Some thoughts from sometime space lawyer Glenn Reynolds.
3 thoughts on “Orbital Torts”
Following last month’s satellite collision, I read several articles that tried to lay blame. Some tried to claim that the Russians were responsible because they left a dead satellite in orbit. Some other articles blamed Iridium while others blamed NORAD/JSpOC for not providing warning.
While analogies are frequently flawed, the closest one that comes to mind are the right of way laws in aviation. Simply put, except in an emergency, the vehicle with the greater maneuverability has to give way to less maneuverable vehicles. A balloon isn’t very maneuverable so it has the right of way over other aircraft. A powered plane has more maneuver options than a sailplane so it must give way.
The Russian satellite was long dead and may never have had a propulsion system in the first place. Iridium was functioning and had a working propulsion system. If the aviation rules applied, then Iridium was more at fault. The fact that the company has always trusted to luck to avoid collisions would also suggest they had the greater responsibility. The same would apply to yesterday’s ISS/debris close call. The debris is dead and unmaneuverable so the responsibility to get out of the way belonged to the ISS.
Rand, what do you think of #5’s idea about using one of Bigelow’s modules as a catcher? Where would it fall on the:
genius idiotic scale?
sorry, that should have been “genius to idiotic” scale.
Following last month’s satellite collision, I read several articles that tried to lay blame. Some tried to claim that the Russians were responsible because they left a dead satellite in orbit. Some other articles blamed Iridium while others blamed NORAD/JSpOC for not providing warning.
While analogies are frequently flawed, the closest one that comes to mind are the right of way laws in aviation. Simply put, except in an emergency, the vehicle with the greater maneuverability has to give way to less maneuverable vehicles. A balloon isn’t very maneuverable so it has the right of way over other aircraft. A powered plane has more maneuver options than a sailplane so it must give way.
The Russian satellite was long dead and may never have had a propulsion system in the first place. Iridium was functioning and had a working propulsion system. If the aviation rules applied, then Iridium was more at fault. The fact that the company has always trusted to luck to avoid collisions would also suggest they had the greater responsibility. The same would apply to yesterday’s ISS/debris close call. The debris is dead and unmaneuverable so the responsibility to get out of the way belonged to the ISS.
Rand, what do you think of #5’s idea about using one of Bigelow’s modules as a catcher? Where would it fall on the:
genius idiotic scale?
sorry, that should have been “genius to idiotic” scale.