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Consequences of the Ever Growing Importance of Earth Observation: Sustainable Use of Outer Space—Small Satellites and Mega Constellations

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Abstract

Outer space—a legal vacuum? Talking to many people and even professional lawyers, some of them are not aware of the fact that outer space has become an area of legal interest since the first artificial satellite Sputnik-1 was sent into orbit in 1957. Since then, mankind has gained physically access to space in order to explore and use outer space for various purposes. The previous symposium was based on trends and challenges of satellite based Earth observation for economics and society. Consequently, the author wants to draw attention to space based networks, systems particularly to small satellites and mega constellations and the need for (international, supranational and national) regulations. The question of why we need regulatory issues in outer space can be easily answered: because we go to space (For further details see also Soucek A. Reasons for space activities: some thoughts. In: Brünner Ch, Soucek A, editors. Outer Space in Society, Politics and Law. Springer, 2011. p. 15ff). Only a very few people, mainly astronauts or future space tourists, have the chance to personally travel to space but in fact nearly every one of us (at least in industrialised countries) uses outer space facilities. The symposium has shown that the scope of outer space applications ranges from navigation (e.g. car navigation devices or autonomous vehicles, supervision of employment relationships), to telecommunication (e.g. direct broadcasting facilities), through to Earth observation (e.g. natural hazards, global climate change monitoring, forest monitoring, agricultural remote sensing, public administration).

The paper is partially the publication of the seminar paper titled „Regulatory Aspects in Outer Space with particular focus on the International Telecommunication Union“ submitted in the Seminar Regulierungsrecht unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ökonomischer Aspekte, University of Graz, 2012.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See also Walter [1, p. 493ff].

  2. 2.

    Some aspects concerning the use of the geostationary orbit, para 5, paper adopted by the Legal Subcommittee at its thirty-ninth session (A/AC.105/738, annex III).

  3. 3.

    Art I para 1 lit a ITU Constitution.

  4. 4.

    See also Neger and Walter [2, p. 234ff].

  5. 5.

    Art 38 International Court of Justice.

  6. 6.

    Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, adopted by the GA in ist Res 2222 (XXI) of 19 December 1966.

  7. 7.

    Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, adopted by the GA in its Res 27777 (XXVI) of 29 November 1971.

  8. 8.

    Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, adopted by the GA in its Res 3235 (XXIX) of 12 November 1974.

  9. 9.

    See also Soucek [3, p. 296ff].

  10. 10.

    See also Schrogl and Neumann [4, p. 71].

  11. 11.

    See also Tronchetti [5, p. 623].

  12. 12.

    See also Brünner and Königsberger [6, p. 87ff].

  13. 13.

    Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth and from Outer Space, adopted by the GA in its Res 41/65 of 3 December 1986.

  14. 14.

    Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, endorsed by UNCOPUOS at its fiftieth session and contained in A/62/20, annex.

  15. 15.

    In particular Art 189 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

  16. 16.

    Austrian Federal Law on the Authorisation of Space Activities and the Establishment of a National Space Registry (Austrian Outer Space Act), adopted by the National Council on 6 December 2011, entered into force on 28 December 2011.

  17. 17.

    See also Soucek [3, p. 296ff].

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

  19. 19.

    Piggyback means that a small satellite is going to be launched as a secondary payload together with a primary payload (e.g. a communication satellite) on a launch vehicle.

  20. 20.

    For further details see also Schrogl [7, p. 604ff].

  21. 21.

    For further details on Art VII OST see Kerrest and Smith [8, 126ff].

  22. 22.

    Ibid.

  23. 23.

    See also Schmidt-Tedd and Mick [9, p. 157].

  24. 24.

    http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/SORegister/index.html (23.12.2017).

  25. 25.

    This paragraph is based on information available at www.itu.int (23.12.2017).

  26. 26.

    For further details on the digital divide discussion see also Schmidt-Tedd [10, p. 704ff].

  27. 27.

    See also Some aspects concerning the use of the geostationary orbit, paper adopted by the legal Subcommittee at its thirty-ninth session (A/AC.105/738, annex III).

  28. 28.

    See also Koudelka [11, p. 46f].

  29. 29.

    Art 42 (2) ITU Constitution of the International Telecommunication.

  30. 30.

    See also Freeland and Jakhu [12, p. 61].

  31. 31.

    Ibid.

  32. 32.

    See also Hobe [13, p. 41].

  33. 33.

    See also Schneider/Stöger (Eds.), Regulierungsrecht (der Netzwirtschaften) – unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ökonomischer Aspekte (2012) 11ff.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rechtsanwaltsanwärterin, Muhri und Werschitz Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten GmbH, Graz, Austria

    Anita Rinner

  2. Lehrbeauftragte für Raumfahrtrecht und Raumfahrtpolitik, Karl-Franzens-Universität, Graz, Austria

    Anita Rinner

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  1. Anita Rinner
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Competence Centre Space Law/Space Policy, Subpoint NPOC Austria/ECSL, University of Graz, Graz, Steiermark, Austria

    Christian Brünner

  2. Chamber of Commerce Steiermark, Graz, Steiermark, Austria

    Georg Königsberger

  3. Competence Centre Space Law/Space Policy, University of Graz, Graz, Steiermark, Austria

    Hannes Mayer

  4. Competence Centre Space Law/Space Policy, University of Graz, Graz, Steiermark, Austria

    Anita Rinner

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Rinner, A. (2018). Consequences of the Ever Growing Importance of Earth Observation: Sustainable Use of Outer Space—Small Satellites and Mega Constellations. In: Brünner, C., Königsberger, G., Mayer, H., Rinner, A. (eds) Satellite-Based Earth Observation . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74805-4_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74805-4_20

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