Origins of

International Space Law

and the

International Institute of Space Law

ofthe

International Astronautical Federation

Stephen E. Doyle
 THE ORIGINS OF SPACE LAW
ANDTHE
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPACE LAW
of the International Astronautical Federation
 THE ORIGINS OF SPACE LAW
ANDTHE
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPACE LAW
of the International Astronautical Federation

by Stephen E. Doyle, B. A., J. D.

Honorary Director
Intemational Institute of Space Law

With the assistance of an Editorial Board

Comprising Directors of
The Intemational Institute of Space Law
and F ormer Officers of the
Intemational Astronautical Federation
 Copyright © 2002

by

Stephen E. Doyle, B. A., J. D.

3431 Bridge! Brae Road
Shingle Springs, California 95682

Ali rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any fonn or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any infonnation storage and retrieval system, without pennission in writing from
Stephen E. Doyle at 3431 Bridge! Brae Road, Shingle Springs California 95682.

Published by Univelt, lncorporated with pennission for ali forms of use in the
English language.

First Printing 2002

ISBN 0-912183-17-9 (Soft Cover)

Published for the lnternational lnstitute of Space Law

by Univelt, lncorporated, P.O. Box 28130, San Diego, California 92198

Printed and Bound in the U.S.A.

iv
 Table of Contents Page
Acknowledgements ------------------­ Vlll
Foreword ----------------------- IX

1. Backgronnd and the International Astronautical Federation

A. Early Commentary on Space Law 1
B. Post War and Pre-!AF (1945-1950) Commentary on Space Law 15
C. Laying Foundations ofthe Jntemational Astronautical Federation 20
D. Founding ofthe IAF and Expanding Commentary (1949-1957) 22
E. Emergence ofSpanish Language Commentary 35
F. Japanese Commentary Emerges 59
G. Beginning ofthe Intemationa] lnstitute of Space Law 80

11. Organization and Management ofthe Institute ----- 93

A. Purposes of the lnstitute 93
B. Composition and Membership ofthe lnstitute 94
C. Board ofDirectors 94
D. Activities ofthe lnstitute 96
- Annual Colloquia 96
- Tbe Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competitiou 99
- Institute Publications and Website 100
- Cooperation with the United Nations 101
- The Institute and !he Teaching of Space Law 106
- Bibliographies on Space Law 107
- Legal Terms in Astronautics 108

III. The Institute's Resources -------------­ 108

IV. Relations with Other Institutions ----------- 109
A. International Law Associations ---------- -- 109
B. Academic Institutes --------------- 110
C. Regional Meetings ---------------- 110

v. Awards -------------------­ 111

VI. The Future ofthe Institute ------------- 11 1

ANNEXES
Annex I The Permanent Legal Committee ofthe IAF (1959) --­ 113
Annex2 Members ofthe lnstitute (2002)---------­ 121
Annex3 Statutes of the lnstitute -----------­ 127
Annex4 Recipients ofIISL Awards ----------- 135

TABLES
Table 1: Congresses of the Intemational AstronauticaI Federation ----­ 27
Table 2: Congresses ofthe IAF and Colloquia ofthe IISL ---- 98

V
 Editorial Board of Advisors and Contributors
Toe following individuals reviewed early drafts of this summary of origins and
supplemented, corrected or expanded the original drafts in different ways, but in
ali cases more accurate and more complete inforrnation than was available to the
author. The author extends his deepest and heartfelt appreciation for their con­
tributions, suggestions, and support. The author/editor alone bears ful! respons­
ibility for any omissions or errors remaining.
Professor Dr. Karl-Heinz Bockstiegel, (Gerrnany) Forrner Director
Institute ofAir and Space Law, University of Cologne
Professor Emeritus Car! Christol (USA)
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Califonúa
Professor Isabella H. Ph. Diederiks-Verschoor (Holland) President Emerita
International Institute ofSpace Law
Mr. Fred Durant (USA), Forrner President
International Astronautical Federation
Dr. Ernst Fasan (Austria), Director, General Counsel
International Institute of Space Law
Professor Francis Lyall (Scotland) Director
International Institute ofSpace Law
University of Aberdeen
Dr. Eilene Galloway (USA), Honorary Director
International Institute ofSpace Law
Dr. Nandasiri Jasentuliyana, (Sri Lanka) President
International Institute ofSpace Law
Professor Dr. Vladirnir Kopal (Czech Republic), Vice President
International Institute of Space Law
General Counsel, IAF
Mrs. Tanja Masson-Zwaan, (Holland) Secretary
International Institute ofSpace Law
Mr. Leslie R. Shepherd (UK), Forrner President
International Astronautical Federation
Judge Vladlen S. Vereshchetin (Russia), Director
International Institute of Space Law,
International Court of Justice, Toe Hague
Dr. Gennady P. Zhukov, General Counsel
Intersputnik, Moscow, Russia

