Lines of Research

LEGAL REGIME OF SPACE AND ASTROPOLITICS

Technological development requires attention from the academy, in order to ensure safety and feasibility regarding the regular exercise of activities considered essential for modern society, such as space.

Through a multidisciplinary effort, this Research Group devotes attention to this fragile and complex international territory, the ultraterrestrial space, with the objective of promoting its peaceful and safe exploration, for the benefit of all Humanity.

– Description of the research line:

This line of research aims at advanced studies in Space Law and Policy, through investigation of the international regime combined with the problematization of current issues related to the exploration and use of outer space.

It proposes a thorough examination of the complex legal regime of space, which requires special attention not only for its extraordinary provisions, with regard in particular to International Law, but mainly because of the strategic importance of the earth orbit as a strategic space for economic and countries like Brazil, considering crucial uses for today’s society, including telecommunications and the Internet, observation of natural resources and weather forecasting.

For the execution of the object of this research line, the following fundamental activities are indicated, in view of the respective expected results:

• Formation of a multidisciplinary research group, with qualification of researchers and exchange of professionals with national and international institutions, in different areas and fields, including law, international relations, geography, engineering and exact sciences related to space activities;
• Bibliographic survey of academic works related to the use and exploration of space territory, through the acquisition of works, collections and periodicals on the subject, in order to qualify national and international reference library in space law and policy;
• Development of comparative studies of national laws that address the spatial theme, identifying normative models that can guide future Brazilian federal space law, which does not yet exist, according to proposals to be formulated;
• Research into technical problems related to the production and mitigation of so-called “space waste”;
• Development of academic cooperation agreements with relevant institutions, both governmental and academic, including abroad, with special attention to the main world research centers;
• Compilation of international discussions developed on the subject within the scope of the United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Use of Space (UNCOPUOS), through cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB);
• Setting up of dissemination and university extension courses on Space Law and “Astropolitics”, aimed at undergraduate and graduate students;
• Formation and qualification of scientific initiation students who will participate in various stages of the research, providing them with theoretical-methodological and bibliographic subsidies to work on the themes in question;
• Composition and preparation of teams to participate in mock jury competitions (moot courts) organized by renowned institutions, specialized in space law and policy, including proposing an unprecedented stage in national territory or in the South American sphere;
• Realization and participation in national and international seminars that address the spatial theme, bringing together prominent professionals in related areas, through inter-institutional cooperation; and
• Publication of books and articles in specialized journals, as well as the creation of the journal “Espaço”, which will bring together articles and works from the previously mentioned multidisciplinary research nucleus, allowing for the dissemination of the ideas and projects formulated before the academic community and the general public.