African States and International Space Treaties

As often said, when men reached for the stars, lawyers reached out for books. After Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight in 1957, the international community through the United Nations deemed it pertinent to agree on certain principles and rules to regulate outer space affairs. Space exploration undoubtedly brought new ideas in the development of various fields like science, medicine, media, and communications, etc., and of course legal lacunae had to be filled.

An appreciable number of international documents have been adopted since then to regulate all space related activities of states, corporations and individuals; thereby structuring a legal order for outer space including the moon, and celestial bodies such as planets and asteroids. As countries began placing objects in space, different concepts and principles became expedient to avoid anarchy in humankind’s operation in outer space and this today, forms the corpus juris of space law.  The end result of this mutual understanding between the space faring countries of that era was the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 which gave birth to modern international space law as we know it. The outer space treaty was open to signing by all states in Moscow, London, and Washington DC. It became effective and operable on October 10, 1967.

Space law in a nutshell is a set of rules regulating the legal relations between people and between states in outer space. It primarily concerns the legal regulation of the order in outer space, and the rules of both international and national law are being implied in this context.  A Hungarian legal expert, Dr. Gyula Gal, defines space law broadly as “a set of legal rules regulating the intra- and inter-state relations that arise in exploring and using outer space and celestial bodies (space activities), and the legal rules covering the consequences of such activities from the standpoint of the rights of individuals.” It is worthy to note that it is a multidisciplinary/transdisciplinary field of law involving commercial law, international law, environmental law, armed conflict, intellectual property and security rights, amongst others. In terms of its  scope, this field of law addresses diverse issues such as the militarisation of space, liability for any damage of a space object, protection of the space environment, as well as the rescue of astronauts. Primarily, there are five major treaties that regulate space activities – the Outer Space Treaty, the Rescue Agreement, the Registration  Convention, the Liability Convention and the Moon Agreement.

Nations in Africa support the global effort for the peaceful use of outer space and contribute to the growth of space law through the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space (COPUOS). In the past years, space faring and space emerging countries in Africa have considered it necessary to sign or ratify space related laws, notwithstanding the lack of technological capacity to fully engage in space related activities. Nonetheless, the continent still has the highest number of countries that are yet to sign or ratify these treaties and there is also a paucity of national space policies and domesticated legislation governing space activities in African countries.

The Outer Space Treaty which is the fundamental treaty on space law was opened for signature on January 27, 1967, in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union and the treaty was entered into force on October 10, 1967.

The Rescue  Agreement

The General Assembly of the United Nations on December 19, 1968 unanimously approved the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space. It was opened for signing in Moscow, London and Washington D.C. on April 2, 1968 and became effective that same year. The Agreement became the second space law treaty to be adopted by countries. Its primary objective is to serve as an international instrument that outlines how persons and objects can be rescued should a mishap occur in outer space.

To conclude, space is a growing area of political and economic significance in Africa and the growing interest and number of States and non-State actors engaging in space affairs, makes it necessary for the adoption of space treaties by states. Additionally, national space policies are advised to serve as domestic guidelines for African countries in relation to space technology, especially considering the fact that international space policies - most of which are jus cogen in nature - are invariably binding on all States whether or not they are actively involved in the space sector. Africa so far has a fair record with regards to the domestication of international treaties, but there is still a need to fully promote space laws and policies in the continent through ratification of treaties by countries that are yet to do so and the formulation of domestic space regulation.