vi
 Dr. Eugene Pépin Prof. Dr. I. H. Ph. Diederiks-Verschoor
President President
International Institute of Space Law International Institute of Space Law
1963-1973 1973-1990
Honorary Presiden! 1973 - 1988 Presiden! Emeritus 1991 - Present

Judge Manfred Lachs Dr. Nandasiri Jasentu!iyana

President President
International Institute of Space Law International Institute of Space Law
1990 - 1993 1993 - Present

vii
 Acknowlegements

Toe work of many people has contributed to completing this modest study. Toe
editorial and review Board has been identified in ful!. In addition to the support
ofthese contributors, the author mus! acknowledge other, less visible, but no less
importan! contributions made. Robert Jacobs, of Univelt, gave support, advice
and assistance throughout the process of bringing this work through production.
Mrs. Glenda D. Heidsick:, of Shingle Springs, CA, provided numerous hours of
formatting and word processing materials for the Annexes of this work. The
photographic studios of Ted Sirlin, in Sacramento CA, contributed to the
unification and standardization of the photographic materials contained in this
work. I deeply appreciated the end-of-the-road text reviews done by Tanja
Masson-Zwaan and Dr. Eilene Galloway to discover errors and provide factually
accurate information concerning the history of the Institute.

In preparation of this work and others related to it, the author has frequently
encountered relevan! works in foreign languages which required translations. In
each case, the appropriate translators have been identified throughout this text. In
addition, members of the board of the IISL have discovered and called to my
attention inadvertent errors in spelling or typing non-English names, places and
titles. To ali ofthose who helped in this regard, I am deeply appreciative.

Finally, I thank my wife, Rosemary, and other members ofmy inunediate family,
who spent weekends, evenings and holidays alone, while I pursued this work. I
appreciate their tolerance and moral support.

Stephen E. Doyle
Shingle Springs, California
July 2002

viii
 Foreword

by Dr. Nandasiri Jasentuliyana, Presiden!

The International Institute of Space Law

The IISL has expanded its programs and grown significantly since the first
history of the Institute was prepared by the late Dr. Eugene Pépin and published in
1982. Isabella Diederiks-Verschoor served as President of the Institute from 1973
to 1990. The late Judge Manfred Lachs served as President ofthe Institute from
1990 to 1993, and I have had the privilege of serving since 1993.

During the intervening twenty years many new members have been added.
The programs and activities of the Institute have expanded, and cooperative
activities with the United Nations have increased. The annual Colloquia on the
Law of Outer Space have continued to attract outstanding participation by lawyers
and social scientists from space-faring nations and other countries around the
world. The Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition, introduced in
1992, now involves regional competitions in the United States, Europe and the
Asia Pacific Region, with final competitions held before a panel of three sitting
judges of the Intemational Court of Justice, who volunteer to serve as the Court.
Final competitions are held during annual Intemational Astronautical Congresses,
in conjunction with the annual IISL Colloquia. An annual IISL dinner, held in
conjunction with Moot Court finals, honors the judges and the finalists in the
competition. A standing comrnittee of the Institute now provides annual review
and update of the status of intemational agreements and treaties related to
activities in outer space. Since 2000, biennial regional meetings, dealing with
current topics of interest, are organized by the IISL in cooperation with local
organizations in different regions ofthe world.

When the Board ofDirectors of the Institute decided that a revised and up­
dated IISL history should be prepared, Dr. Stephen Doyle volunteered to under­
take this task. The Institute is fortunate to have in its ranks members with decades
ofmembership dating back to the 1960's. Drawing upon their personal files and
recollections, as well as the personal photo collections of members, a cooperative
effort, headed by Dr. Doyle, has generated this expanded edition ofthe Institute's
origins in the context of the development of the International Astronautical
Federation and factors surrounding the emergence ofSpace Law.

