A Discussion Of The Space Debris Problems From The International Law Perspectives

Since the dawn of the Space Age, Earth orbit has become a highlyutilized environment. In the last half century, various satellites,rockets and space stations have been sent into the space, which havebrought great conveniences to human-beings. However, the heavy trafficof man-made satellites has led to a large quantity of debris in orbitthat detracts from the value that Earth orbit provides mankind.All existed outer space treaties are made during the1970s and1980s.All these treaties are limited to principle provisions about the outerspace, or ambiguous regulations without any practicability, or outdatedrules that cannot provide efficient solutions to alleviate the spacedebris problem. Besides, several solutions have been proposed by somecountries and international organizations to alleviate the space debrisproblem, but this solutions and regulations lack constraining functionwhich failed to be obeyed. Some basic issues such as the definition ofthe space debris, the legal status of inactive satellites and theownership of the space debris are still remained to be resolved.In order to preserve the orbital environment, some technicalsolutions have been proposed to alleviate the space debris problem,which need to work in conjunction with a legal regime that regulates thecreation and remediation of space debris. Making up the shortage of the existed outer space treaties is the top priority. Other solutions suchas responsible funds, insurance system, and market share liability shallalso be proposed combining with improving legislation to solve the spacedebris problem.