The enormous growth during the last decade of outer space operations like direct broadcasting by satellite and the exploration of natural resources by remote sensing satellites have brought space law into dramatic prominence among the fields of international law. International, because the fundamental principle of space law since the cornerstone Outer Space Law of 1967 clearly requires that outer space and celestial bodies are free for exploration and use by all states in conformity with international law and are not subject to national appropriation. It is in light of the many new considerations now falling under the scope of international law because of their connection with space that this new edition of the best-known handbook in the field now appears.