The international space soft law and its roles in international space governance

With the development of space activities, international space soft law will play more and more important roles in global space governance. It is important for international community to define and identify the international space soft law, to study its roles in space governance. The paper includes three parts. Based on the analysis of some theories on the definition on international space soft law, the first part will give a definition on international space soft law. It will provide a theory standards to identify the international space soft law. The second part will summarize the evolution of the development of international space soft law in the past 60 years. This part will focus on the studies on the interaction betwween the international space treaties and international space soft law. The third part will analyse how the international space soft law regulated and promoted space activities in the past 60 years. This part will explore the potential value and roles of international space soft law in the future global space governance.