Because government has traditionally played a major role in the shaping of the
industry, lawyers and clients alike are likely to have to persuade policymakers to
pay attention to their particular problems for some time. For that matter, law
schools (both in the United States and, increasingly, in other countries) are key
training grounds for future policymakers, meaning that those taking courses in
this area may well be the space decision-makers of the future. For these reasons,
we pay considerable attention to the policy issues involved, both in the context of
individual areas of the law and more general discussions of various policy issues.

We also discuss a wide variety of international law issues. Many, like the juris-
dictional provisions of the Outer Space Treaty, touch directly on the space indus-
try. Others, like the ABM Treaty, do not. All, however, are an important part of
space law and form part of the background against which events take place. And,
of course, international law issues are of considerable importance to government
lawyers and to policymakers.

Most legal texts are casebooks. That presents a problem in the aerospace field
because there are so few cases. But the casebook format has many advantages,
providing a variety of viewpoints and a sense of how legal rules are applied in
courts. In addition, it presents the subject matter in discrete units, allowing the
teacher more flexibility in organizing a course. With this in mind, we have emu-
lated the casebook format by including excerpts from leading publications and
from key legal sources such as treaties and statutes. However, in order to provide
context and background, and to remedy gaps in the published literature, we pro-
vide a much greater than usual amount of original commentary and notes. Dis-
cussion points and study questions, along with references to additional reading,
are also included. The result, we hope, is a book that will be useful both as a text
in law school classes and as a tool for self-education by practitioners and inter-
ested people both within and outside the legal profession.

If the space industry is to develop as it should, there must be a body of law that
supports its growth. That law is developing now, through the efforts of scholars
and practitioners. It is our sincere hope, reflected in the pages of this book, that
we can contribute to this process.

G.H.R.
R.P.M.

-xviii-