Proceedings of the Workshop - United Nations Office for Outer ...

“Outer space was a new field and there were no vested interests to prevent theinternational community from embarking on a regime of co-operation rather thanconflict. The problems of outer space were fortunately not those of modifying anexisting regime but of fashioning a new pattern of international behaviour”.India has satisfactorily discharged its obligation in creating a viable international legalframework. It is a party to four out of the five UN treaties on outer space law, namely, the Treatyon Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space,including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies; the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, theReturn of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space; the Convention onInternational Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects; and the Convention on Registrationof Objects Launched into Outer Space. However, India is not a party to the Agreement Governingthe Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.India is a party to several Principles adopted by the General Assembly, namely, theDeclaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use ofOuter Space; Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for InternationalDirect Television Broadcasting; Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from OuterSpace; Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space, and theDeclaration on International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for theBenefit and in the Interest of All States, Taking into Particular Account the Needs of DevelopingCountries.Further, India has been actively participating in formulating the legal principles relatingto the current issues of space law, such as, the use of nuclear power sources in outer space; thedefinition and delimitation of outer space; the character and utilization of geostationary orbit; theconcept of “Launching State”, and so on.1. Absence of Space Law in IndiaIndia may face problems of international responsibility in the event of notdischarging/violating its obligations under the international conventions and may face theproblem of liability for acts not prohibited by international law. It does not have a domestic law tohandle the consequences of its international and domestic obligations. India is in the thick of aprivatization and globalization process.ISRO itself is willing to privatize some of its activities, while the Antrix Corporation isengaged in commerce. This entails the legal issues of liability and compensation for injury/harmcaused by space objects, the registration and insurance of space objects, and the procedures andfor a for settlement of claims, etc. Of course, it is surprising that while India is an active andadvanced space faring nation, it has not put in place a law regulating space activities by Indiannationals and corporations within Indian Territory. However with a combination of policydeclarations, norms, guidelines and administrative directives, as we saw earlier, the Governmentof India seeks to regulate the whole range of activities, including commercial aspects.In any event, India has proclaimed its commitment to international law in this regard byaccepting most of the conventions and principles. Moreover, the Indian State and itsinstrumentalities are subject to Constitutional mandate given in Article 51(c) of the IndianConstitution that they should foster respect for international law and treaty obligations. However,this is not to say that India does not require a domestic law on its space activities. There is a