The African Union has elected to be active in space exploration as part of its Agenda 2063, Afric... more The African Union has elected to be active in space exploration as part of its Agenda 2063, African Space Policy and Strategy (ASPS), and has taken steps towards creating an African Space Agency. There are also various space-related activities already underway within some member states which the African Union may leverage since active participation and initiation of space-related activities in Africa will make progress towards meeting the continent’s socio-economic challenges. This chapter explores the ASPS, other continental space initiatives, how space law as an international piece of legislation evolved with time alongside the evolution of space exploration and the legal aspects and precedents that Africa will need to engage into develop its member States’ national laws juxtaposed with international laws, continental engagement in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, plus debates and initiatives around the African Space Agency. The particular focus on...
The depiction of space in films was a natural merging of technologies borne out of the Renaissanc... more The depiction of space in films was a natural merging of technologies borne out of the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution: one that could create alternative worlds and others that created the expectation that new worlds could actually be explored. However, the mental device of estrangement embedded in science fiction as a narrative genre was strengthened when the power of story became amplified with the arrival of film. The mirror of self-reflection that estrangement gave to humankind transformed into a more immersive experience in film with its visual illusions. It allowed the exploration of narrative settings in space and led to the creation of new genres as forms of estrangement. This article sets out to explore the emblematic films that form part of cinematic science fiction and endeavours to establish their meaning and importance in popular culture as it relates to space.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are hard to achieve, especially so for African s... more The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are hard to achieve, especially so for African states. However, the African continent is brimming with potential given its arable land, vast mineral deposits, and demographic dividend in the form of a generally young population. The current developmental status of the continent, while lagging in comparison with many other developing continents and regions, presents an opportunity to implement the most advanced and contemporary technologies for developmental purposes due to the lack of legacy technologies that need to be replaced. This study explores the proposition by investigating the possible achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Goal 1, namely the eradication of poverty, by making use of small satellites within swarm configurations. The investigation is performed by making use of systems theory and reframes the question by investigating the possible effect that the techno-sphere dimension of small satellite technology could possibly have on the African continent's poverty problem given the fact that the continent and its constituent parts form a complex system.
The African continent, as many other regions on the planet, is hamstrung by poverty and many deve... more The African continent, as many other regions on the planet, is hamstrung by poverty and many developmental issues. It may seem counter-intuitive to investigate the space capabilities of the continent and other less developed regions as space activity is usually associated with developed states and regions. However, given the fact that the global space industry is set to grow in future and generate huge dividends due to various forms of New Space activities, it is a valid question to investigate how the African continent can insert itself into the existing and future unfolding space economy. This study endeavours to establish a generic system of enquiry whereby any area or entity—in this case the African continent and its societies—can identify the dominant industries that can be used as a point of leverage for insertion into existing space economic value-chains and to identify any low barriers of access for insertion into especially New Space economic value-chains. This system of en...
The purpose of this research is to analyse the current international legal regime (referred to as... more The purpose of this research is to analyse the current international legal regime (referred to as “First-Generation Space Law”) with regard to the issue of space debris management, specifically mitigation and eradication. Against this analysis a technological framework is introduced in order to monitor current and prospective space debris removal technologies that enables the design of a framework law regime to address the growing problem of space debris. Both the analysis of the current international legal regime and the design of the framework law regime provide insight into the uncertain nature of the current international law on space debris management that is not conducive to a solution to the space debris problem. The argument is thus advanced that the time has come for the Second-Generation Space Law to be developed in this regard.
Integrated Space for African Society: Legal and Policy Implementation of Space in African Countries, 2019
The African Union has elected to be active in space exploration as part of its Agenda 2063, Afric... more The African Union has elected to be active in space exploration as part of its Agenda 2063, African Space Policy and Strategy (ASPS), and has taken steps towards creating an African Space Agency. There are also various space-related activities already underway within some member states which the African Union may leverage since active participation and initiation of space-related activities in Africa will make progress towards meeting the continent’s socio-economic challenges. This chapter explores the ASPS, other continental space initiatives, how space law as an international piece of legislation evolved with time alongside the evolution of space exploration and the legal aspects and precedents that Africa will need to engage into develop its member States’ national laws juxtaposed with international laws, continental engagement in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, plus debates and initiatives around the African Space Agency. The particular focus on...
The economic crisis that arose during 2008 (often termed as the Great Recession) emphasised the s... more The economic crisis that arose during 2008 (often termed as the Great Recession) emphasised the systemic deficiencies of the global economy and its financial subsystem. It also once again highlighted the chaotic, and therefore unpredictable, nature of markets and the lack of foresight and strategic management of the markets (and thus the economic and financial system). It is trite that an equitable, efficient, environment-friendly and robust economic and financial system that can withstand rare events is of the utmost importance for the sustainable development of the human race and the ecology as a whole on planet earth. Therefore, future consciousness that will bring about this idealised state is an important endeavour (the idealised state or preferred future). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted on 25 September 2015 is an endeavour to implement a future consciousness and plan to build a better future. In the event that the SDGs are wholly or even partially achieved, t...
