After a few days of worry, the story of the Long March ended without complications, but if the rocket had fallen on the mainland, who would have paid the damages?
Eventually that 25-ton piece of Chinese rocket the size of a blue whale was largely destroyed by passing through the atmosphere: the little that was left ended up in the Indian Ocean, not far from the Maldives Islands. No damage to people or things. The central body of the Long March 5B rocket crashed “in an uncontrolled way” which last April 29 was launched from the spaceport of Hainan (China) to bring the central module of the new Chinese space station into orbit Tianhe ( harmony of the skies ) . Mission accomplished, but the central body of the rocket, about 30 meters long, lost control and so it crashed without being able to direct it where it certainly would not have done damage.
Luck (and to some extent the fact that abundant 70% of the planet is covered with water) has come to the aid: both in this case and in others, the chances that a debris will hit a house or a person they are remote. But what could happen if that case were to happen, possibly causing serious damage? Space lawyers have no doubts: tackling the problem would be very complicated . Let’s try to understand why.
1: IS SPACE JUNK ILLEGAL?
Technically not. There is no law that prohibits rocket pieces from crashing to the earth’s surface, however there are rules that allow you to determine who is responsible if a debris causes damage to property or people. According to Christopher Johnson, Secure World Foundation’s legal advisor for “space affairs”, there is an international treaty and convention that can be referenced: the Outer Space Treaty (of 1967) and the Space Liability Convention (of 1972).
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The former defines what one is legally allowed to do in Space, while the latter defines who is responsible for the space objects that cause damage. “However,” Johnson explains, “liability for damages does not mean that a state has somehow broken the law, it simply means that it is liable for the resulting damage and that there is a binding obligation to pay compensation for that damage.” In short, it’s like saying “it was you and now you should pay the damages”.
Many countries, including the United States, much of Europe and China, have accepted the terms of the Space Liability Convention: this means that if the fall of that piece of the Long March rocket had caused damage in one of the signatory countries of the Convention, that nation could have claimed damages from China. It’s all theoretical, though: in reality it’s not that simple. Invoking the Convention is a political decision as well as a legal one. Indeed, says Michael Listner, founder of Space Law & Policy Solutions , “if a space debris were to create a large smoking crater somewhere and cause a lot of damage, it is not so automatic that that country appeals to the Convention: if politically it were better not to do it, nothing would be done .
2: HAS ANYONE EVER USED THE LIABILITY CONVENTION?
Yes, it happened only once: in 1978 there-entrySoviet military satellite Cosmos 954 lost the nuclear reactor that powered the on-board instruments – which crashed in the territories of northwestern Canada, contaminating a large area. The Canadian government decided to use the Convention and ask for damages to the USSR: initially the Soviets denied any responsibility, but faced with the reality of the facts they agreed to pay compensation of 6 million Canadian dollars “ not as a legal obligation but as a kind concession. “. However, it is unclear whether the full amount was ever paid.
3: IF SPACE DEBRIS CRASHES INTO MY HOUSE, CAN I CLAIM DAMAGES?
No, unfortunately it cannot. The country must invoke the Convention and manage the negotiations, and the various countries have different rules on how to manage damage to individuals caused by space debris. In the United States, if a government-owned rocket crashed into someone’s living room, the homeowner could theoretically sue the government under the Federal Torts Claim Act (FTCA), a rather complex legal instrument that allows a private citizen to take legal action against the government. In Italy the best way would be to open, with your own insurance (if you have one), a procedure against damage caused by third parties.
4: WHAT NOW?
Nothing now. Another rocket crashed, as did dozens of others, and nothing suggests that there is a willingness to tackle the issue. Not even now that the Space is open to space companies : which company could face or even survive a lawsuit for a multimillion-dollar compensation?
