Dimensions of international legal regime of changing space security

Abstract

The modern debate on space debris emphasizes on state liabilities from the prism of technological commercialization along with state liability questions emanating from the existing international conventions, treaties and agreements. With increased technological dependence, their pitfalls are causing obstacles. For instance, there is reliance on cyber infrastructure and proportionate vulnerability through cyber-attacks like Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS). While the ‘new space movement’ has augmented manifold private participation, there is consistent divergence between outdated treaties enforcement and the techno-legal narratives leading to interpretative challenges. This has implications for orbital debris. For instance, if a satellite relies on artificially intelligent algorithm to determine whether a potential breach could cause orbital debris, questions of state liability are inevitable. Further, technology induced interpretative issues having a bearing on space debris liability within Conventions such as the Outer Space Treaty, 1967 have emerged on account of lack of coherent provisions. Therefore, lack of harmony between outdated legal provisions and technology has distorted the debate on orbital debris state liability enforcement. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the aforesaid changed paradigms of techno-legal framework of orbital debris and provide suitable suggestions within the space security ambit.