Corpus Iuris Spatialis: Limits and Prospects

Outer space law is a branch of international law that, although rooted in treaties drawn up since the late 1960s, today represents a new frontier that has yet to be explored and regulated. After reconstructing the legal perimeter formed by the five purely space law treaties and the declarations issued under the aegis of the United Nations, in particular by the General Assembly and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, this article attempts to systematise the complex framework resulting from these hard and soft law rules, drawing up a kind of ‘Decalogue of the Space’. The principles that make up this Decalogue will be put to the test in new cases, such as the problem of space debris, sustainable development and the so-called space economy, in order to identify the unresolved issues that require a de lege ferenda response.