ARTICLE III OF OUTER SPACE TREATY AND ITS RELEVANCE IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The core of space law, by nature and by necessity, forms part of international law. Article III of Outer Space Treaty specifically obliges States to act in accordance with international law including the UN Charter. It is generally accepted by scholars that Article III does not imply an automatic extension of international law to outer space and celestial bodies, including the UN Charter in toto. However, even though space law claims to some extent priority over general international law, it does not mean that it is a self-contained regime. Despite the peculiarity of space environment Article III provides that space law is intrinsically and extensively linked with international law and its other branches, defining their interactions and synergies. This paper examines that international law clarifies and develops basic principles applicable to outer space in order to guarantee space sustainability. Nowadays, due to the rapid expansion of space activities and the lack of international binding instruments this process is coming into being throughout UN resolutions, guidelines, TCBMs and codes of conduct. These no legally binding instruments are important tools in the evolving process of international law for providing to the States a conduct in order to cover fundamental areas of concerns. Throughout the International Court of Justice decisions and international practice, the notion of sustainable development has softly grown as a concept firstly, and then qualified as an objective. Accordingly, the need for adopting measures most likely to achieve the objective with which specific States conduct must be consistent also in carrying on space activities. In consideration of the difficulties and complexity of the traditional law-making process in adapting the existent corpus iuris spatialis to the new needs, the flexibility of the wording of Article III ascertains that not only international norms specifically applicable to the protection of the space environment, but also rules of international law at large, whether its nature is customary, conventional or other. These principles and rules of international environmental law, especially those related to the concept/objective of sustainable development, can contribute to the protection of space environment strongly.