Legal Study On Active Removal Of The Space Debris

Comparing with the space debris mitigation, the active space debris removalhas been focused gradually by the scholars recent years. Given the increasingamount of space debris and the space assets of major space faring countries, theroaring threat brought by the space debris should be solved by legal regulations. Inthis paper, the defects of the existing outer space legal regulations in applicationregarding the active space debris removal activities will be analyzed by documentand comparative analysis. And the suggestion for the improvement will be discussed.In particular, the measures will be addressed according to the special circumst ancesof China.From the existing space legal system perspective, relevant provisions whichcould be applied to the active space debris removal activities in the Outer SpaceTreaty, the Liability Convention and the Registration Convention are unable toachieve an effective regulation and even create obstruction due to the weakapplicability, some ambiguous concepts and unclear objects of some relevantprovisions. However, the IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines aiming to solvethe space debris mitigation problem could only be used as a reference because of thelack of legal force on the plane of international society.Therefore, it is necessary to have the space legal system perfected in order tomeet the needs of the active space debris removal activities. To be specific,modification in the relevant content from the Outer Space Treaty, the LiabilityConvention and the Registration Convention should be done firstly in order toestablish the basic principles of the outer space environment protection and makeclear the exact meaning of some concepts like harmful contamination, space object,negligence liability and the jurisdiction of the launching State. Secondly, it is alsonecessary to develop specialized international law to complement the contents whichcan not be specified in the space treaties. Resolutions adopted by the UN GeneralAssembly regarding the details in the active space debris removal could be the firstspecific approach. When the resolution is universally accepted, a legal protocol withinternational law binding force regarding active space debris removal could be madefollowing the practice of Antarctic Treaty system. As the powerful space country, China should improve the relevant nationallegislation regarding active space debris removal. More importantly, as an importantcountry which will bear the international obligations in the future space debrisremoval process, China should actively participate in the international discussions onactive space debris removal legislations for the sake of maintaining and protectingthe international rights as well as fulfilling the international obligations.