Space Tourism

Space tourism has become extremely significant in recent times, especially in pursuance of the new space race among corporate giants such as Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX. Each of these corporate giants has already booked thousands of space enthusiasts for a journey to outer space. Given this wide interest of private space players, space tourists as well as countries in space tourism, it is imperative to understand the legal issues involved in space tourism. This book presents important discussions in the domain of space tourism and its legal implications across the globe. It attempts to find solutions to various challenges like safety and security in space, status of space tourists during emergencies, liability aspects, environmental protection, etc., faced during the recent spurt of space tourism. It also discusses the role of insurance in space tourism, various crimes possible in outer space with the rise of space tourism, the mechanisms for adjudication of such crimes, the aspect of quarantining space tourists, the need to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of space and other topics, besides examining the contemporary legal and policy-oriented issues of privatisation of space.

A must read for scholars and researchers of law, space science, history and other fields who are interested in the space race and outer space law, this book will also be of interest to those exploring space studies, political studies, environmental studies and political economy. It will be useful for policymakers, bureaucrats, think tanks as well as interested general readers looking for fresh perspectives on the future of space

Sandeepa Bhat B. is working as a Professor of Law and Director of the Centre for Aviation and Space Laws at National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. Apart from teaching space law during the last two decades, he has published four books (out of nine) on space law and also published more than 55 articles in journals of international and national repute. He has the distinction of being a member of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Expert Group for drafting the National Space Act for India.