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Authors

Valnora Leister

Abstract

As commercial space faring capabilities spread, a need is growing for new approaches to safeguard the common interests of humanity in space. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty declares in its opening article that, “exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of Mankind”. However, to date, little has been done to develop outer space for the benefit of humanity. So far, space has been explored mainly by developed nations, acting to foster their economic and military interests in the new frontier. Based upon their interests, these countries at present restrict access to and transfer of space technologies, despite moves backed by emerging economies to liberalize trade barriers. This article examines the concept of “province of mankind” in view of recent developments in environmental law, and seeks to apply to outer space the keys to successful development of “common pool” resources, as proposed by Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom in her book “Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for the Collective Action”.

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