The Fortieth Anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty – Is it Time to Look More Closely at Private Enterprise?
- Paper number
IAC-07-E6.2.03
- Author
Prof. Steven Freeland, Australia
- Coauthor
Ms. Donna Lawler, Australia
- Year
2007
- Abstract
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the other international space treaties were drafted at a time when the current level of participation of private operators in space could not have been contemplated. The treaties are principally based on the notion of State operated and controlled space activities. Yet, forty years on, private operators now make a significant contribution to the development and utilisation of space in ways that benefit humankind, particularly by providing telecommunications and broadcasting services for millions of people worldwide. By way of contrast, States are often more likely to invest in space applications that further their national military and scientific goals, without necessarily providing benefits to humanity as a whole. In many ways, therefore, it is now the private operators that are fulfilling some of the loftier aims of the Outer Space Treaties, notwithstanding their overtly commercial aims. Yet, the extent to which private operators in the inherently risky field of space activity can be protected against legal claims is limited in many jurisdictions, potentially jeopardising their ability to survive the irrecoverable failure of a commercial satellite. This paper will examine the risks, from the perspective of the private operator, associated with the increasing potential for legal liability in the course of space activities and will consider whether it is now appropriate to develop a new space treaty facilitating the limitation of liability for private commercial operators in space.
- Abstract document