Research On Legal Issues And Countermeasures For Active Space Debris Removal

Space exploration activities originated from the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1860 s.In recent years,with the rise of commercial aerospace,the actors involved in space activities have gradually diversified,and the frequency and scale of space activities have continued to increase.For example,the rise of Space X,the American space technology service company,is a symbol.With the massive launch of commercial satellites,private entities have become new participants in space,operating satellites that have surpassed government led outer space activities.The accelerated growth of commercial activities in outer space and the influx of new space participants have had a negative impact on the long-term sustainable development of outer space,including overcrowded satellite orbits,interference with radio frequencies,and a significant increase in space debris.The exponential growth of space debris not only occupies precious resources in low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit,pollutes the outer space environment,affects the normal operation of satellites,but also hinders the peaceful use and exploration of outer space,affects the common space interests of all countries,and even poses a threat to human life safety and the environment on Earth.At present,space debris management includes measures for space debris mitigation and proactive clearance.Due to the lack of specific regulatory measures,space debris mitigation measures have not been effective in international practice and have not slowed down the increase of space debris.The active removal of space debris using space technology to directly salvage space debris from the outer space is the most effective way to manage the outer space environment.Unfortunately,the active removal of space debris has not received much attention from the academic community,and there is relatively little literature research on active removal of space debris.The active clearance of space debris,as an effective way of space debris governance,involves legal issues and mechanism construction that should be properly addressed in outer space security governance.Therefore,international regulations on active clearance of space debris are still worthy of detailed discussion.In view of this,this article will focus on the issue of active clearance of space debris,analyze the existing space legal framework,systematically analyze the deficiencies of the existing legal system in space debris governance rules,and propose corresponding suggestions.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this article is divided into seven chapters,mainly including: the existing legal framework and legal obstacles for active space debris removal;The ownership issues faced by active clearance of space debris;Analysis of the rights and obligations of active clearance of space debris;The issue of liability for damage caused by active clearance of space debris;Improve the application of hard methods in active space debris removal;Design of rules for active clearance of space debris using the soft method;China’s plan for active clearance of space debris.Chapter One deals with existing Legal Framework and Legal Obstacles for Active Clearance of Space Debris.The operational space debris not only pollutes the outer space environment and affects the long-term sustainable development of outer space,but also poses a threat to satellites and the International Space Station in outer space.In addition,space debris will occupy valuable orbital resources and hinder other countries from exercising their right to use orbit.At present,the lack of regulation and governance of space debris in international space law has led to an increase in the number of space debris,rather than a decrease.Through in-depth interpretation of the provisions in the three major treaties on outer space,it can be seen that all binding international space law rules are too vague.The existing international space regulations do not have provisions for active clearance of space debris,and the ambiguity of their rules cannot play a role in space debris governance and cannot be applied to solving space debris problems.Although the Inter Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee and the United Nations have established space debris mitigation rules,the number of space debris has only increased and not decreased.The internal reasons for this are due to the legal status of the global public domain in outer space,the emergence of emerging space participants,differences in responsibility during the proactive clearance process,militarization of outer space,and sensitive information issues.Chapter Two deals with the ownership issues faced by the active removal of space debris.The most concerning issue for countries in the process of actively clearing space debris is ownership,which may infringe on the sovereignty of other countries.The issue of ownership of space debris has always hindered countries from carrying out clearance activities.This section starts with the legal status of space debris,analyzes the legal relationship between space debris and space objects,and obtains the ownership of identifiable and unidentifiable space debris.Therefore,it is necessary to distinguish space debris.For space debris that can be identified as originating from a country,according to the interpretation of subsequent United Nations documents in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties,it can be regarded as an integral part of space objects,and the state supervises and manages its space debris.For unidentifiable space debris,referring to the provisions of international maritime law on ship wreckage,it is considered abandoned.Chapter Three analyzes the rights and obligations of the active removal of space debris.Despite various obstacles in the process of space debris governance,the international community still needs to take the initiative to remove space debris.Firstly,starting from the subject of rights and obligations,determine the active removal subject of space debris.For identifiable space debris,the registration country is the active removal subject of space debris.For unidentified space debris,countries with the ability to remove such space debris can carry out active removal.Although active clearance of space debris is not explicitly defined,the legal basis for clearance can still be found in general international law.According to the constituent elements of customary international law,the peaceful and beneficial use of outer space has become customary international law,and countries have an obligation not to hinder the peaceful use of outer space by other countries.According to general international law,countries have a clear obligation to ensure that space activities from their jurisdiction do not harm the celestial environment.Based on the above obligations,if another country violates these two principles,it shall bear national responsibility.In this case,the clearing party may have the right to clear identifiable space debris based on its jurisdiction over its own space debris,the consent of other countries,and the act of abandonment.It may also clear unidentifiable space debris for the common benefit of outer space and in emergency situations.Chapter Four deals with the liability for damage caused by the active removal of space debris.To explore the issue of liability for damage caused by space debris during the active clearance process,the primary task is to clarify a fundamental and fundamental issue,namely the damage liability system in outer space law.Therefore,this chapter