The history of the compilation of legal statutes is as old as the concept of ownership. In other words, the written law began with owning land and other property. Think of all the issues associated with owning land: Deciding who is the proper owner, where the boundaries of the land is, who owns things like mineral rights, how one accesses the property (what land you have to cross), etc. All of that requires regulation and thus, a written law code. And law codes mean adjudication. And that gave rise to things like courts, judges, and even lawyers. And it all began with ownership.

Today, the law continues to define what exactly constitutes property and the associated rights of it. The idea of something that is property also includes intellectual (that is, not physical) property and rights. We also think of land being lateral, but it can also be vertical as well. People have the rights to the space above their property as well–for example, I can’t build a bridge over your house if I own the property on either side of you. This concept is still being defined legally as time goes on.

Some people have been thinking about this concept of what is above you for almost a century. A Czech lawyer was one of the first to attempt to codify what legal rights people should have over the space above them. His name was Vladimir Mandl. He published his thoughts on it way back in 1932. Das Weltraum-Recht: Ein Problem der Raumfahrt was his treatise on the subject, published in German, and it was obviously way ahead of its time. As the 20th Century progressed, others added to Mandl’s propositions. Cases began to be heard in various courts around the world that added to and clarified the proposition. Now, international law is understandably dicey because of the various laws in the nations involved. But the idea is that international legal consensus be built so that rights can be applied equally across the globe. Think of the world-wide standards for things like war (the Geneva Convention, for example) and other issues that have global implications and applications.

The United Nations also took up the issue. The laws become more defined. Agreements were signed. Conventions were held. Universal agreement was reached. Courts have been hearing cases involving one major point of contention: The definition of what it is above you. How far do your rights go? Can I claim the air over my land to the point that I can tell drones or even airplanes that they can’t fly over me? Also, remember that, since we are on a globe, the are above us grows in a cone shape the higher up we go. Do we as individuals or nations own that? And thus, the law is evolving and changing as it always does. But we go back to the original concepts of Vladimir Mendl. He set the standard for how we view what’s above us and how it should be regulated, and he did it long before we began traveling so far “up” that we were actually “out.”

By the way, the translation of his publication in English is Space Law: A Problem of Space Travel.