Astroscale UK, the UK subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings that develops commercial services to remove space debris, commented on the announcement: Although these three UN treaties address some of the issues raised by the presence of orbital debris, many other debris issues are not addressed. For example, the treaties do not address the potential need for measures to reduce the formation of new debris. (The only reference that might be applicable is article IX of the Outer Space Treaty, which calls for “consultations” if member States believe that activities or experiments would cause potentially harmful interference with other space activities.) In addition, some of the issues raised in the treaties are difficult to apply to rubble. For example, the Liability Convention assigns responsibility on the basis of ownership of the objects in question, but the origin of the vast majority of debris that is not catalogued cannot be determined. Even where treaties are applicable to debris issues, interpretation is often difficult because the legal definitions of “space debris” and “space objects” are not entirely clear. Article 5 provides: “Any Party that receives or discovers information that a space object or its components has returned to Earth in the territory under its jurisdiction or on the high seas or in any other place not under the jurisdiction of a State shall inform the launching authority and the Secretary-General of the United Nations. 2. Each Contracting Party responsible for the territory in which a space object or its components has been discovered shall, at the request of the launching authority and upon request with the assistance of that authority, take such measures as it deems possible to recover the object or components. 3. At the request of the launching authority, space-drawn objects or their components outside the territorial limits of the launching authority shall be returned to the launching authority or kept at their disposal by representatives of the launching authority who, upon request, shall provide identification data prior to their return. »; Committee on Safety, Rescue and Quality and was reviewed by this Committee and by members of other committees of the IAA and the International Institute of Space Law before being approved by the IAA Board of Directors and published in Acta Astronautica. The position paper provides a brief technical discussion of the current and future debris situation and proposes a series of debris control measures organized by priority. Following an international group of debris experts, this paper could influence future regulations for orbital debris.
About twenty-four percent of the objects catalogued are satellites (less than a third of which are in service), and about eighteen percent are upper floors and mission-related objects such as launch adapters and lens covers. Since 1961, more than two hundred and ninety fragmentation events have been recorded in orbit. Few were collisions (less than ten random and deliberate events); the majority of the events were explosions of spacecraft and upper floors. In the past, international space laws were established under the auspices of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). To date, three treaties of potential relevance to orbital debris have entered into force: of course, a State is also free to choose whether it considers it to be non-functional and removes its own space objects. But given the potentially gigantic international legal liability and liability for damage, why would it do so when something goes wrong in the application of a very new and dangerous removal technology when there is no legally enforceable obligation? As many in the field of international space law have requested, comfort in this mystery and other problems related to space debris can be sought in part in the introduction of some sort of legal criterion of non-functionality in space law to distinguish valuable space objects from simple debris. Several random collisions or conjunctions in space have been identified, but the Iridium/Cosmos collision was the first involving two intact satellites; one is an operational satellite. It has also probably contributed more than any other collision to public awareness of the issue of space debris and has stimulated media attention.
It should be recalled that a space object that causes damage entails international liability under the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects (which entered into force in September 1972). Article I(d) provides that `the term space object shall include the components of a space object and its launcher and parts thereof`. Article II goes on to state: “A launching State is absolutely obliged to pay compensation for damage caused by its space object on the surface of the Earth or by an aircraft in flight.” However, this definition, however intuitive, cannot be easily interpreted as an international legal definition. Existing space rights treaties simply do not mention “space debris” anywhere. The most closely related, applicable and rather vague term in treaties is “space object”. Treaties apply this term to any object placed in outer space to determine important legal consequences. B, for example, which State has exclusive jurisdiction and control over the object, which State may register the object or which States are responsible for damage caused by the object in outer space or on Earth. Number of debris objects regularly tracked, tracked, catalogued and identified by the United States Space Surveillance Network (artificial objects orbiting the Earth) and preserved in its catalogue: about twenty-two thousand three hundred. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has paid particular attention to the issue of the prevention and minimization of the generation of space debris. Each year, States and organizations exchange information on their research on space debris within the Subcommittee on Science and Technology of the Committee. An important outcome of those discussions was a set of guidelines for the containment of space debris, which were approved by the General Assembly in 2007. In addition to scientific research, the national and international legal aspects of space debris mitigation measures are discussed in the Legal Subcommittee.
To support their discussions, UNOOSA has prepared a compendium of space debris mitigation standards, which will be made available to the public on the UNOOSA website at the request of States. The sustainable future of human activities in space, whether in exploration, communication, observation, broadcasting or navigation, and the growing applications of such activities on Earth require it – we must all avoid the Kessler effect. Even if we don`t put anything else into orbit, the “Kessler effect” remains a risk that can make space activities impossible for several decades. Could we use the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects (which entered into force on 1 September 1972) if space debris were to strike and damage a functioning satellite? Could we comply with the Convention on the Registration of Objects Projected in Outer Space (which entered into force on 15 September). September 1976) to track space debris and launching States that still have jurisdiction and control over space debris (objects)? What is the legal status of space debris? Once the target object is captured, the ClearSpace-1 spacecraft will drag itself and its payload into a destructive orbit to burn in the atmosphere. The trust, knowledge and experience gained can then be used, with global support, in more effective international legal instruments on space debris and active debris disposal. .