analyzes the problems existing in the liability for damage caused by space debris and concludes that there are still difficulties in determining and identifying the responsibility for damage caused by space debris when the launching country is still responsible The issue of unclear criteria for determining fault liability has always been a concern in the theoretical community.This chapter starts with defining the relationship between the liability clauses of the Outer Space Treaty and the Liability Convention,the scope of compensation for damages,and the subject of claims,in order to provide a preliminary solution for addressing the damage caused by the active clearance process of space debris.Chapter Five studies the application and improvement of hard laws in the active removal of space debris.As the hard laws in outer space governance,laws such as the Outer Space Law,the Liability Convention and the Registration Convention are also the principles of outer space governance.The most primitive and fundamental means should continue to be practiced and implemented,and it is necessary to revise the hard law so that it can be better applied to the new field of outer space.Therefore,on the basis of inheriting the first chapter,this chapter proposes targeted amendments to the treaties in the international space law framework.It then discusses the current international legal regime of international environmental law to determine its applicability and effectiveness in addressing environmental threats from outer space.Due to the limitations of the current international space law in solving the problem of space debris,the governance of space debris turns to the principles of international environmental law to seek the governance solutions that the principles of international environmental law can provide.The general principles of international environmental law apply to all activities in all countries and to all types of environmental problems.Chapter Six is about the rule design of soft law in the active removal of space debris.This chapter first analyzes the legal attributes and advantages of soft law,and outlines the development process of international space law soft law.Therefore,it can be concluded that soft law in space activities is a rule formulated by common interest subjects,with flexibility,corresponding to the new needs of outer space,and limited to coordinating international relations in space activities.At present,soft law has played an increasingly important role in outer space law,such as the adoption of multiple resolutions,guidelines,codes of conduct,principles or frameworks by the United Nations General Assembly.Soft law is the key to solving new security issues brought about by the globalization of outer space.Then,the new developments in outer space activities have a strong demand for the formulation of soft laws.The globalization of outer space has brought new security issues,and the existing hard laws related to outer space activities and security were formulated during the Cold War,no longer providing sufficient legal systems to address new security issues.In order to address these issues in the legal system of outer space,it is necessary to update the legal system of outer space with the help of outer space soft law.Because the soft law of outer space has had a beneficial impact on the development of new space activities,it helps to promote relationships among space actors at the international level and may ultimately contribute to the emergence of new regulations to manage outer space activities.Therefore,the application of soft law in outer space is a temporary and positive approach,which to some extent helps to fill the gaps in outer space treaties.Due to the impossibility of establishing an international treaty on active space debris removal in a short period of time,the use of outer space soft law for active space debris removal is a more practical approach.Its specific soft law rules are guided by the concept of a community with a shared future in outer space,and then actively use space debris mitigation platforms to build an active space debris removal soft law system,and reasonably utilize the content of the system to define active space debris removal,Then continue to promote to hard methods.Chapter Seven discusses China’s program for active removal of space debris.The traditional rules of international cooperation are based on the dominance of hegemonic countries and cannot guarantee the fairness of the distribution of international interests.Hegemonic countries conduct international cooperation with weak and small countries in order to maximize their own interests,enjoy the benefits brought by international cooperation,pursue the maximization of their own interests,and ignore the demands and interests of non-developing countries.Therefore,the traditional rules of international cooperation are incapable of dealing with global issues,such as climate warming,artificial intelligence weapons,and outer space environment governance.In this context,General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in the report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in2017,“ China will hold high the banner of peace,development,cooperation,and win-win results,abide by the foreign policy purpose of maintaining world peace and promoting common development,and unswervingly Develop friendly cooperation with other countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence,and promote the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect,fairness,justice,and win-win cooperation." The community of shared future for mankind proposes to build a new type of international relations based on win-win cooperation,which breaks through the traditional international relations.Cooperation rules,and further extend and develop the connotation of international cooperation.The concept of win-win cooperation has rich legal and practical foundations.It is a Chinese solution proposed by China to deal with global problems.It pays attention to the overall interests of the international community while focusing on its own interests,and responds to the international needs of developing countries.Win-win cooperation is of great value in addressing the long-term sustainable development of outer space,and plays an important role in the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its sustainable development goals and targets.Multilevel cooperation between countries and regions.Stronger international cooperation also requires the participation of experts from all walks of life.Therefore,it is easier for the international community to choose an international system of outer space governance dominated by "government + commercial entity" public-private cooperation.Therefore,in the process of building a rule system for the long-term sustainable development of outer space,cooperation should be carried out with international institutions,countries,and private commercial entities guided by the concept of win-win cooperation,actively promoting the realization of a community with a shared future in outer space,and conducting multi-level cooperation with the main line of space traffic management rules and space debris tracking and cataloging,And draw on China’s Implementation Opinions on Promoting Third Party Governance of Environmental Pollution to address responsibility issues,use international commercial arbitration to resolve disputes during the proactive clearance process,while taking into account the needs and interests of developing countries,and achieve a win-win situation for the rational,balanced,efficient,economical,and equitable use of outer space.