We are pleased to be able to bring this account up to date through the end
of the 20th century. We will make every effort to ensure that the Institute will
continue to serve throughout the corning century as the major intemational forurn
for the discussion and stimulation of the development ofinternational space law.
One can follow plans and events of the Institute at its website, which can be
accessed at http://www.iafastro-iisl.com.

ix
 THE ORIGINS OF SPACE LAW
ANDTHE
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPACE LAW
of the International Astronautical Federation
I. Background and the International Astronautical Federation

A. Early Commentary on Space Law

Students of Space Law are often introduced to the subject by a refer ence to the
first orbiting ofa man-made spacecraft, the USSR's Sputnik-1, orbited October 4,
1957. By that date, however, a substantial body of commentary aiready existe<!
on the substance and rationale of space law. The first writing of the twentieth
century on space law was done by a Belgian lawyer, published in France in 1910.
Emile Laude 1 was writing a brief commentary on the onomastics of air law. He
ended that discussion with the comment:

Thus, we believe that the term Aerial Law will be adopted.

But the term will never apply to the air proper, that is to say, the layer of
breathable gas. AII the problems raised by the new locomotion [aviation] are
going to move in this Iayer of air. Are we to say that we can foresee the juridi­
cal solution that our descendants wi11 have to give to ali the questions raised by
the use of the !ayer of unbreatheable gas and the !ayer of ether that bathe our
planet? The problems of the ownership and the use of the Hertzian waves will
be posed one day. A new law wilI govern new juridicaI relations. This wílI no
longer be the Aerial Law. What will it be? lt may be hazardous to predict it, for
the term Ether itself only hides our ignorance and we dare nót propose the term
Ethereal Law. But certainly it is a question ofthe Law ofSpace.
The term LAW OF SPACE will thus be the generic term; the Law o:f Space
will be to Aerial Law as Private Law is to éivil Law and Commercia1 Law.2

Not until 1926, sixteen years and a world war after the observations on space
law of Emile Laude, would another legal commentator take up the notion offlight
in space and comment, if only in passing, on the need for space law. Atan air law
conference held in Moscow in December 1926, 3 a paper was presented by a senior

1 Emile Laude was born on May 15, 1878 in Bruges, Belgium. Having earned a law de­
gree (JD) from the University ofBrussels on October 13, 1904, he was named to the Bar
in Brussels on October 29, 1904, under the patronage of Schoenfeld, a well-known Bel­
gian Jawyer ofthe day. Laude eventually attained independent status at the Bar and was
admitted to practice befare the Court of Appeals of Brussels on September 18, 1907.
2 Translation of"QUESTIONS PRATIQUES," in Vol. 1, Revue Juridique Internationale
de Locomotion Arienne 16-18, Paris (1910). The comment was translated from the
French in NASA Technical Memorandum NASA TM -77513, Wash., DC, August 1984.
3 Zarzar, .V. A., "Mezhdunarodnoye Publichnoye Vozdushnoye Pravo" (Public Intema­
tional Air Law); in Voprosy Vozdushnogo Prava, Sbornik Trudov Sektsii Vozdushnogo
2 Origins o/Space Law and the lnternational lnstitute o/Space Law
official of the Soviet Aviation Ministry, V. A. Zarzar. The paper focused pri­
marily on principies and practices in the history of intemational air law but, Zar­
zar saw well beyond the historical debates about the nature and the extent of na­
tional sovereignty in airspace.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, either in his paper or historically con­
sid-ered, Zarzar decided to introduce the topic of interplanetary flight. Zarzar may
have been aware of sorne of the earliest organizational activities in and around
Moscow seeking to address the development of rocketry and spaceflight. There
were certainly many publications by Konstantin Ziolkovsky, and others, in circu­
lation in Moscow by the mid-! 920s. In part, in 1926, Zarzar wrote:

... There is a good deal of interest in the so-called "theory of zones, 11 which is
considered quite controversial.4 This theory involves the fact that the atmos­
phere is divided into two concentric layers, ofwhich the lower is subject to na­
tional control, and the second, which is international, so that the upper zone of
air travel is free. We will not attempt to define the altitude at which the interna­
tional zone begins but do not wish to come into collision with the intrinsic
negative view on this theory. We only point out that the "theory ofzones" is not
so 11 stupid" as would appear at first glance.
What are the interests of the governments far flight over their territories?
These include the fact that from aircraft one can make military reconnaissance
of a foreign country, can throw out various objects (such as ordinary hand lug­
gage with contraband goods which "drops" from an aircraft, or a military

