Ascesa e declino del corpus iuris spatialis. Un itinerario di filosofia del diritto internazionale.

The so-called Space Race required massive scientific and economic efforts. No less significant, however, was the direct commitment to develop the rules for the exploration of outer space: it was indeed necessary to deal with the strongly polarized international context of the Cold War. Yet, despite these obstacles, in 1967 the Outer Space Treaty was signed, which, inspired by irenic and solidarist principles, has been the core of the corpus iuris spatialis. Today, however, the image of an outer space understood as the common heritage of mankind is in danger of fading away. On the one hand, there is increasing support for the commercial exploitation of space resources. On the other hand, the programmes for the militarization of outer space have accelerated dramatically. The response to these challenges can only consist in forming a new nomos capable of containing the drive towards nihilism.