GLOBALISATION AND PRIVATISATION OF THE SPACE LAUNCH SECTOR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON THE RESCUE AGREEMENT

Paper number

IAC-08.E8.2.7

Author

Mr. Ricky Lee, PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal, Australia

Year

2008

Abstract

Since the beginning of the space age, one of the concerns of the spacefaring States has been the legal status of astronauts and returned space objects as well as the corresponding obligations that ought to be imposed on States as to their treatment and return.

As early as 1963, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the principle that astronauts are to be regarded as envoys of all mankind and all States are thus obliged to render all reasonable assistance to astronauts in distress and are to return them to their State of national origin.  This was then adopted as Article V of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

The 1968 Rescue Agreement served to broaden the obligations of States in relation to the rescue, recovery and return of astronauts and to extend some of these obligations to the recovery and return of space objects.  These obligations vary in specificity and scope but one clearly formulated and adopted in an environment in which the governmental agencies or military establishments of States are the exclusive actors in manned space exploration and launch activities.

Forty years later, the foundations on which the Rescue Agreement was built are no longer secure.  Private concerns, particularly multinational firms, have been involved in the provision of commercial launch services for some time and are now forming a substantial segment of the commercial launch services market.  Further, the Ansari X Prize and the creation of space tourism ventures are eroding away what is left of the governmental monopoly on space activities.

This paper sketches the operative provisions of the 1968 Rescue Agreement and analyses the problems posed by the globalisation and privatisation of the launch sector and concludes by making some observations and suggestions for the adoption and reform of the relevant legal principles to adapt better to space activities in the next forty years.

Abstract document

IAC-08.E8.2.7.pdf

Manuscript document

(absent)