The

law of outer space is rapidly evolving to adapt to changes in the economic

drivers as well as advancements in technological capabilities.
The contents of this book are a reflection of

this changing environment as evidenced in the writings of the second and third

generations of space lawyers.

Theoretical aspects of space law are explored by chapters relating to

fundamental concepts central to the corpus

juris spatialis.
Practical aspects

of space law are probed by examinations into international and domestic

regulation of commercial activities, with particular emphasis on African,

Asian, and European perspectives.

International policy considerations are scrutinized in relation to

military uses of outer space.
The

scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is the subject of a

concise history of the discipline vis-a-vis the role of the SETI Permanent

Committee of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and also of a

study of the policy and other ramifications of social media in the event of the

discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial beings.



The book concludes with the republication of the

seminal and highly influential Relations

With Alien Intelligences The Scientific Basis of Metalaw by Dr. Ernst

Fasan, first published in 1970.
Scholar,

author, and attorney Ernst Fasan was among the original space lawyers, a small,

pioneering group of visionaries who recognized that the movement of man into

space must be accomplished without the shackles of history and in an

environment free from the threat of the use of space as an instrument of armed

aggression.
The influence of Dr. Fasan

has extended beyond the international legal community to the broader scientific

community, especially to the field of astrobiology, as he pursued

groundbreaking investigations into what could be the ultimate in legal

relationships - metalaw - the interaction of sentient beings from different

planets.
The contributors to this Liber

Amicorum are among those who can trace their own work to the foundations of

space law placed in part by Ernst Fasan.