Yun Zhao on International Regulatory Regime for MegaConstellations: A Path to Equitable Access to Outer Space (Air and Space Law)

"International Regulatory Regime for MegaConstellations: A Path to Equitable Access to Outer Space"
Yun Zhao
Air and Space Law, Volume 50, Special Issue (2025) pp. 591 – 600
Published online: September 2025

Abstract: The deployment of mega-constellations, as a significant advancement in space technology and commercialization in the twenty-first century, calls for a comprehensive regulatory framework. This article examines the existing legal and policy landscape, identifies regulatory gaps and puts forward suggestions on how to come up with a cohesive international regulatory regime for mega-constellations to ensure the long-term sustainability of space activities. Given the difficulty of achieving a binding legal regime, a pragmatic approach should be adopted at the current stage in enacting guiding principles or concrete guidelines for the responsible deployment and operation of mega-constellations in the interim, laying a solid practical foundation for a binding regime in the future.