Space Law: Overview

Space law is composed of disparate elements of ordinary national laws and general international law. It has been created by the agreement of states as to the international law that should govern important technical and technological developments of the later 20th and the 21st century. That agreement is expressed in five general treaties; other treaty-level measures including as to the use of radio, declarations of principle, recommendations on the conduct of space activities, and by state practice. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), serviced by the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), plays a significant role in the development of the many aspects of space law, as do intergovernmental and nongovernmental agreements together with informal arrangements between space-active bodies.