Research On The Subject Of Liability For Damage In Commercial Space Activities

Driven by the strong commercial space industry,the participants in the global space market show a diversified trend,and governments,international organizations and private entities have also participated in commercial space activities,which makes the quantity of launches of space objects increasing.As a result,the risk of damage caused by space objects is increasing.In order to provide maximum protection to victims,the Liability Convention provides for strict liability for damages,as well as relevant definitions,dispute settlement procedures and other specific elements.However,under commercial space,the Liability Convention stipulate the launching State and international organizations,without responsibility of binding private entities,which will inevitably lead to the imbalance of burden sharing of damage.The gap between existing international conventions on outer space and space activities is becoming increasingly apparent,the involvement of private entities in launches complicates the issue of liability for damage,and the increasing frequency of transfer of space objects during in-orbit operations has led to changes in the attribution of jurisdiction over space objects and unclear subjects of liability for damage to space objects,a series of legal issues that are not clearly defined in the current international legal liability regime for outer space.In this paper,we mainly analyze the different subjects of responsibility under commercial space,discuss in detail whether they have the qualification as subjects of responsibility under Outer Space Law,and the rights and responsibilities of each subject under the framework of space law,and make suggestions to ensure more equitable sharing of responsibilities and to safeguard the interests of space activities and victims.