(courtesy of NASA)
From September 2010, students at a British university in the city of Sunderland, County Durham will be able to study a module on Space Law as part of their undergraduate programme.
The module will cover the militarisation, privatisation and commercialisation of space, as well as legal aspects relating to the purchase of lunar land and problems of property damage due to space debris.
With increased numbers of countries participating in Space flight, particularly with the growing interest from commercial ventures, and the advent of Space tourism there are many new areas for the legal profession to chew on.
One small example relates to millionaire space tourist Richard Garriott who in 1993 purchased the Lunokhod 2 rover from the Russians, and that is currently parked up on the moon's surface after breaking down there nearly 37 years ago. The rover and it's tracks were recently spotted and photographed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Mr Garriott commented not long ago on his Facebook site (all be-it very tongue in cheek) that as the only private individual to own something situated on the moon's soil he must at least have some claim to the land beneath it!
Perhaps he has a point . . . . . perhaps not. Not being a lawyer I couldn't say, however it is absolutely food for thought and just one of many new dilemmas that will present themselves over the coming years to the world of international law.
The module will cover the militarisation, privatisation and commercialisation of space, as well as legal aspects relating to the purchase of lunar land and problems of property damage due to space debris.
With increased numbers of countries participating in Space flight, particularly with the growing interest from commercial ventures, and the advent of Space tourism there are many new areas for the legal profession to chew on.
One small example relates to millionaire space tourist Richard Garriott who in 1993 purchased the Lunokhod 2 rover from the Russians, and that is currently parked up on the moon's surface after breaking down there nearly 37 years ago. The rover and it's tracks were recently spotted and photographed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Mr Garriott commented not long ago on his Facebook site (all be-it very tongue in cheek) that as the only private individual to own something situated on the moon's soil he must at least have some claim to the land beneath it!
Perhaps he has a point . . . . . perhaps not. Not being a lawyer I couldn't say, however it is absolutely food for thought and just one of many new dilemmas that will present themselves over the coming years to the world of international law.
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