Forty Years of the Rescue Agreement- How Relevant Today?
- Paper number
IAC-08.E8.2.1
- Author
Ms. Debarupa Agarwala, Simmons & Simmons, United Kingdom
- Year
2008
- Abstract
With space activities witnessing increasing human deployment in outer space missions in the last few years, ensuring the safety of all such personnel is of paramount importance to space faring and non-space faring nations alike. This is where the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space, popularly referred to as the Rescue Agreement, assumes great significance. In its fortieth year now, this Agreement was considered and negotiated by the United Nations Legal Subcommittee from 1962 to 1967. Consensus agreement was reached in the General Assembly in 1967 and the Agreement finally entered into force in December 1968. Building upon the elements of articles V and VIII of the Outer Space Treaty, 1967, the Agreement provides that States shall take all possible steps to rescue and assist astronauts in distress and promptly return them to the launching State, and that States shall, upon request, provide assistance to launching States in recovering space objects that return to Earth outside the territory of the Launching State. As of January 1 2008, 90 States have ratified, 24 have signed the Rescue Agreement and two international intergovernmental organizations (the European Space Agency and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) have declared their acceptance of the rights and obligations provided for in this Agreement. Though appearing to be clear and comprehensive, the Agreement, however, suffers from serious flaws of being too vague and out of date. No doubt, the extension of international law to outer space has been gradual and evolutionary and incorporating such principles of law in general multilateral treaties is in itself a laudable exercise. But such laws must also adapt themselves to the changing space environment if they are to be of any use. This paper will analyse the articles of the Rescue Agreement and Outer Space Treaty and seeks to examine the relevance of the Rescue Agreement to the present day space scenario. It will attempt to identify various legal and policy issues arising in the context of contemporary space activities which hamper the effectiveness of the Rescue Agreement. As a solution, a comprehensive revision of the Rescue Agreement is suggested to make it relevant to the present day international space environment.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
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