ABSTRACT
The law relating to airspace has proceeded on the basis of state sovereignty since the Paris Convention of 1919. This principle has been modified by the multilateral and bilateral treaties that permitted normal civil aviation activities to proceed. However, in the last 50 years the usque ad coelum principle has had to be modified to accommodate activities in outer space. The decision by the USSR to launch the first satellite to circle the earth in 1957 was followed within a few years by manned space flight which increased in ambition until a landing on the moon was accomplished in July 1969. In these circumstances, the international law in relation to outer space has had to develop rapidly, although only a small number of states initially had any direct interest in the subject matter.
