Private international law (conflict of law rules) for human presence of long term in the space

The conflict of law issues with regard to space activities has been relatively underexplored. At first sight, it appears that the provision in the Outer Space Treaty that provides for the exercise of "jurisdiction and control" by the state on whose registry the space object is carried solves the problem easily. However, a closer look at a few hypothetical cases reveal that the issue is not so simple, and that the application of the law of the state of registry does not always read to a reasonable result. Therefore, a more careful examination is necessary, referring to the general principles of conflict of laws, as well as the existent discussions on the conflict of laws with regard to the activities on or over the High Seas (namely the maritime and aviation cases of conflict of laws), with due regard to the space law rules generated by, in particular, the United Nations space law treaties.