. The capability for harvesting solar energy has been of central importance throughout the history of human civilization. Harvesting the coldness of outer space using radiative cooling technology also has a long history and has received renewed interest recently. However, simultaneously and synergistically harvesting energy from these two thermodynamics resources has never been realized. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of such simultaneous energy harvesting using a configuration where a solar absorber that is transparent in mid-infrared is placed above a radiative cooler. The solar absorber is heated to 24°C above the ambient temperature and provides a shading mechanism that enables the radiative cooler to reach 29°C below the ambient temperature. This work points to a new avenue for harvesting of renewable energy resources.

CubeSat technology has recently attracted great interest from the scientific community, industry and space agencies, and represents today an exciting movement towards a more affordable and accessible space industry. In view of potential applications of CubeSat technology to small-body planetary exploration, this paper studies the feasibility of using autonomous CubeSats to flyby near-Earth asteroids. This work provides an overview of the current state of CubeSat technology and proposes a 3U CubeSat mission using primarily off-the-shelf components. The proposed mission considers a CubeSat is deployed by a larger spacecraft in a periodic orbit around the first (L1) or the second (L2) Sun-Earth Lagrange points (common destinations to observe the Sun and outer space), from where fuel-optimal impulsive trajectories are designed to flyby asteroids between 2019 and 2025. Navigation support and ground operations costs still represent a major challenge for interplanetary CubeSats. As such, Monte Carlo simulations are performed to determine the flyby accuracies that can be accomplished by a 3U CubeSat flying autonomously (i.e., using observations of the Sun during cruise and observations of the asteroid before the flyby to estimate its own trajectory, instead of using ground stations for navigation support). Asteroid flyby opportunities for an autonomous 3U CubeSat are identified between years 2019 and 2025. Flyby altitudes below 500 km are found possible with currently-available CubeSat components. Possible science payloads are also overviewed, and the potential scientific return of such a low-cost mission is discussed.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has developed a comprehensive set of capacity-building activities and associated partnerships providing access to experimental facilities on ground and to a wide range of Low Earth Orbit platforms. These opportunities are available to applicants from high-school to university level, as well as other research, governmental and inter-governmental institutions. This is a unique approach to space capacity-building, away from the traditional classroom or lecture methods, aimed at developing and emerging economies, as well as encouraging cooperation with agencies and institutions from developed nations. This paper summarizes the series of activities and related programmatic and roadmap of the Office.

The warfare environment tends to become multidimensional and the modern war becomes more and more atypical, unfolding concurrently in material and non-material environments of a very different nature. Among these environments where the modern conflict unfolds, there is the outer space. And not just the cosmic space, but also the upper atmosphere of the Earth, at the boundary between the atmosphere and the space. In this rarefied and hard-to-reach environment, the actors of the conflict theater can send automated or piloted devices capable of the most diverse military missions, such as spying, strategic bombing, infiltration, remote reconnaissance, and so on. But making such an aerospace vehicle can no longer be done by applying classical technologies.