Prava Soyuza Aviyakhim (Soyuz Obshchestv Druzhey Aviatsionnoy i Khimicheskoy

Oborony i Promyshlennosti) [Problems of Air Law, a Symposium of Works by the Air
Law Section of the USSR and RSFSR Un ion of Societies of Friends of the Aviation and
Chemical Defense and Jndustry], vol. 1, pp. 90-103, SSSR i Aviakhim RSFSR, Moscow,
1927. Zarzar's paper was translated for NASA by Leo Kanner Associates; see NASA
TM-76913, dated June 1982; the translation excerpts presented herein include revisions
ofthe Kanner translation by Barbara Lehenbauer in May 1988, at the request ofthe edi­
tor.
4 Historical background of discussions on freedom of the air extend back at least to the
meeting of the Institute of lnternational Law held al Neuchiitel in September 1900, al
which Paul Fauchille, the French Delegate, suggested as a subject for study at the next
session of the Institute the problem of "Le régime juridique des aérostats." Although
Fauchille submitted a report and draft convention on the regulation of aerial navigation
at the Brussels meeting ofthe lnstitute in September 1902, no action toward the adoption
ofa suggested international convention was taken at that session. The first discussion of
the problem was held at the meeting in Ghent in 1906 at which Fauchille upheld the
proposition that the air is free. He advanced the theory that the lower zone (up to 330
meters) could be used for construction of buildings; the zone above 5,000 meters could
not be reached by aircraft; and that the zone between was open to free flight. He modi­
fied this by suggesting that, in order to prevent espionage, flight might be prohibited in
the zone up to 1,500 meters. (At a later meeting ofthe Institute, Fauchille admitted that
technological advances were causing him to abandon his earlier proposed limits.)
Background and the lnternational Astronautical Federation 3

"trunk" as an aerial bomb) and also the fact that an airplane, far various reasons,
must land in territories of another country where there is no law on this.
But if craft appear which are powerful enough to fly at tremendous altitudes,
at improbable speeds, how can we exclude their flying over fareign countries?
Is_ it possible that in such cases unlimited sovereignty would remain an academic
problem and that the proponents will be barricaded in their camps and also us­
que ad coelum? Can it even be that during flight over a !ayer of air surrounding
Earth (regions that will later become a reality) this will also be included in the
theory of exclusive sovereignty by the proponents? We propase that in the fu­
ture, along with the principle of unlimited sovereignty far air space, there will
also be a viable principie, faund as the basis far the "theory of zones," far cases
of the so-called "high-altitude" flights and interplanetary communi-cations. In
truth, in the latter case, one could talk about "interplanetary transport law!" But
when speaking about high-altitude flights, it is necessary to pause to discuss the
theoretical possibility of using the "theory of zones,1' which cau lead to thought­
ful limitation of sovereignty.... 5

Zarzar's paper was pnblished in 1927 in tbe USSR.6

Zarzar decried domination of use of air space by non-Communist countries'

governments and corporations. He considered such use rampan! imperialism. He
listed four of tbe historically argued reasons justifying national control of flights
over national territory:

- to prevent military reconuaissance;

- to protect the nation from harmful introduction of contraband by
air, ar damage to life ar property by -things falling on subjacent territory;
- to prevent hostile military action by air, such as bombing, and
- to control unannounced entry into national territory and unanticipated
landings by aircraft caused by technical reasons ar sorne other force majeure.

Zarzar could clearly agree with Laude's earlier observation that air law and
space law apply to different physical regimes and must be different in substance.
In Laude's words, "A new law will govern new jurídica! relations."7 Judging from
his discussion of the zone theory, Zarzar clearly contemplated a regime of non­
sovereignty, or at least modified sovereignty beyond the airspace.

