HKU Bulletin October 2012 (Vol. 14 No.1)

Cover Story The Final Frontier Comes down to Earth Laws are lacking to govern all the objects and people that we are sending into space. Many people say space law is far removed from individuals. But with commercialisation it’s much closer to real life. When you use mobile phones or watch digital TV, that’s related to space law. ¶ · ¯ ¸ ¡ ¢ If a space tourist visits the International Space Station and something goes wrong, who should pay for their very expensive rescue? And who should be responsible for the tonnes of space debris floating above Earth? The answer to these questions is unfortunately murky. Space regulation is largely mired in the past, when there were just two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union, and no commercial operators. International bodies are trying to set new rules but the proliferation of different interests – developed and developing countries, commercial operators, military agents, scientific researchers and so on – is making it difficult to reach agreement. Associate Professor of Law Dr Zhao Yun has been studying space-related law for nearly 15 years with a special emphasis on China. “The first UN international treaty on space was signed in 1967 and at that time, the state was the only entity involved in outer space activities. Now, as more and more private entities are coming in, we should take note of this development and possibly have new treaties,” he says. No one can agree Unfortunately, no new agreements have been reached since 1979. The lack of progress means important issues are not being addressed. Space debris, as mentioned, is a worry as more and more satellites and other objects are sent into space. A UN scientific sub-committee has agreed on how the debris should be handled but the legal committee has failed to reach agreement despite years of discussion. A key issue is who should be responsible. Some states are concerned that a binding agreement would be too burdensome for them and thus prefer a non-binding document. The goal of ‘peaceful uses’ of outer space also remains undefined. One camp, led by the US and Japan, holds this to mean non- aggressiveness – which would allow for weapons of self-defense. Another camp, led by China and Russia, says peaceful use means non-military – which is difficult to define because some objects, such as communications satellites, have dual military and civil uses. Of particular interest to Dr Zhao is commercialisation. The existing treaties confine liability and registration to launching states, so if Country A launches a satellite then sells it to Country B, Country A is still liable. The treaties also don’t address intellectual property protection. Satellites collect raw data, which is then processed and analysed, so who has legal rights over it? “Commercialisation has been the most important development in the last 10 to 20 years,” he says, particularly as telecommunications, remote sensing and satellite broadcasting systems have developed, “and most space-faring states think the current agreements are not favourable to them if they invest a lot of money.” Trying to make progress That is not to say efforts are not being made to address the problem. An international space authority has been proposed, similar to one that rules the seabed. And a protocol on financing space assets has been developed to protect the interests of those who bankroll them. This is of Space Ordinance inherited from the UK that does offer some protection. All of these issues demonstrate that space, and what we do there, is really an Earthly concern. “Many people say space law is far removed from individuals. But with commercialisation it’s much closer to real life,” says Dr Zhao. “When you use mobile phones or watch digital TV, that’s related to space law. I hope this subject will be of interest to students in future so more people will pay attention to these issues.” M interest to Hong Kong as a finance centre, and also China, which is increasingly getting involved in financing space activities. China has also been more active in developing its own space laws as it increases its space activities. Dr Zhao is currently conducting research on the subject. “China has administrative regulations on outer space activities, but there are no laws made by the National People’s Congress. We need such laws to protect the interests of the state and investors,” he says. Hong Kong has an Outer o r r o m m p m k y v o k { v r v p o r y r l r y p k s o m y r v r y y r w r © y n m y r r j m y n k x j p r v k s k y n z k y n w m r y r x v r x l o r j r ¨ r y p j l k x q r k s w o r y ± o k x ¨ ¹ v r j s p y p o r l m y j o x p r k x j p r v k s k y n z k y n w m r y r x v r x l /LX :DQJ -LQJ +DLSHQJ DQG ¿UVW &KLQHVH IHPDOH DVWURQDXW /LX <DQJ RI¿FLDWHG DW WKH RSHQLQJ FHUHPRQ\ RI µ([KLELWLRQ RQ o m y º v i m j v p y y r w r ~ k | m y n m v v m k y º p p o r k y n z k y n w m r y r x v r x l k x j p r v k s k y n z k y n w m r y r x v r x l 17 October 2012