The African Union has elected to be active in space exploration as part of its Agenda 2063, Afric... more The African Union has elected to be active in space exploration as part of its Agenda 2063, African Space Policy and Strategy (ASPS), and has taken steps towards creating an African Space Agency. There are also various space-related activities already underway within some member states which the African Union may leverage since active participation and initiation of space-related activities in Africa will make progress towards meeting the continent’s socio-economic challenges. This chapter explores the ASPS, other continental space initiatives, how space law as an international piece of legislation evolved with time alongside the evolution of space exploration and the legal aspects and precedents that Africa will need to engage into develop its member States’ national laws juxtaposed with international laws, continental engagement in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, plus debates and initiatives around the African Space Agency. The particular focus on...
The depiction of space in films was a natural merging of technologies borne out of the Renaissanc... more The depiction of space in films was a natural merging of technologies borne out of the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution: one that could create alternative worlds and others that created the expectation that new worlds could actually be explored. However, the mental device of estrangement embedded in science fiction as a narrative genre was strengthened when the power of story became amplified with the arrival of film. The mirror of self-reflection that estrangement gave to humankind transformed into a more immersive experience in film with its visual illusions. It allowed the exploration of narrative settings in space and led to the creation of new genres as forms of estrangement. This article sets out to explore the emblematic films that form part of cinematic science fiction and endeavours to establish their meaning and importance in popular culture as it relates to space.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are hard to achieve, especially so for African s... more The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are hard to achieve, especially so for African states. However, the African continent is brimming with potential given its arable land, vast mineral deposits, and demographic dividend in the form of a generally young population. The current developmental status of the continent, while lagging in comparison with many other developing continents and regions, presents an opportunity to implement the most advanced and contemporary technologies for developmental purposes due to the lack of legacy technologies that need to be replaced. This study explores the proposition by investigating the possible achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Goal 1, namely the eradication of poverty, by making use of small satellites within swarm configurations. The investigation is performed by making use of systems theory and reframes the question by investigating the possible effect that the techno-sphere dimension of small satellite technology could possibly have on the African continent's poverty problem given the fact that the continent and its constituent parts form a complex system.
The African continent, as many other regions on the planet, is hamstrung by poverty and many deve... more The African continent, as many other regions on the planet, is hamstrung by poverty and many developmental issues. It may seem counter-intuitive to investigate the space capabilities of the continent and other less developed regions as space activity is usually associated with developed states and regions. However, given the fact that the global space industry is set to grow in future and generate huge dividends due to various forms of New Space activities, it is a valid question to investigate how the African continent can insert itself into the existing and future unfolding space economy. This study endeavours to establish a generic system of enquiry whereby any area or entity—in this case the African continent and its societies—can identify the dominant industries that can be used as a point of leverage for insertion into existing space economic value-chains and to identify any low barriers of access for insertion into especially New Space economic value-chains. This system of en...
The purpose of this research is to analyse the current international legal regime (referred to as... more The purpose of this research is to analyse the current international legal regime (referred to as “First-Generation Space Law”) with regard to the issue of space debris management, specifically mitigation and eradication. Against this analysis a technological framework is introduced in order to monitor current and prospective space debris removal technologies that enables the design of a framework law regime to address the growing problem of space debris. Both the analysis of the current international legal regime and the design of the framework law regime provide insight into the uncertain nature of the current international law on space debris management that is not conducive to a solution to the space debris problem. The argument is thus advanced that the time has come for the Second-Generation Space Law to be developed in this regard.
Integrated Space for African Society: Legal and Policy Implementation of Space in African Countries, 2019
The African Union has elected to be active in space exploration as part of its Agenda 2063, Afric... more The African Union has elected to be active in space exploration as part of its Agenda 2063, African Space Policy and Strategy (ASPS), and has taken steps towards creating an African Space Agency. There are also various space-related activities already underway within some member states which the African Union may leverage since active participation and initiation of space-related activities in Africa will make progress towards meeting the continent’s socio-economic challenges. This chapter explores the ASPS, other continental space initiatives, how space law as an international piece of legislation evolved with time alongside the evolution of space exploration and the legal aspects and precedents that Africa will need to engage into develop its member States’ national laws juxtaposed with international laws, continental engagement in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, plus debates and initiatives around the African Space Agency. The particular focus on...
The economic crisis that arose during 2008 (often termed as the Great Recession) emphasised the s... more The economic crisis that arose during 2008 (often termed as the Great Recession) emphasised the systemic deficiencies of the global economy and its financial subsystem. It also once again highlighted the chaotic, and therefore unpredictable, nature of markets and the lack of foresight and strategic management of the markets (and thus the economic and financial system). It is trite that an equitable, efficient, environment-friendly and robust economic and financial system that can withstand rare events is of the utmost importance for the sustainable development of the human race and the ecology as a whole on planet earth. Therefore, future consciousness that will bring about this idealised state is an important endeavour (the idealised state or preferred future). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted on 25 September 2015 is an endeavour to implement a future consciousness and plan to build a better future. In the event that the SDGs are wholly or even partially achieved, t...
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