Latin America’s Space Legal Framework

Abstract

As in almost every area of human activity, law is a necessary tool to govern human relations in an orderly manner. The same conclusion applies at the international level, where international law regulates relations between states and other subjects. With the advent of space activities in the second half of the last century, the creation of specific legal rules to govern these activities became essential to avoid international conflicts and to guarantee legal security to the international community in the exploration and use of outer space. Latin American countries, as members of the international community of states, have contributed to some extent to the development of this legal discipline. Moreover, some Latin American states have adopted national legislation on space related matters or are in the process of elaborating such legislation to develop a national space sector or become strong space actors at the international level, or both. In this regard, the present chapter is divided in two parts: Part one refers to the participation of Latin American countries in the development and implementation of international space law. The analysis focuses on the views of Latin America on space legal issues within the UN’s current discussions, Latin America’s implementation of specific conventional obligations, and space law education programmes in the region. Part Two refers to national space law in Latin America. A description of the main national space and telecommunications regulations of selected Latin American countries is briefly presented.