European Space Law – new law for new industry?

The space sector has evolved from a scientific curiosity to a vital component of modern economies and daily life, impacting both established space powers and emerging leaders. Satellite technologies, crucial for communications, observation, and navigation, facilitate global connectivity and disaster risk management, underscoring their significant economic and defence potential. The increasing complexity of space activities, including space tourism and resource extraction, highlights the need for an adaptive legal framework to ensure sustainability and safety. Traditional space law, must evolve to address new challenges such as space debris and cyber threats. Recent discussions surrounding the European Union’s initiative to establish a European Space Law reflect the urgent need for coherent legislation, reflecting the needs of European competitiveness and security, and sustainable space exploration. The research objective of this article is to analyse the reasons for and against a European space law, as well as potential methods for its adoption. To this end, the status quo of space law, at the global, regional and national levels, will be presented. Then the reasons for the EU legislative initiative, its substantive and procedural aspects will be analysed.

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