Space Law Cases: The Disputes That Shaped the Field
Space law has little case law of its own, so most of the rules operators rely on were made in ordinary courts.…
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Everything we publish, newest first. Analysis, regulatory updates, case notes, interviews and explainers on the law of outer space.
Space Tourism: Who Flies, What It Costs and What the Law Says About Safety
Space tourism now spans ten-minute suborbital hops, private orbital flights and paid stays on the ISS, at prices from $750,000 to a…
Kessler Syndrome Explained: How Real Is the Risk?
Kessler syndrome is not the instant chain reaction of the film Gravity. ESA's 2026 data suggests a slow cascade is already under…
Regulatory Updates13 min read
13 min
The Senate Passed Two Satellite Security Bills in One Day. Only One of Them Has Teeth
On 23 September the US Senate passed the Secure Space Act and the Satellite Cybersecurity Act. One bars the FCC from licensing satellites and earth stations…
Commercial Space13 min read
13 min
ISS Retirement in 2030: The Deorbit Plan and What Replaces It
NASA still plans to bring the ISS down at the end of 2030, using a $843 million SpaceX deorbit vehicle it will own. But a Senate…
Explainers12 min read
12 min
The Moon Agreement: Why Almost No One Ratified It
Adopted in 1979, in force since 1984, and ratified by just 17 states, none of which launches its own astronauts. How one article on the common…
Opinion13 min read
13 min
A Robot Tried to Save a NASA Telescope. US Law Still Has No Box for What It Was Doing
Katalyst's attempt to capture and boost NASA's Swift observatory was called off in August. It had every licence US law asks for, and none for the…
Opinion15 min read
15 min
The US Says It Has Weapons in Orbit. The Treaty Probably Allows It, and That Is the Problem
Washington has confirmed on-orbit space control weapons. Article IV bans weapons of mass destruction in orbit, not conventional ones, and the peaceful purposes clause everyone is…
Insights8 min read
8 min
Who Owns What on the Moon? Article II, the Artemis Accords and Space Resources
Nobody can own the Moon and everyone agrees on that. Whether a company owns the regolith it digs is unsettled, and how it gets settled decides…
Interviews4 min read
4 min
Introducing the Space Law Journal Interview Series
We are looking for regulators, in-house counsel, underwriters and academics. Here is what we ask, how the process runs, and why you see the copy before…
Opinion7 min read
7 min
Space Traffic Management Still Has No Referee
When two satellites are heading for the same point in space, no authority anywhere can require either to move. Funding TraCSS does not fix that, because…
Explainers8 min read
8 min
How to Build a Career in Space Law
The field people imagine and the field that hires are different. Four routes in, what actually differentiates candidates, and an honest answer on whether the specialist…