Zarzar made another observation compatible with Laude's 1910 views, i.e., the
law to regulate use of radio is an importan! adjunct of flight and should be sepa­
rate from air law, but must be addressed. Zarzar wrote:

... we consider it necessary to specify that we intentionally eliminate from�

the entire set of intemational air law problems those problems which occur

5 Op. cit. supra note 3 at 96-97.

6 Op. cit. supra note 3.
7 See comments of Laude at the text accompanying faotnote 2, above.
4 Origins ofSpace Law and the fnternafiona/ fnslitute ofSpace Law
during use of radiotelegraph and radiotelephone, although this sphere of appli­
cation ofinternational air law has considerable importance.8

In the final portion of his paper, Zarzar returns to and restates his primary
!heme: "Questions of intemational public air law, thus, are solved by conventions
in accordance with the principie of complete sovereignty of nations over their air­
space."9 The question which Zarzar explicitly raises, and declines to discuss:
"We will not attempt to define the altitude at which the international zone begins,"
was to become a question of central focus for later commentators.10 Once it was
understood that the airspace and outer space were legally separable and physically
separable operational environrnents, it was clear that the legal regimes to apply to
these two operational areas should be substantially different. Both Laude (1910)
and Zarzar (1926) recognized the basic differences and explicitly declared the
need for separate legal approaches to regulate uses of airspace and outer space.

Zarzar's 1926 work, published in Russian and archived in the proceedings of

the joint conference of the Air Law Sections of the USSR and RSFSR Unions of
Societies of Friends of the Aviation and Chemical Defense and Industry in the
USSR, was not published or referred to outside of the USSR until it was referred
to and discussed in an article, published in a French journal in 1934 by the Soviet
diploma! and scholar, Yevgeniy Alexandrovich Korovin. After Zarzar's paper,
questions of space law apparently lay dorman! in the Soviet Union's literature un­
til after the Second World War, when the topic was raised again in conjunction
with the proposed orbiting of manmade satellites as part of the International Geo­
physical Year (IGY), which is discussed later in this work. Other early papers
that addressed the legal status of the airspace include E. Pittard (1927), 11 de
Boussac (1931), 12 and Albert de La Pradelle (1932).13

8 Zarzar, V. A., "Mezhdunarodnoye Publichnoye Vozdushnoye Pravo" (Public Interna­

tional Air Law), op. cit. supra note 3 at 90.
9 Ibídem.
1 O See, for examples, the survey of early commentators' views on the upward extent of
national sovereignty in Lay, S. H., and Taubenfeld, H. J., The Law Relating to Activities
of Man in Space 39-51, an American Bar Foundation Study, University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, 1970.
11 Pittard, E. "Dominium coeli," ZeitschriftfÜr das Gesamte Lujtrecht, vol. 1, P.13,
1927.
12 De Boussac, Le Statut Jnternational de l'Espace Aérien, (Medjunarodni status
vazdusnog prostora; [nternational Status of Airspace), 1931.
13 La Pradelle, Albert de, "L'origine de la Maxime Cujus solum, ejus Coelum,'' Revue
Genera/e de Droit Aérien, 294-302, 1932,
Background and the International Astronautical Federation 5
Toe world's first ma jar work of substance on the entire field of space law
emerged and was published in Germany in 1932.14 The work was written by a
lawyer, professor, pilo!, inventor in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. That was the first
comprehensive survey of the full scope of anticipated space law. At sorne time
prior to 1932, while practicing law, teaching, and writing in a provincial capital in
Czechoslovakia, a remarkably prescient, perspicacious young man , Vladimir
Mandl, set forth his thoughts on legal implications of what a handful of other men
were then known to be doing with rockets in different parts ofthe world.
Willy Ley, a cofounder of the early, non-govemmental organizational and
technical rocket development activities in Germany in the late 1920s and early
1930s, 15 was a prolific writer and popularizer of the work of pioneers of astro­
nautics. After fleeing Germany in the mid-1930s Ley published his first work on
rocketry in the English language in 1944, entitled ROCKETS: The Future of
Travel Beyond the Stratosphere.16 While in Germany in the late 1920s , Ley was
a contributing writer of the first German periodical about rocketry, Die Rakete,
and it was through this activity that Ley was known to the Czechoslovakian law­
yer and rocket enthusiast, Vladimir Mandl. Mandl was educated, in part, in Ger­
many, and by 1931 he had joined the German Verein far Raumschiffahrt (VJR -
Society far Spaceship Travel). Die Rakete was that society's joumal and mem­
bers' news magazine.
Having prepared a monograph on space law, Mandl was having difficulty lo­
cating a publisher who would pul his name on such a work, dealing with men trav­
eling to distan! worlds, changing the entire nature of relationships between States
and individuals, and having an enormous impact on the entire psychological nature
of humanity, as well as changing the form and substance of much of the law
known to humankind in the early l 930s. Willy Ley reported, years later, that
Mandl had contacted him for help .
...Sometime in 1931 a member of the VJR, Dr. Vladimir Mandl, who was a
practicing lawyer in Pilsen (Czechoslovakia) sent me a manuscript on the legal
aspects of space travel, requesting my help in getting it published. It was pub­
lished in 1932 under the tille Das Weltraum-Rechl. Dr. Mandl's study tried
chiefly to show that existing legislation--he used the very strictly codified Ger­
man faw as the means of presenting his case--covered most of the foreseeable
legal problems. But Dr. Mandl failed to establish a unified legal point of
view.17

