• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.183-221
• /
• 2013

While in the early stages of space activities only a few states engaged in the use of outer space, as is well known, commercial space activities have grown dramatically in recent years. Both states, state institutions, and international governmental organizations as well as many private enterprises are engaged in such commercial use of outer space by now. This development is not reflected in the present state of space law. The existing international instruments of space law were developed and finalized before this development and thus only provide very few and sometimes unfitting provisions for the commercial use of outer space and particularly the use by private enterprises. Law formulated in an era when the word "privatization" had not even been coined cannot contain potential problems caused by the increasing commercialization of outer space. For the promotion and further development of such commercial use of outer space it is necessary to clarify and establish the legal framework for such use, because participants will need this information for their future investments in this field. The purpose of this paper is to research and make an analysis of the contents and international regulation of international space commerce, which is rapidly proliferating and to review the process of improvement on national legislations relating to the commercialization of outer space in a few main space advanced countries to make the sustainable progress of commercial space activities project in international society. The legal implications of matters such as international commercial launch services, the liability aspects of such services, intellectual property rights, insurance, product liability insurance and materials processing could one day will be subject to regulated by international space law as well as domestic law. In fact, the question of commercialization is linked to the question of sharing benefits of space activities, and this currently is an agenda item in the Legal Subcommittee of UN COPUOS. Most of developed countries have enacted the national legislation for commercial space activities relating to the development of our space as follows : The National Aeronautic and Space Act of 1958 and the Commercial Space Act of 1998 in the United States, Outer Space Act of 1986 in England, Establishment Act of National Space Center of 1961 in France, Canadian Space Agency Act of 1990 in Canada, Space Basic Act of 2008 in Japan, and Law on Space Activity of 1993 in Russia. Becides there are currently three national legislations relating to space development and commercial space activities in Korea as follows : Aerospace Industry Development Promotion Act of 1987, Outer Space Development Promotion Act of 2005, Outer Space Damage Compensation Act of 2008. Commercial space great promise for the utilization and expansion of human outer space activities but aspring commercial actors must recognize that foreign policy, as well as obligations to the international community as a whole, ensure that commercial space activities will not operate in a legal and regulatory vacuum. As commercial space matures the law and accompanying regulation will most certainly evolve and choose to become participants in the inevitable evolution of law and regulation.