ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 discusses the origins of freedom of space, the first principle of outer space law. Freedom of space began more narrowly as a right of the satellite of one nation to pass over the territory of another nation. The United States conscientiously cultivated the development of customary international law to develop this right of overpass. The Eisenhower Administration invested considerable time and resources into launching a satellite using only civilian resources as part of the International Geophysical Year. The hope was that an innocuous satellite launched as part of a global scientific program would not draw objection when it passed over foreign territory. This would then establish a legal principle for the right of reconnaissance satellites to pass over foreign territory, namely the Soviet Union. Delays in developing a civilian rocket to launch an American satellite, however, permitted the Soviet Union to launch a satellite first. But Sputnik, while a propaganda disaster for the United States, furthered the Eisenhower Administration’s goal to establish a legal right for satellites to pass over foreign nations.
