Rapp, LucienORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8927-3472 (2025) The Spationary: a dictionary of essential space terminology for lawyers. [Scientific Work Coordination]

Abstract

Words have a meaning for everyone, and particularly for lawyers, whether academics or practitioners, whether they are still learning the law or have real experience in handling texts and case law. Space law, a technical discipline, based on a whole substratum of technical knowledge, should not escape this rule of usage.
Yet none of the five treaties that form the basis of the international corpus juris spatialis contains any defined terms. In the absence of a thesaurus of universally applicable defined terms, it is left to national laws, commercial contracts and the authors of books, articles and scientific papers to define the terms they use.
This book enables readers to find, in a few moments, terms that they can use immediately or reprocess for the drafting of a legal text, a ruling, a contract or a scientific paper. For each of the 218 terms identified, a simple definition and a few additional elements are proposed. Where possible, entries also include examples, jurisprudence and doctrine. The purpose of this space dictionary is to be leafed through as needed to perfect the reader's knowledge. It will be updated regularly.
The Spationary is an invaluable resource, providing answers to simple queries; a simple, rapid and highly operational introduction to the international corpus juris spatialis; and an element of playfulness, because it is often through playful engagement with words and their definitions that a reader who may feel like an outsider can move into a universe or a scientific discipline.