Space Law The nations of the world can be broken into three groups, in regards to space: established space nations, emerging space nations, and nations with no space presence. The primary source of space law is the Outer Space Treaty. The Outer Space Treaty was written in 1967 and is the basis of all existing international space law. One of the key points of the Outer Space Treaty has to do with the placement and maintenance of weapons of mass destruction in orbit around the Earth, on the Moon, or on any other celestial body. In an age where space is becoming more viable to larger groups of people, space law must adapt. International cooperation must be part of the foundation of any space law that will be written. Regulatory bodies must be created to ensure that space is taken care of in an appropriate manner. Space law is very heavily biased in favor of the established space nations, as opposed to the emerging space nations. The best way for these emerging space nations to become more involved with the creation of these new policies is for them to engage in the development of new standards. This is a difficult task for these nations, due to the fact that it requires significant resources that are not necessarily available to emerging nations. One of the best ways of dealing with this difficulty is to participate in standard setting bodies and regional cooperation, such as the European Space Agency and the more recent Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization. APSCO recently held a conference about space laws and policies. Conferences like this are an excellent way for these emerging space nations to become part of the space law process. Latin American countries are in the process of developing collaborations that could one day lead to the creation of a Latin American Space Agency and Africa is also beginning to have collaborative efforts as well, such as the African Resources and Environmental Management Satellite Constellation. ARMS is responsible for providing satellite data to some of the more developed African nations. As more emerging space nations begin to appear, it is important to remember that the best way to ensure that there are fair and inclusive space laws, is to participate in these collaborative space projects.