Public and private powers in Space law: towards an East India Company beyond the Kármán line?
Journal title DIRITTO COSTITUZIONALE
Author/s Aldo Sandulli
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/1
Language Italian Pages 14 P. 135-148 File size 162 KB
DOI 10.3280/DC2026-001009
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This article reconstructs the evolution of public-private partnerships in space activities from the 1960s to the present day, with a particular focus on US and European models. The former is a largely private-led model (although it receives substantial public funding and is closely connected to the defence apparatus and private oligopolies). This model has focused heavily on internal deregulation, exploiting loopholes and gaps in international regulation. This gives private corporations operating in Big Tech a high degree of freedom, rewards innovative and disruptive technological research and allows flexibility and derogations from competition rules. In contrast, the latter is a mixed model built on coordination, cooperation, and negotiation between international technical bodies, supranational and national legal systems, the public and private sectors, and technology and politics. This model is less dynamic in terms of innovation and speed of implementation. It is also more sensitive to sustainability issues and more attentive to regulation, harmonisation, and proportionate redistribution of investment across the industrial sector.
Keywords: Space Law, Public authority and private powers, Public-private partnerships, Partnerships for innovation, Joint undertaking
Aldo Sandulli, Poteri pubblici e privati nel diritto dello Spazio: verso una Compagnia delle Indie oltre la linea di Kármán? in "DIRITTO COSTITUZIONALE" 1/2026, pp 135-148, DOI: 10.3280/DC2026-001009