SPACE DEBRIS, ANOTHER ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE

Abstract

Space debris is defunct artificial objects in space which no longer serve a useful function (nonfunctional spacecraft and abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris, and particularly numerous in Earth orbit, fragmentation debris from the breakup of derelict rocket bodies and spacecraft; solidified liquids expelled from spacecraft, and unburned particles from solid rocket motors) and represents a risk to spacecraft and also for the Earth. Collisions with debris have become a hazard to spacecraft; the smallest objects cause damage especially to solar panels and optics like telescopes or star trackers that cannot easily be protected by a ballistic shield. It is theorized that a sufficiently large collision of spacecraft could potentially lead to a cascade effect or even make some particular low Earth orbits effectively unusable for long term use by orbiting satellites, a phenomenon known as the „Kessler Syndrome”. The accumulation of space debris has become an irreversible process since and it is a fact that the space debris began to accumulate in Earth orbit immediately with the first launch of an artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit, in October 1957. Even there is no international treaty minimizing space debris, limiting the amount of space debris, by all possible means, it is now a duty, with the basic provisions in the existing international space law, particularly in the Outer Space Treaty (1967) and the Liability Convention (1972).

Keywords

• space debris
• space objects
• international space law
• outer space treaty
• liability convention
• absolute liability
• fault-based liability
• kessler syndrome