Russians May be Liable to United States for On-Orbit Satellite Loss

The Russians may be liable to the United States and the owners of the Iridium 33 destroyed satellite resulting from the recent collision with Cosmos 2251 in orbit over Siberian Russia, according to space law attorney Stephen E. Doyle in response to a question posed by this Blogger on The Space Show.

Under the United Nations 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, the United States will have one year from the date of loss of the Iridium 33 to make a damage claim against the Cosmos 2251 satellite launch state. The crash produced more than 600 pieces of orbital debris which may endanger other satellites posing future liability too.

Doyle noted that the Cosmos 2251 satellite was not registered and commercially tracked after launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in 1993. Under the United Nations 1976 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, the Cosmos 2251 was required to be in compliance with the convention. [See SatNews.com]

The unintentional crash of the fully intact American and Russian satellites has prompted the European Union to push for new rules on space exploration. The EU wants satellite-sending nations to enter into a voluntary agreement to help stop environmental disasters caused by civil and military explorations in space of major superpowers. The United Nations is expected to take-up the policy issues soon. The crash has also promoted satellite insurance companies to evaluate commercial satellite debris tracking capabilities when setting satellite insurance rates.