The Legal Dimension of the State Activities in Outer Space: the Draft Code of Conduct in Outer Space Activities

in the last decade several initiatives have been launched at the international level to face the challenge of space sustainability through soft law instruments. The first basket is composed by the technical set of rules adopted for space debris . The Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines set out in 2002 by the Inter Agency Debris Committee (IADC), and updated in 2007, have defined the notion of space debris as 'all man-made objects, including fragments and elements thereof, in Earth orbit or re-entering the atmosphere, that are non functional'. the adoption of technical standards does not exhaust the legal tools that are being put in place to face the risks of an unsustainable environment in outer space. There are three initiatives aimed at ensuring space sustainability, safety and security. One can call them the three pillars for outer space sustainability: respectively, the UNCOPUOS Long-Term Sustainability of Space Activities Working Group (LTSSA); the draft International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities (CoC), and the Group of Governmental Experts on Transparency and Confidence Building Measures in Outer Space Activities (GGE). From the temporal point of view, they are quite coetaneous. This article examines from the legal perspective some commonalities, but also evident differences among them. Their outcome is expected to result in non binding international instruments, to be accepted by the interested States on voluntary basis, without prejudice for further normative developments; they are interrelated and complementary, not alternative, initiatives. If outer space faces a sustainable governance problem, the three mentioned pillars are a first step, which should be followed by many more. We need to build up concrete, feasible, pragmatic solutions for policy and lawmakers. To make them as meaningful and successful the need for educating and informing various groups is a central theme. For this, space lawyers should take seriously on their shoulder the engagement to explain that normative instruments, legally or not legally binding, should be used according to the circumstances and that they represent steps concurring each one with its merits to the achievement of the main goal of a safe, secure and sustainable outer space for all.