Watney says this means that space falls under maritime law, which is not entirely correct, but it is an easy way to translate to a non-legal public which means that no state can claim sovereignty over any natural object in space. Many people have a basic understanding that the high seas don't belong to anyone. Just because the United States planted its flag on the moon in 1969 does not mean that it has the right to the lunar land. If the victim of a crime committed on the ISS was a citizen of a different friendly nation, and if the United States did not guarantee that it would prosecute the perpetrator, the criminal law of that other nation would apply.
At Caltech, in 1942, Theodore von Kármán and other rocket scientists joined together to form the Aerojet rocket company with the help of lawyer Andrew G.
Space law
also covers national laws, and many countries have passed national space legislation in recent years. With regard to “international waters”, as mentioned above, maritime law does not supplement the Outer Space Treaty or any other part of international space law, whether based on a treaty or custom. At the beginning of the development of international space law, outer space was framed as res communis and not explicitly as terra nullius in the Magna Carta of Space presented by William A.Therefore, to encompass the totality of all laws, regulations, customs, contracts, etc. and related literature a guide is needed for activities in outer space. International law allows countries to assert their jurisdiction outside their territory in several ways, including through the principle of nationality, which covers crimes committed by citizens of a country outside its borders, and the principle of universality, which allows countries to prosecute anyone for crimes serious violations of international law, such as piracy. Taking the time to identify and address errors in space law isn't just about addressing a nuisance; it's about correcting misconceptions about space law so that they're not accepted as fact.
In space law, ethics extends to topics related to space exploration, space tourism, space ownership, the militarization of space, the protection of the environment and the distinction of the boundaries of space itself. The treaty was the founding body of space law and has inspired several other international conventions and agreements. Nowadays it has become a difficult task to know and access the enormous amount of legal texts available, and to have a clear, complete and concrete understanding and definition of space law. More to the point, Watney's statement that American law applies to him when he is in the Hab and in the rover is only partially correct.
The reason for space laws is not only to facilitate access to and use of space, but to favor cooperation between all nations, not just between space powers. More and more States are parties to these treaties, negotiating cooperation agreements based on their provisions and enacting national space laws. Thus, when Watney transits between the Hab and the rover and vice versa, he is exercising his right of free passage under customary international law without creating any claim to territorial sovereignty of the surface he has crossed. There is also a possibility that if the crime took place in the space station section of a friendly country, its criminal law would apply.
