In the 50 years of the Indian space programme, there has been no space law as yet, nor a dispute (except a certain high-profile one that went international). Yet in recent years, scores of law students, technologists and entrepreneurs connected with satellite technologies are specialising in international space law, brushing up the legal nuances of space activities and getting ready for what they anticipate will be an exciting niche career. Or to do safe business, when the space sector opens up fully.

The numbers may not denote a flood but at law schools across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata or Delhi, in recent years, there has been a growing interest in the stream at post-graduate and undergraduate levels, as a handful of professionals connected with space and law observe, citing a few trends.

Technology first

"Technology has always preceded legislation," says V.Balakista Reddy, Registrar and head of NALSAR's Centre for Air & Space Law, adding that while there have been no litigations in the country, the situation is changing. India has 30-odd bilateral Space agreements and the role of private industry is increasing, along with space commerce and services. Experts in the domain will be needed for securing the country's public and private assets related to satellite technologies.

He says, "Given the recent developments in the space law sector, many legal issues have come up that any space law professional will face, such as intellectual property rights for inventions made in outer space; impact of commercialisation, growing militarisation and weaponisation of outer space and an increasing use of dual use technologies."

TMT or technology, media and telecommunications are currently driving the realm for space law aspirants, according to Narayan Prasad, engineer and young co-founder of Bengaluru-based small satellites start-up Dhruva Space. Apart from a master's degree from the International Space University, Paris, Mr. Narayan Prasad has done a Master's course in space and telecom laws from NALSAR. He reasons that a formal legal education will give entrepreneurs like him an edge while dealing with commercial matters.

If yesteryear students studied outer space as a part of International Law, Dr. Reddy notes that today law schools commonly offer this sub-stream as an elective or as International Air and Space Law. Up to 40 students can take it up as an elective or as a seminar paper and over 100 can take it at the post-graduate levels. NALSAR also has seven Ph. Ds in the stream.

Kumar Abhijeet, Assistant Professor for space law at NLSIU, is pursuing a Ph.D in the subject under a Cologne professor. In his view, space law specialists will help to not only resolve disputes but rather to vet or draft agreements correctly and avert costly legal tangles.

Ten years back, Hyderabad's National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) started a full-fledged Centre for Air and Space Law with LLM and diploma courses.

Another premier institute, Bengaluru's National Law School of India University (NLSIU), has a space law teacher taking classes for steady batches of around 30 students for the past four years; while Kolkata's National Institute of Juridicial Sciences offers a distance course in space law. Many other law universities and colleges across the country are said to have added this subject in their courses.

Student interest in this stream started gaining over the last ten years in the country, according to Ranjana Kaul, Partner in Delhi-based law firm Dua Associates and well known in international space law and commerce circles.

Space in India is a government monopoly with no significant industry, commerce or economy. "Unlike in the West, there are not many opportunities in India [for Space Law] outside academics and research but in due course, they will open up," says Dr. Kaul, an LLM from the Institute of Air and Space Law at Canada's McGill University. For a few years, they must gain experience from firms and senior practitioners. Meanwhile, there is no dearth of downstream applications of space such as navigation, communication, satellite imageries and geographical information, all of which will warrant specialists, she says.

K.R.Sridhara Murthi, Vice-President, International Institute of Space Law which holds the international Moot Court contest, was formerly Managing Director of ISRO's marketing arm Antrix Corporation and also its erstwhile Scientific Secretary. Although the Indian space law scene has to still evolve to the levels of the US or Europe, in his view, the role of the private sector and entrepreneurs in space activities is increasing. This throws up demands for new ways of looking at issues of commerce and innovations in the field.

Beyond research and teaching as career prospects, young professionals in India will have to initially have to cut their teeth at established law firms. Yet, space law, which is eventually about matters on ground, enables them to connect things with a unique perspective, he says.

The Indian scene

* The Indian Space Research Organisation spends several hundred crores of budgetary money to build its satellites and ground assets. It does not have a proper legal department; it is said that often its scientists represent the department in legal matters.

* A view is that with space law expertise getting built within the country, government and future private space entities can one day avoid paying exorbitant fees - sometimes by the hour - to foreign legal experts. The $ 1-billion arbitration between ISRO's Antrix Corporation versus Devas Multimedia India P Ltd is cited by a few experts as one such case.

* The Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court contest is the gold standard among law students studying this stream. The finalists of the contest are judged by none other than the judges of the International Court of Justice.

Dr. Ranjana Kaul points out that students of NLSUI and Delhi's National Law University have won the world contest thrice since 2009 besides the Asia Pacific rounds, a sign of their global calibre.

* Across India, anywhere between 50 and 100 students may be currently doing a paper or course in space law, according to two professors.