Foreign policy for outer space: international space law and its prospects for the 21st century and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Abstract

This paper deals with the conception, current content, and challenges of cosmic or space international law for foreign policy from its regulatory utility and capacity to promote the progress and improvement of technology, the general advancement of humanity and to bring to Earth solutions and resources with the potential to promote a new reality for humanity in this fourth industrial revolution. It is shown how this area of law and international relations is bound to expand and include fantasy and futurism in its refinement, given that, as it is currently codified, it is beholden to immediate challenges such as mass space tourism, the ownership of resources obtained from celestial bodies, and the responsibilities of private entities in the new space age. Problems such as the sustainability of the space environment or the risks of the accumulation of cosmic debris are then described, to which the attention of the international community and the existing institutional framework must be directed, because of the threat they represent to the functioning of the planet's communication and monitoring services, fundamental to solve terrestrial problems such as climate change and the growing needs for the use of the Internet and instantaneous communication (digital governance).