Is anyone responsible for space debris?

Space is an area beyond national jurisdiction. Like the high seas, space is governed through international law. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty and four other international space treaties that followed set out a framework and key principles to guide responsible behaviour. The 1972 Liability Convention specifies a compensation regime that would apply in many circumstances of damage caused by space debris falling to Earth, as well as when satellites collide in space.

This legal regime imposes liability on ‘launching states’ for damage caused by their space objects, which includes an absolute liability regime when they crash to Earth as debris. The liability under international space law is therefore imposed on countries, even where the space object or debris that causes the damage is privately owned or operated. The Liability Convention has only been previously invoked once – for the Cosmos 954 incident of 1978 – and therefore may not be regarded as a powerful disincentive. However, it’s likely to come into play in the future in a more crowded space environment and with more uncontrolled re-entries. Of course, this legal framework applies only after the damage occurs.

In addition, there are other regulatory ‘rules of the road’ that deal with space governance agreed through the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including practical guidelines for debris mitigation and long-term sustainability of space activities. A globally coordinated space traffic management system will also be vital to avoid collisions that would result in loss of control of satellites, leaving them to tumble helplessly in orbit or fall back to Earth.

Steven Freeland, professor of international law at Western Sydney University, Australia