8.8 Contemporary Challenges/Issues of Outer Space

1. The mega-constellations-and-the debris (the thousands-satellite generations; the collision cascade's fear — the Kessler syndrome's name; the mitigation-and-removal guidelines' soft- law-vs-the-hard-problem; the astronomy's light-pollution face). 2. The space resources' legal war (the US-2015-and-Luxembourg laws' appropriation-by- domestic-statute vs the Moon Agreement's common-heritage; the Artemis Accords' (2020) zones-and-safety interests; the UNCOPUOS non-agreement — the non-appropriation's stress test). 3. The militarisation-and-the counterspace (the ASAT tests — the 2019 India's debris- generating demonstration in Nepal's neighbourhood; the dual-use ambiguities; the TCBM-and- the no-tests calls; the Ukraine war's space face — the commercial satellites at war). 4. The commercial-and-human expansion (the space tourism; the private stations; the astronaut-vs-participant's status questions; the 2020s' return-to-the-Moon programmes' law). 5. The satellite-broadband revolution (the LEO constellations' global coverage — the Starlink-and-Nepal's licensing questions of the 2020s (the NTA's engagement-and-the debates); the sovereignty-and-the internet-gateway politics; the disaster-connectivity promises). 6. The climate-and-earth-observation stakes (the Paris regime's MRV-from-orbit; the small- island-and-mountain states' data dependence — Nepal's Himalayan monitoring). 7. The global-governance reform's debate (the treaties' 1960s fit vs the century's activities; the UN Summit-of-the-Future's space faces; the model-norms' proposals).