Electronic Proceedings - United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

RICKY J. LEEThe Australian Space Activities Act 1998: Building the Regulatory Capacity for an Australian Launch IndustryREGISTRATION CONVENTIONThe Registration Convention requires national governments to establish their ownregister of space objects as well as submit various required information to the UnitedNations for inclusion in an international register. Specifically, the information requiredfor notification under the Registration Convention are:a) name of the launching States;b) its registration number on the domestic registry;c) the launch date;d) location of the launch facility;e) basic orbital parameters of the space object, including its nodal period, inclination,apogee and perigee; andf) the general function of the space object. 196The Act established a Register of Space Objects, which must include all the informationrequired by Article IV of the Registration Convention as well as the launch facility fromwhich the space object is launched and a registration number provided to the spaceobject by the Australian Government. 197It is surprising to note that the Act does not require the Government to pass on anyinformation to the United Nations Register of Space Objects as required by theRegistration Convention. However, as Australia has been diligent in providing therequired information to the United Nations Register in the past, it is assumed that theGovernment will continue to do so despite the absence of any statutory requirement.LIABILITY OF LAUNCH OPERATORSScope of Part 4One of the most important features of the Act is the imposition of liability on thelaunch operator for damage caused to third parties, regardless of whether the damagewas incurred in Australia or elsewhere. The rationale behind this is that the launchoperator, and not the Australian Government, should be financially responsible for anyliability incurred as a result of the space activities conducted by the launch operator.This is comparable with the régime imposed in the United States, which was clearly themodel on which the Australian liability framework was based.Part 4 of the Act provides for the regulation of third party liability of the launchoperator and the amount of compensation payable, provided that the damage was196Registration Convention, Article IV.197Section 76.145