14 Mandl, V., Das Weltraum-Recht: Ein Problem der Raunifahrt, Mannheim, Berlin,
Leipzig: J.Bensheimer, 1932, 48 pp.
15 See Winter, F. H., Prelude lo the Space Age, The Rocket Societies: 1924-1940, Smith­
sonian lnstitution Press, Wash., DC, 1983, p. 35.
16 Ley, W., ROCKETS: The Future of Trove/ Beyond the Stratosphere, The Viking
Press, New York, 1 944.
17 Ley, W., Rockets, Missiles, and Men in Space (rev. ed.) Signe! Books of the New
American Library, [ne,, New York, 1969 (paperbound) p. 547.
6 Origins ofSpace Law and the lnternationa/ Institute oJSpace Law
It should be kept in mind that Willy Ley was neither a lawyer nor a student of
law. Ley apparently did recall that Mandl's monograph was in two parts, dealing
with the present (Part 1) and the future (Par! 2), but it is not justified to say that
Mandl "tried chiefly to show that existing legislation ...covered most of the fore­
seeable legal problems."

It is clearly not the case that Mandl "used the very strictly codified German
law as the means of presenting his case, beca use, as one can see upon reading the
11

monograph, in addition to references to German law, Mandl included references to

British, French, Italian, Portuguese, Swiss, American and intemational law in his
well researched and well documented survey of the comparative qualities of ex­
isting law in a variety of special, relevan! subject areas. After the tour of existing
law in Part 1 of the monograph, Mandl opens his imagination and creativity to
present his assessment of the needs far new law in the future, the substance of Part
2 of the monograph.

A countryman of Mandl's, Vladimir Kopal, a former senior official of the

United Nations, renowned writer and consultan! on matters of space law and re­
lated intemational organizations, and a distinguished scholar and professor of in­
temational law at Charles University in Prague, and later at the University of Pil­
sen, published an insightful, brief survey of the life of Mandl.18 By permission
of the author, the following information is drawn, with modest editing, from
Kopal's biographical study ofMandl.
Vladirnir Mandl was born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia on 20 March 1899 and
there lived the major part of his life. He became a pioneer in astronautics in
Czechoslovakia and, in particular, author of the first monograph on legal prob­
lems of outer space flights. ...
While still a student, Vladimir Mandl developed a deep interest in legal the­
ory, especially in private law. Between 1921 and 1926 he was a member of the
seminar on civil law procedure directed by the distinguished Czech scholar Pro­
fessor Václav Hora. In 1925 Mandl submitted an interesting report on problems
of evidence to the first Congress of Czechoslovak Lawyers. Later (1926), he
wrote a monograph on Czechoslovak civil law regarding marriage. Finally,
Mandl completed his specialization in civil law procedure by postgraduate
studies at the University of Erlangen, in Germany, where he obtained a doctor­
ate with his dissertation on the law of damages.
Having qualified far the bar with such excellent scholarship, Dr. Vladimir
Mandl was free to dedicate his energy to actual legal problems created by in­
dustrial and technological developments of the 1920s and 1930s. First, he pub­
lished a series of essays on the legal aspects of motor vehicles. These he ampli­
fied, in 1929, into a monograph on the subject.

