If enough debris accumulates, it will become virtually impossible to operate spacecraft in Earth orbit.

Current space law does not adequately address the space debris problem.

The Outer Space Treaty was followed by (i) the 1968 Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space, (ii) the 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, (iii) the 1975 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, and (iv) the 1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which is now considered dormant because it has not been ratified by any of the major space powers. These include the 1982 Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcasting, the 1986 Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Outer Space, the 1992 Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources In Outer Space, and the 1996 Declaration on International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for the Benefit and in the Interest of All States, Taking into Particular Account the Needs of Developing Countries. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space administers the major space treaties and advises the international community on space policy matters. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates non-government spaceports and the launch and reentry of private spacecraft under the Commercial Space Launch Act, as amended by the 2004 Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act.

Humans will soon routinely travel into outer space on spacecraft built and operated by private companies.If this rule extended to outer space, the Soviet Union would have violated international law by launching Sputnik into an orbit that passed over many countries, including the United States, without permission. It was thus established that the rules that governed spacecraft would differ from those that governed aircraft, and the field of space law was born.Nevertheless, President Eisenhower, knowing that the United States was interested in eventually overflying Soviet airspace with its own spy satellites, tacitly accepted the Soviet Union's right to operate a satellite in orbit over U. The term “space law” refers to the body of international and national laws and customs that govern human activities in outer space.The first of these flights will be suborbital spaceflights, where the spacecraft launches from and returns to the same spaceport and is in outer space for only a few minutes.By the middle of the decade, private companies are expected to take passengers on orbital spaceflights to the International Space Station (ISS) and privately operated space habitats.