Legal and regulatory framework of cooperation between the eurasian economic union member states in the field of space exploration

Nowadays there is an obvious intensification of economic, political and social integration within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). One of the innovative areas of cooperation between the EAEU states is space exploration. In this context, consideration of the legal and regulatory framework of this cooperation, the formation of which began long before the formation of the EAEU itself, is highly significant and relevant both from a scientific and from a practical point of view. Authors take an attempt not only to review the regulatory basis of space exploration by the EAEU countries, but also to briefly outline the most important spheres of cooperation in this field. Special relationship between the states of the Eurasian Economic Union in terms of space exploration is associated with circumstances emerging as the result of the breakup of the Soviet Union and its unified system of management; The Baikonur Cosmodrome became the national territory of Kazakhstan and was declared to be its property, whereas none but Russia and, to a lesser degree, the Republic of Belarus, was able to provide the necessary scientific and technological potential and human resources. The EAEU states cooperate in the field of space exploration both on the multilateral and bilateral levels. The Commonwealth of Independent States serves as a central multilateral institution which laid the basis for the legal framework aimed at joint studies and space exploration efforts within the CIS and, later, the EAEU. But, even though there was a foundation for multilateral cooperation between the EAEU states, no actual cooperation was implemented on the multilateral level. This points to the fact that joint outer space exploration is hardly possible without any two-way communication between a number of the Eurasian Union member states (primarily, between Russia and Kazakhstan). © 2021, Univelt Inc. All rights reserved.