18 The material in this section is drawn from Kopal, V., "Vladimir Mandl: Founding
Writer on Space Law," in Durant and James (Eds.) First Steps Toward Space 87-90,
Smithsonian lnstitution Press, Washington, DC, 1974. [Edited and included herein by
permission ofVladimir Kopal, the author.]
Background and the !nternational Astronautical Federation 7
Simultaneously, Mandl studied legal problems of aviation, which was de­
veloping rapidly in the years following the first world war. His enthusiasm for
aviation was so great that he became a pilot. The result of Mandl's intensive
work in this field was his study on air law, 19 the first systematic treatise on this
new subject written in Czechoslovakia. Following an historical introduction, the
author dealt with Czechoslovakian air regulations. The second part considered
general problems of air law, such as liability arising from international air trans­
port contracts, contlicts of aviation law, customs, and insurance against damage
caused by aircraft. The final chapter dealt with air warfare.
Dr. Mandl submitted his book on air law as his advanced work in residence,
hoping to gain a professorship at the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engi­
neering, Czech Technical University of Prague. Documents deposited in the
Archives ofthe University of Prague demonstrate that Mandl fulfilled admirably
ali the conditions required and that his scholarly work and knowledge were
highly respected by the Accreditation Commission.20 On 20 September 1932
the Czechoslovak Minister of Education confirmed the decision of the Board of
Professors of the Faculty concerning the granting of venia docendi to Dr. Vla­
dimír Mandl for the subject, Law oflndustrial Enterprises.21
Although appointed for a different course, air law remained his concern, as
witnessed by his study of the Paris Convention on the Regu\ation of Aerial
Navigation and by the substantial article on parachutes, which he published in
1935 in France.22 Beginning with the academic year, 1933-34, the course given
by Prof. Vladimir Mandl on industrial law appears in the university curriculum,
as it did in the year 1938-39. As is known, German troops occupied the whole
of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, and in autumn of that year the Nazis closed
ali Czech universities. That also meant the end of Mandl's university teaching.

His keen interest in aeronautics led Vladimir Mand1 to think about the more
advanced means of space transport. While the pioneers of astronautics tested
their modest rockets, Mandl thought of them as instruments of navigation in
space, which would some <lay require new rules of law--space law. lt was in
this new field that he was able to apply creatively his broad knowledge, which
went well beyond the usual limits of legal scholarship and which made it possi-

19 Mandl, Letecké právo [Air Law] (Pilsen, 1928).

2ü In a report of the Accreditation Commission on Dr. Vladimir Mandl, dated 6 Febru­
ary 1930, the "significant juridical erudition of the author, great knowledge of literature,
unusual diligence and devotion to scientific work 11 was stressed. In his accreditation
colloquium, Dr. Mandl received the unanimous approval of the seven examiners, on 20
April 1930. On 30 April 1930, he delivered a test lecture before the Board of Professors
on "Liability ofContractors for Damage"; and at a meeting ofthe Board, when a vote in
regard to his appointment was taken among the 24 voting members, 23 votes were cast
for and only I against Dr. Mandl.
21 Decree ofthe Minister ofEducation 89212/31-IV/3, of30 September 1932.
22 Mandl, "Mezinárodní úmluva o úprave letectví ze dne 13.ríjna 1919" (Praha, 1932);
"Le Parachute, "La révue générale de droit aérien, nos. 2, 3, 4, 1935 (reprint, Paris:
Les Editions lnternationales, 1935).
8 Origins ofSpace Law and the lnternational lnstitute of Space Law
ble for him to contribute to the technical aspects of rocketry as well. The results
ofhis studies and thoughts in astronautics fall into two categories.
The first is found in his book, "The Problem of lnterplanetary Transport,"
which appeared in 1932 in Prague.23 His treatise opened with a brief survey of
developments in astronautics, in which he described the work of Konstantin Zi­
olkovsky (USSR), Dr. Robert H. Goddard (USA), Dr. Franz von Hoefft (Aus­
tria), Professor Hermann Oberth (Germany), and others. In the second part he
explained the basic principies of rocketry. The book concluded with his own
drawing ofa high altitude rocket....Both solid and liquid propellants would have
been used. Mandl received a Czechoslovakian patent on a so lid rocket design.
In a second category, however, is the important work by which the name of
Prof. Vladimir Mandl is recorded forever in the history of astronautics. It is
contained in his monograph on The Law of Outer Space: a Problem of Space­
j/ight, for which he finally found a publisher in 1932 in Germany.24 In this
concise book Mandl placed before the reader many thoughts, which have not
lost their relevance despite the passage oftime.
Attention should first be drawn to his concept of the law ofouter space as an
independent legal branch, based on specific instruments ofspace flight and gov­
emed by different principies than is the law ofthe sea or the law ofthe air. Al­
though Mandl considered examples ofother legal branches for analogies in spe­
cial cases, he stressed the need for specific regulation of legal problems of as­
tronautics. The first part of his monograph treats selected problems of extant
civil law, criminal law, and international law concerning outer space.
Still rriore interesting is the second part ofthe study, "The Future. 11 lt is not
science fiction, but a set of serious predictions, [sorne ofJ which have becorne
reality. For example, Mandl opposed the usual idea ofsovereignty as applied to
space without limits and asserted that sovereignty of States govems only the
adjacent atmospheric space. Beyond the "earth coastal spaces 11 a vast area be­
gins which is "free ofthe jurisdiction ofany earthly State, coelum liberum. 1125
The concluding part of Mandl 1 s analysis is preceded by his prediction of a
surprising new progress in physics, chemistry, and engineering that would cor­
respond to a similar epoch ofthe 19th century--in fact, a vision ofthe scientific
and technical revolution of our times. Moreover, as a consequence of the pene­
tration by men into outer space, Mandl predicted a substantial change in rela­
tions between the State and its nationals, which would not be based on State
domination, so that both State and its nationals would become equal subjects.
According to Mandl, territory would lose its importance as one of the basic di­
mensions of each State, and new communities based exclusively on personal
adherence would emerge. People would retain such new nationality when going
to outer space and other planets.

