Access to space technology has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. Traditionally, access to space capabilities required dedicated receivers and significant investment. With the advent of new information technologies that incorporate and disseminate the benefits of space directly to users, access to space technology is no longer so exclusive. As the seamless delivery of space capabilities, from navigation and position to data flows, makes it difficult to distinguish space capabilities from other information infrastructures, legal structures developed to govern space technologies are being forced into contact with a variety of other legal structures. Legal questions abound as new markets, innovative technologies, and increased data access emerge, and the lex specialis of space accommodates these trends. This book investigates how traditional space law is developing as space technology enters the daily lives of individuals everywhere.

Progress in exploration and exploitation of outer space is proceeding rapidly, resulting in new space telecommunication services, innovative use of the constellation of satellite and new methods of prolonging the life of those satellites. In response, this book offers an analysis of outer space activities and the resulting legal implications. It offers a dual perspective. Firstly it looks at developments in international law, such as the regulation of non-GEO constellations, on-orbit services and in the field of space mining. Secondly, the book explores the developments on the African continent. Specifically it examines the growing need of space services in the area of mobile communications via satellites, internet access, Earth observations, disaster management, and navigation. This is an important contribution to one of the most exciting and fast moving fields in law today.