This lecture examines the process of space law as it has developed in the past, and takes a perspective on how it stands to develop over the next seventy years. With much written about commercial space and the increased presence of space in the modern media, space has become closer to the people. It delivers indispensable means for communication, navigation and timing services, and important public services such as weather forecasting. It is also a horizon that is open to further scientific research and exploration. This talk highlights some of the future challenges already under discussion today, such as resources mining, space traffic management, and longer-term missions. It examines these within the light of the legal parameters applicable to commercial space, in the framework of general international law, taking into consideration the former experiences in the law of the High Sea and Antarctica.