The laws that govern outer space – who owns the moon, rocket launch site licences and policing space crime – lies in the hands of one woman.
Dr Maria Pozza is a space lawyer and one of only a tiny handful of specialists attempting to apply international law to an area where legal jurisdiction simply does not exist.
‘[Space] is for everyone but is owned by no one,’ the New Zealand-based lawyer told Radio NZ.
Dr Maria Pozza (pictured) is a space lawyer who deals with laws that govern outer space, including who owns the moon, rocket launch site licences and policing space crime
‘The moon (pictured) is for everyone but is owned by no one,’ the New Zealand-based lawyer told Radio NZ
Dr Pozza says much of our international law has applications to activities in outer space, such as licensing regimes on launch sites and fuel payload permits which came into effect in New Zealand late last year.
But it’s the question of who owns space that is usually hardest to solve.
There are ‘some territorial claims or argument that there is some extent or extension of territory,’ she explains.
Territorial claims over space are ‘a little bit like the high seas and regions of Antarctica and other areas of the world’ the space specialist says.
In principle, international law views space as ‘res communis’: a Latin term relating to the law of nature which is common to mankind.
Of more recent concern are the laws that govern the international space station, which is owned by varying and different countries, and Donald Trump’s recent interest in establishing a U.S. Space Force. (Pictured: Donald Trump signs a Space Policy Directive in June)
‘In actual fact there is no formal demarcation as to where air or air law ends and where space or … space law begins,’ Dr Pozza explains.
Of more recent concern are the laws that govern the international space station, which is owned by varying and different countries, and Donald Trump’s recent interest in establishing a U.S. Space Force.
Dr Maria Pozza (pictured) is a space lawyer who deals with laws that govern outer space
‘It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space,’ Mr Trump said ahead of the National Space Council meeting last month.
‘We are going to have the Air Force and we’re going to have the Space Force. Separate but equal.’
Trump also signed a new Space Policy Directive in June which includes new policies for commercial space regulations in a bid to ease regulations on private industry in space.
It is exactly these issues of liability and questions over commercial uses for outer space that attracted Dr Pozza to working within international space law when she was studying for her PhD.
‘I think there is probably going to be a call by the international community … for some clarification on what Donald Trump has in mind,’ she said.
‘Exactly what that means, what they will be doing and how they will be doing whatever it is they will be doing in compliance with international law.’
Issues of liability and questions over commercial uses for outer space attracted Dr Pozza to working within international space law when she was studying for her PhD (stock image)