Books and e-books

IISL continuously works to publish outstanding books for our members. Often these are authored by one or more of our members and edited by IISL. Whenever possible, we make our books available as e-books too to ensure global reach for all our members.

See below our collection of books published by IISL in chronological order.

Pioneers of Space Law: Vladimir Mandl (1899-1941)

Herein is an extraordinary explication of the needs for and the substance of space law that would be required in due course, prepared in 1931-1932. Vladimir Mandl was an unparalleled visionary who was a quarter of a century ahead of the first orbiting of an artificial satellite. His effort was balked at by publishers in Czechoslovakia as 'science fiction'.

He persisted and found publication in Germany, where work was in progress on the serious development of rocketry. The original text of Das Weltraumrecht: Ein Problem der Raumfahrt in German is joined herein with a biographical sketch of Mandl, and a complete translation of the original monograph in English. This is unquestionably the world's first published work surveying the broad and complex field of space law.

Stephen E. Doyle: In the late 1950's and early 1960's Steve studied at Boston College, the University of Massachusetts, Duke Law School, and McGill University's Institute for Air and Space Law. For more than four decades he worked closely with government officials, aerospace industry experts, and with national and international space policy makers from every part of the world to help formulate many existing space laws and policies. His excveptional experience and vision enable him to contribute significantly to continuing development of space law and policy.

Six Decades of Space Law and its Development(s) - 1960-2020

The IISL published a book celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Institute. "The International Institute of Space Law: Six Decades of Space Law and its Development(s) (1960 - 2020)" was edited by Prof. Stephan Hobe and includes a wealth of information on the history of the IISL and its contribution to the development of space law globally.

30 Years of IAA/IISL Scientific-Legal Roundtables

This publication from 2016 provides a look back at the 30 IAA/IISL Scientific-Legal Roundtables at the International Astronautical Congresses starting with the first one in 1977 up to 2015. The Scientific-Legal Roundtables highlight the importance of interdisciplinary work in the field of space and constitute a steady basis for a high-quality and well-attended exchange at each International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

This publication is an update of the publication five years earlier ("25 Years of IAA/IISL Scientific-Legal Roundtables"). New topics were addressed, such as Space Debris Remediation, Optical Communications, Space and the Polar Regions, Preventing Abuse of Satellite Data, and Universities as Actors in Space.

International Geophysical Year (IGY) Report

The IISL together with its partners IAF and IAA has produced this report on the International Geophysical Year, published in 2012. The IGY was a global co-operation for the scientific study of various geophysical aspects and phenomena of the Earth and near-earth space. The programme included numerous disciplines collecting data in world-wide co-operation during the period from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. A limited group of countries agreed to an extended programme of related data collection through 31 December 1959, which extension was known primarily in the US as the International Geophysical Cooperation 1959, or IGC-59.

New Perspectives on Space Law

New Perspectives on Space Law (Mark J. Sundahl & V. Gopalakrishnan, eds. 2011). This is the first e-book published by the IISL and contains the papers of the participants in the Young Scholars Session of the 53rd Annual Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space held in 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic.

The Law of Outer Space, An Experience in Contemporary Law Making

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the International Institute of Space Law, the IISL republished "The Law of Outer Space, An Experience in Contemporary Law Making" by ICJ Judge Manfred Lachs. The new edition was edited by Prof. Tanja Masson-Zwaan and Prof. Stephan Hobe and published by Nijhoff/Brill in 2010. More information is available in the brochure below and the book can be purchased with the publisher.

The IISL - A Brief History

International Institute of Space Law of the International Astronautical Federation – A Brief History (1958-1982) by E. Pépin, Honorary President, 1982 (AIAA). The book has been republished by the IISL in e-book format in 2013.

Proceedings of the Colloquia on the Law of Outer Space

Each IISL Proceedings issue contains selected papers that have been accepted for the Colloquium concerned, as well as reports of the Standing Committee on the Status of International Agreements Relating to Activities in Outer Space, the IISL/AIAA Scientific-Legal Roundtable Programmes, the IISL Space Law programme presented to the Legal Subcommittee’s Delegates and staff, and the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition.

An overview of the Proceedings is available on our Proceedings page, see here.

The IISL has also produced a Colloquium session topics overview report (2016-1991).

To purchase the bound proceedings for the Colloquia on the Law of Outer Space from 1992 to 2010, please click here to view a list of  proceedings available from AIAA. All IISL members may purchase these proceedings at the AIAA member price.

Since 2011, the Proceedings of IISL Colloquia are published annually by Eleven International Publishing, under contract with the Institute. An IISL members’ 40% discount is available for proceedings bought from Eleven. The Proceedings can be purchased at Eleven's Webshop here.

Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition - The First 25 Years

This book celebrates 25 years of the Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition of the International Institute of Space Law. It contains information grouped by year, including summaries of the Problems, names of participating schools, winners, runners up, best memorial and best oralist winners and more. There are numerous photos showing the hard work of students, judges and organisers, as well as the Judges of the International Court of Justice who have honoured us with their presence through all these years. There are testimonials from numerous students, judges and sponsors of the competition that demonstrate the impact this competition has had on their life and work.