CAPACITY-BUILDING OF THE NATIONAL SPACE LEGISLATION IN POST-SOVIET COUNTRIES: THE RECENT CONTRIBUTION OF KAZAKHSTAN

摘要

The space posture of Kazakhstan is mainly associated with the Baikonur cosmodrome, the substantial originof the space era: common launch pad of the first satellite and of the first person sent to space. Upon theseoutstanding events Sergei Korolev, a prominent personality in the Soviet space history, noted: "The way to space isopened" … for which the departing point is Baikonur.The space history of independent Kazakhstan starts, as for the Russian Federation and Ukraine, with theproclamation of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and respectively the formation of new independent states.Pursuant to agreements reached upon the disintegration of the USSR, these three ex-soviet republics have beenrecognised as major legal successors of the soviet space heritage. In former times the USSR space assets constitutedthe holistic complex of interlinked infrastructure units being principally placed in the territories of theaforementioned states. Therefore, upon the collapse of superpower it was needed not only to legally enshrine therespective breakdown of space complex between the successors but also to consider the way to develop the nationalindependent space industries. As it could be revealed from analyses of the "new" space acquisitions of respectivestates, the distribution did not consider the established industrial connections but followed the principle of territorialaffiliation. Hence, the normal operation of industry has been complicated due to the broken inter-entity linkagesurging the prompt determination of how to proceed with further activities. In addition, the launch facilities wereconcentrated in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the country where no real space manufacturing was conducted.Despite the national differences in securing continuity of the soviet space tradition, the Russian Federationand Ukraine highlighted common traits:1. All national space activities are centered around specially shaped executive authority2. Planning is based on space programmes3. Solid legal grounds for space activities: space legislation is composed of basic space law, associated lawsand derived by-laws.Kazakhstan followed its own "space" way, with crucial milestones of establishing the national spaceagency in 2007 and adopting the fundamental space activities act at the beginning of 2012.Being the last basic space law adopted by space-faring countries of the post-soviet area and the first one forKazakhstan, it requires to be more specifically approached in the paper. However, the legal appraisal of its text perse would be incomplete without an overview of the Kazakh space perspective, pertinent legislative scope alongsidewith philosophic rationales of what is kept behind.