Now back on Earth thanks to Space X’s Dragon
capsule, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will
be breathing fresh air again after a gruelling nine months
onboard the International
Space Station.
Stranded in June 2024 after their
experimental Boeing
Starliner spacecraft malfunctioned and was deemed too
risky to carry passengers back to Earth, their stay was
further extended last week when the recovery
mission was postponed due to launchpad problems.
A
successful rescue mission will be a relief to NASA, which
had the unprecedented task of figuring out how to get the
astronauts home. But the crisis has also raised difficult
questions about space missions and what happens if they
don’t go to plan.
This is complicated by civilians
now going into space, including actor William
Shatner and business tycoons Jeff
Bezos and Richard
Branson. Later this year, pop star Katy
Perry and talk show host Gayle King will blast off on
board Blue Origin’s NS-31 Mission.
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Corporations such
as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and Virgin Galactic
are increasingly at the forefront of the new space race, but
they operate in a legal vacuum as well as an atmospheric
one.
With the law not keeping pace with this rapid
rise in commercial space exploration and exploitation, just
who has a duty to rescue so-called space tourists and
astronauts is unclear. Urgent legal reform is
needed.
Privatisation of space
International
space law contains a special duty for countries to rescue
astronauts, regardless of their nationality.
According
to the United Nations Agreement
on the Rescue of Astronauts, all member countries of the
treaty, not just the country that launched the mission, have
a duty to take “all necessary steps” to assist
spacecraft crew in distress.
This includes missions
still in space as well as spacecraft that crash land in
another state’s territory or at sea. The state conducting
the rescue mission must safely return the astronauts to
Earth – and to the country they originally launched
from.
But it’s not clear whether private space
companies will have a similar duty. Some experts worry space
tourists may have no real legal protection.
Space law
dates from the 20th century, when the 1967 Outer
Space Treaty was adopted. But the original space race
involved superpowers, and the possibility of corporations
one day crossing the “final frontier” wasn’t even
considered.
So, if space tourists become stranded like
Williams and Wilmore have been, there’s a possibility –
in law at least – they could be left to fend for
themselves.
Who is an ‘astronaut’?
Space
policy experts are now calling on the international
community to adopt a broad interpretation of the term
“astronaut” to ensure
anyone has a right to be rescued regardless of their
legal status.
They’re also calling for new rules to
determine who is responsible for rescuing private citizens
if they get into trouble. Despite the several treaties and
conventions regulating space activity, none address space
tourism.
Currently, space tourism involves lower
atmosphere travel, but SpaceX’s Elon
Musk has talked about sending tourists to Mars. However
realistic that is, space law is struggling to keep up with
such ambitions.
With the rise of private space
missions, there is now a strong argument for the companies
involved being required to shoulder or share the associated
costs and responsibilities.
Described by the UN Office
of Outer Space Affairs as “envoys
of humankind”, astronauts undergo years of arduous
training before taking part in space missions. They are
acutely aware of the risks of space travel – but have
embraced it.
The same can’t be said for civilians.
Space tourism is still in its early days, but the companies
promoting it will need to act responsibly and sustainably.
This means making their customers aware of the dangers and
implementing rescue procedures and protocols.
Without
proper regulatory oversight, however, space tourism
companies could require prospective customers to sign legal
agreements waiving their right to rescue if they are in
danger.
The challenge for space law now is to find a
workable compromise between human safety and corporate
profit motives.
Anna
Marie Brennan, Senior Lecturer in Law, University
of Waikato
This article is republished from The Conversation
under a Creative Commons license. Read the original
article.
