Legal Framework and Basis for the Establishment of Space Cooperation in Asia

This study aims to discuss the legal opportunities for establishing an institutionalized framework of space cooperation in Asia. There are two main steps to be undertaken in order to achieve the goal of the present study: in the first step, the national space regulations of the main Asian space countries are to be compared and analyzed, and the "model provisions" for promoting the cooperation of these Asian space countries are to be proposed by applying international standards. In the second step, legal measures to improve the cooperation activity of APSCO are proposed by way of comparison to the legal framework of ESA as well as analyzing the situation regarding the development of Asian space activities. Meanwhile, relevant legal measures for coordinating the programs of APSCO and APRSAF are proposed. Mingyan Nie is researcher at the Institute of Air and Space Law, University of Cologne.