Space tourism and the international law of outer space

A landmark element in the ongoing evolution of humankind’s activities in space is the development of technology capable of transporting large numbers of paying passengers into outer space on a commercial basis. Within the foreseeable future, space will no longer be the sole domain of professionally trained astronauts or the exceptionally wealthy. The prospects for suborbital and orbital private human access to space give rise to some important legal questions. It will also eventually necessitate the development of an appropriately framed system of legal regulation to deal with these activities. The existing international legal regimes covering air and space activities are not well suited to large-scale commercial access to space. The lack of legal clarity represents a major challenge and must be addressed as soon as possible, in order to provide for appropriate standards and further encourage (not discourage) such activities. In finding the proper legal framework, an appropriate balance must be found between the commercial and technological opportunities that will arise and the principles upon which the development of international space law have thus far been based.