Sustainability in space Space is becoming more contested, congested, competitive, and contaminated. How to ensure the long-term sustainability of space activities, so present and future generations can use and explore it indefinitely? Tanja Masson-Zwaan • January 19, 2021 • 2 comments
Will the United States rule space resource mining? The USA passed a new law making it legal for US companies to own resources obtained in outer space. Will this lead to a ‘gold rush’ by U.S. companies, or is there hope for an international agreement? Tanja Masson-Zwaan and Bob Richards • December 22, 2015 • 2 comments
Space Junk and the Law Another collision between a satellite and a piece of space debris has occurred. Will states manage to agree on rules to reduce the creation of debris and start cleaning up their mess? Tanja Masson-Zwaan • May 28, 2013 • 3 comments
Back to the Moon and on to Mars: how to engage the public, youth, and funding Golden Spike announced plans to offer routine exploration missions to the Moon by 2020. Forty years after the Apollo program ended, private enterprise brings new hope. But it will require a predictable legal framework. Tanja Masson-Zwaan • December 07, 2012 • 4 comments
Pioneers in space, work for lawyers The conquest of outer space may soon move to the next level. Private entities have the funds, know-how and drive that most States nowadays seem to lack. Additional regulation is needed to complement the UN space treaties concluded in the cold war era. Tanja Masson-Zwaan • June 22, 2012 • 2 comments
Human spaceflight: from Yuri, to André, to ‘Tom, Dick & Harry’? Human space flight is as exciting today as it was 51 years ago when Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the earth. With the marketing of private space trips by companies like Space Expedition Curacao, excitement and legal issues have amplified Tanja Masson-Zwaan • April 10, 2012