International Space Station Evacuated for Debris: The Law of Space Collisions

The International Space Station (Photo by NASA/National Geographic/Getty Images)

From Popular mechanics:

This morning, the three astronaut residents of the International Space Station scurried for safety in a Soyuz module, preparing for a possible impact with a piece of space junk—the motor of a satellite-carrying rocket. If struck, the station could experience a drop in air pressure that could kill all inhabitants. The event raises a thorny legal question: who is responsible for damages caused by space junk? Glenn Reynolds, a contributing Editor to Popular Mechanics and professor of space law at the University of Tennessee, outlines the complexities of orbital tort.

This morning, the three astronaut residents of the International Space Station scurried for safety in a Soyuz module, preparing for a possible impact with a piece of space junk—a 1/3-in.-wide part of a motor of a satellite-carrying rocket. If struck, the station could experience a drop in air pressure that could kill all inhabitants. NASA usually moves the ISS out of the orbit of debris, but some junk with erratic orbits can defeat tracking and surprise mission control, as happened during this incident. The debris missed the ISS and the astronauts exited the Soyuz “life raft,” but the junk is believed to have come within the station’s safety zone of 2.8 miles. The event raises a thorny legal question: Who is responsible for damages caused by space junk?

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