"This book approaches space law from the angle of legal comparison, trying to innovate a field of studies which is usually investigated from the prevalent perspective of general public international law. The underlying assumption of this research is that, in a new phase of exploration and exploitation of outer space characterised by an increasing presence and role of private entities, problems which traditionally characterise the systems of private law arise in the specific context of outer space and require specific legal answers. The embryonic space society is ruled by a skeleton of international law - some multilateral treaties of the last century, filled with gaps and uncertainties, and various more limited agreements on cooperation between groups of states - and scattered national laws and regulations, with similarities and differences between the approaches of the different countries. Through the comparative method, this book tries to systematise the complex legal spacescape concerning some fundamental concepts rooted in different ways in the various national systems of private law: natural and legal persons, property rights, liability, contracts, and securities. From a certain perspective, it can be conceived as a sort of (possible sketch of a) handbook of private law in the context of outer space. Thus, its substantive matter is the whole of dispersed clues allowing for the complex construction, still in an early stage, of a system of private law in outer space, analysed in the context of the more general legal framework regulating the organisation of the human exploration and exploitation of outer space. This introductory part aims to enhance complementarity of comparative and international legal studies, asserting that new sectors require interdisciplinary approaches. Space law, in particular, needs dialogue and convergence between international law, comparative law, other legal disciplines (such as philosophy of law, private law, commercial law, administrative law, constitutional law, insurance law, transportation law, intellectual property, and suchlike) and non-legal disciplines (economics, sociology, geopolitics, anthropology, engineering, data science, and suchlike).

The first Chapter investigates the different actors of space, public and private law (natural and legal) persons, with their respective legal status. The second Chapter analyses broadly speaking the different existing legal approaches to space, with some hints from economic science, in light of the fundamental rights granted by national constitutional traditions and international charters. The pivotal third Chapter focuses on certain core legal concepts of private law, investigating how they are evolving beyond the atmosphere of Earth: property rights, liability, contracts, and securities"--.