After a long period of subdued interests in the Earth’s single celestial companion, plans to send humankind back to the Moon are hatched in abundance again, and one major difference is that this time many of those plans focus on remaining there and ultimately build semi-permanent or even permanent habitats. This obviously raises a number of issues that the short visits to the Moon by humankind so far, manned as well as unmanned, did not raise. Most fundamentally, the absence of exercise of jurisdiction on a territorial basis (as per Article II of the Outer Space Treaty) may no longer be sufficient to guarantee the baseline freedom of exploration and use (as per Article I of the Outer Space Treaty). Questions now arise as to how far the quasi-territorial jurisdiction over registered space objects (as per Article VIII of the Outer Space Treaty) can continue to exclude access to such space objects once transformed to or included in permanent habitats on the Moon in spite of the requisite free access to all areas as well as all stations and installations there (as per Articles I and XII of the Outer Space Treaty) and the similarly foundational understanding that activities on the Moon should be for the benefit and in the interests of all countries (as per Article I of the Outer Space Treaty). At what point would (hu)mankind settling on the Moon effectively become ‘Moonkind’, and what changes would, or should, that give rise to? These are the overarching questions the present paper will tackle. |
Search result: 37 articles
Article |
‘For All Moonkind’Legal Issues of Human Settlements on the Moon: Jurisdiction, Freedom and Inclusiveness |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 2 2020 |
Keywords | settlements, moon, jurisdiction, freedom, inclusiveness |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty, requiring “authorization and continuing supervision” of “national activities in outer space” including those of “nongovernmental entities”, has always been viewed as the primary international obligation driving the establishment of national space legislation for the purpose of addressing private sector space activities. As the Article itself did not provide any further guidance on precisely what categories of ‘national activities by nongovernmental entities’ should thus be subjected to national space law and in particular to a national licensing regime, in academia generally three different interpretations soon came to be put forward on how to interpret the key notion of ‘national’ in this context as scoping such national regimes. |
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The European Union and Space – Space for Competition? |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 2 2018 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
AbstractAuthor's information |
From the inception of European integration, a regime trying to regulate and arrange competition as much as considered necessary for the benefit of society at large has been one of the core elements of the European Union’s legal order. While the European Union has over the past few decades become more and more involved in the European space effort, this has so far hardly given rise to fundamental application of this competition regime to space activities, even if space also in Europe increasingly has become commercialized and privatized. The current paper investigates the reasons and rationale for this special situation, addressing inter alia the special character of outer space activities and the space industry and the role of the European Space Agency in this respect. |
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Kiwi’s in SpaceNew Zealand’s ‘Outer Space and High-Altitude Activities Act’ |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 4 2017 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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The Second African National Space LawThe Nigerian NASRDA Act and the Draft Regulations on Licensing and Supervision |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 5 2016 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 4 2015 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 13 2015 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk and Leslie I. Tennen |
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From Space Tourists to Unruly Passengers? The US Struggle with ‘On-Orbit Jurisdiction’ |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 4 2014 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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Federal versus State: Private Commercial Spaceflight Operator Immunity Regulation in the United States |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 5 2013 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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Towards ‘Flags of Convenience’ in Space? |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 10 2012 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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Another Addition to National Space Legislation: The Austrian Outer Space Act, Adopted 6 December 2011 |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 5 2012 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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THE EU SPACE COMPETENCE AS PER THE TREATY OF LISBON: SEA CHANGE OR EMPTY SHELL? |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 5 2011 |
Authors | Frans G. von der Dunk |
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Article |
Sun, Sea, Sand ... and Space: Launching Tourists into Outer Space from the Dutch CaribbeanRecent Developments in Space Law |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 5 2010 |
Authors | F.G. von der Dunk |
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Too-Close Encounters of the Third-Party Kind: Will the Liability Convention Stand the Test of the Cosmos 2251-Iridium 33 Collision?Third Party Liability Issues in Commercial Space Activities |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 3 2009 |
Authors | F.G. von der Dunk |
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Defininf Subject Matter under Space Law: Near Earth Objects versus Space ObjectsLegal Aspects of Natural Near Earth Objects (NEOs) |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 4 2008 |
Authors | F.G. von der Dunk |
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Treaty Law in Support of Climate Monitoring2008 IISL-ECSL Space Law Symposium Held on the Occasion of the 47th Session of the Legal Subcommittee of UNCOPUOS in Vienna, Austria: "Legal Implications of Space Applications for Global Climate Change" |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 8 2008 |
Authors | F.G. von der Dunk |
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Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty 'in the European Context'The 3rd Eilene M. Galloway Symposium On Critical Issues In Space Law in Washington D.C., United States, December 2008: "Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty: Issues and Implementation" |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 9 2008 |
Authors | F.G. von der Dunk |
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Report of the SymposiumThe 3rd Eilene M. Galloway Symposium On Critical Issues In Space Law in Washington D.C., United States, December 2008: "Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty: Issues and Implementation" |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 9 2008 |
Authors | F.G. von der Dunk |
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Hosting Galileo Ground Stations: Liability and Responsibility Issues under Space LawLegal Aspects of Satellite Applications: Navigation and Remote Sensing |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 4 2007 |
Authors | F.G. von der Dunk |
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Space for Tourism? Legal Aspects of Private Spaceflight for Tourist PurposesLegal Aspects of Space Transportation and Launching |
Journal | International Institute of Space Law, Issue 1 2006 |
Authors | F.G. von der Dunk |