23 "Problém Mezihvezdné Dopravy" (Prague, 1932), l 00 pp.

24 Das Weltraum-Recht: Ein Problem der Raumfahrt, Mannheim, Berlin, Leipzig: J.
Bensheimer, l 932, 48 pp.
25 Idem. p. 33.
Background and the lnternafiona/ Astronautical Federation 9
Finally, according to Mandl, space law would become a manifestation dif­
11

ferent in substance from contemporary jurisprudence."26

Vladimir Mandl died on 8 January 1941 at the age of 41 and was buried on
13 January 1941 at the Central Cemetery in Pilsen.
Prof. Dr. Vladimir Mandl is recognized by the community of space lawyers
as the founding writer in this new branch of law who embodied sorne of the
characteristic features ofthe people from a small country in the heart ofEurope,
Czechoslovakia. Its best creative men, whether scientists, philosophers, or art­
ists, always blend into their ideas the particular interests of their own nation in
progress and freedom with the dreams and concerns ofall ofmankind.
** ***** *
Vladimir Mandl's historie monograph may have been known to but was not
quoted by European legal writers before 1950. Many non-Europeans remain un­
aware of its existence, even toda y, and are unable to acquire a copy of the work for
study, because ofthe limited number of originally published copies (believed to be
200). Mandl's study is the seminal work on space law, not only in the German
language, but in all of western literature. No other author prior to the second
world war approached the tapie with such vision, scope and depth. Mandl's study
is a jurisprudential lode of inestimable value. lts scope and thoroughness indicate
the scope and capacity of the intellect of its author, and provide a memorable ex­
arnple of how much a creative imagination can accomplish when it is set free to
explore concepts and ideas.

Of interest to both students and practitioners of modem space law, the thought
processes, rationalizations, and the associations of ideas used and displayed by
Mandl throughout his study suggest approaches that may prove helpful, not only
in formulating and arguing research work, but also in formulating and arguing
approaches to real-world problem solving.

In the original German, the monograph contained 48 pages. Rarely will a

reader find in so few pages so many startling and lucid thoughts about a subject
that is yet to be developed by the scientists and engineers of succeeding decades.
Vladimir Mandl's work is the more remarkable when one considers the scientific
and engineering environment prevailing when the original manuscript was being
prepared in about 1931.

During the early 1930s aeronauts were exploring the upper limits of the navi­
gable atmosphere using high altitude or "stratospheric" balloons, free flying ob­
jects which, once launched, moved with prevailing winds aloft. A nurnber of he-

26 Jdem, p. 48. In the 1930s Mandl was also interested in sorne more general problems
of economics, science and philosophy. He explained his economic views in the follow­
ing studies: Technokracie, hospodársky systém budoucnosti? [Technocracy--Economic
System of the Future?] (Prague, 1934); Prirodovedni národohospodárská teorie [Scien­
tific Economic Theory] (Prague, 1936); Stát a védecká organizace práce [State and Sci­
entific Management] (Pilsen, 1937).