| In recent years, with the rapid development of human activities in space, the space application develops greatly. Space activity has its own particularity and difficulty, such as high risk, high investment and high technology, which make the cooperation in outer space inevitable. At the same time, international space cooperation is one of the international legal principles. Space regional cooperation is an important form of international space cooperation, and also an effective channel which strengthens regional technological communication.The large population and dynamic economy in Asia-pacific area entail an urgent demand of space technology. In addition, the big gap and mutual needs in space power among the major countries in Asia-pacific area provide a good opportunity for regional space cooperation. From the beginning of the 20th century, with the establishment and operation of various regional space cooperation model, the space cooperation in the Asia-pacific region ushers in a new stage. At present, the major space cooperation frameworks in Asia-pacific area include APSCO, APRSAF, CSSTEAP and so on. In recent years, these cooperation mechanisms develop rapidly, which has largely promoted the space cooperation and exchanges in this region. However, with the increasing international space cooperation and the development of space technology in this region, the cooperation mechanism needs to be reinforced. The obvious sub-regional characteristics, the large disparity between the legal structures, the disconnected cooperative mechanisms, and the incomplete legal model, all these factors joint to attract the attention of academia and practical circles.This paper adopts literature analysis and comparis on analysis methods to analyze the space cooperation mechanisms and their legal frameworks of several major countries in Asia-pacific area, with special focus on the necessity and feasibility of deepening space cooperation from the angle of law. With an analysis of APSCO which has independent legal personality and APRSAF featured by informal forums, it probes into the necessity of cooperation from the perspectives of the development history, the legal structures, and the overall legal model. This paper provides some suggestions for the space cooperation mechanism under the new situation, which may help to extend and strengthen the multi-lateral cooperation in the development and application of space activities of Asia-pacific countries and point out a new road for sustainable development of space cooperation in Asia-pacific area. |
