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The economic influence of space activities cannot be ignored. According to
the 2013 Satellite Industry Association (SIA) report, globally, 2012 revenues
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for the satellite industry totalled $189.5 billion. The global satellite industry
grew 7 per cent in 2012, outpacing both worldwide economic growth rate
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(2.3 per cent) and U.S. growth (2.2 per cent).
However, outer space is crowded after nearly six decades of competitive
exploration of the seemingly infinite space. The number of satellites in orbit
was more than 1,000 in August 2012, 57 per cent being commercial
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satellites. As a matter of fact, all of them are moving fast in orbit. In
addition, space debris is also moving fast, up to 7.8 kilometre per second. “In
recent years awareness of the space debris problem has grown considerably,
largely because various spacecraft have been hit by pieces of debris,
intentional debris-generating events have occurred, and satellites have
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collided with one another.” Currently, more than 16,000 objects
approximately 10 centimetre in diameter or larger were tracked and
catalogued by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), about 23,000 pieces
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of debris of this size are being tracked but not catalogued. There are over
300,000 objects with a diameter larger than one centimetre and several
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million that are smaller, according to estimates.
It is too big a gap between the increasing demand and the crowded space
orbit. Mitigation of space debris is an inevitable question for countries to
consider and prioritise.
The economic
influence of space
activities cannot be
ignored. According to
the 2013 Satellite
Industry Association
(SIA) report, globally,
2012 revenues for the
satellite industry
totalled $189.5 billion.
The Tools: Not Enough, And What Is Enough?
International law is the common rule with legally binding force for all states
in space activities. As provided in Article 4 of the Outer Space Treaty, space
weapons were limited on different conditions but were not totally prohibited.
Other articles in the same treaty stipulate that contracting parties shall bear
responsibility and liability for their activities. However, nothing in this widely
accepted treaty referred to space debris. And the following treaties, even the
1979 Moon Agreement, have not regulated space debris. There are also no
legally binding rules to refrain from creating space debris. The U.S. and USSR
conducted anti-satellite weapon tests many times and produced significant
space debris during the Cold War. The U.S. made 40 ASAT tests from the
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1950s through the mid-1970s. All these tests, of course, violated no law.
Mission Completed and Mission Ahead: ICoC to the Future | www.orfonline.org 39