As a new part of the international law system, the international space law involves a body of laws governing the space-related activities, including a variety of international agreements, treaties, conventions, etc.. In recent years, the international space exploration activities have witnessed a new upsurge. However, the development of the international space law system is lagging behind, and the contradictions between them become increasingly prominent. This paper reviews the international space law system and the main legal principles related to the space science exploration, and analyzes the international law principles, the representative domestic laws and regulations and the implementation cases of the most representative international hot legal issues of the space science exploration in the various areas, such as the space debris mitigation, the space resource exploration and utilization, the planetary protection, the orbit/spectrum allocation, the nuclear power source in outer space and small satellites, to provide a reference for China's space scientific exploration activities.

space science exploration  /  international outer space law  /  Outer Space Treaty