THE RESPONSIBILITY OF

THE STATES FOR THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE LAUNCHED SPACEBODIES

By I. H. Ph. de Rode-Verschoor 1

One of the topics that may be discussed at an international conference may be the responsibility of the states for the possible damage caused by the launched space bodies.

For it will be the states that will have to bear the responsibility because, whereas air navigation is carried out to a large extent by civil aircraft, in space navigation for some time to come only stateowned spacecraft will be used. In this respect, we only need to consider the high cost of launching these bodies. The Chicago convention can only be applied to civil aircraft. It will therefore be necessary to make an entirely new regulation for state-owned spacecraft.

In connection with establishing rules concerning this responsibility for damage, it will be necessary to register and to identify the launched bodies and provide for a certain compulsory registration of space satellites in order to determine the state to be held responsible.

The basis for this responsibility can be explained by the principle well known in all countries, "Verkehrssicherungspflicht," as Professor Meyer says, according to which the states have the duty to avoid damage, because by creating a source of danger one incurs responsibility to the community.

Now, in my opinion, one can imagine three solutions with regard to the responsibility for damage.

1. The state that launched the spacecraft can accept full responsibility for possible damage (in comparison with the convention of Rome, where one knows the principle of risk).

2. The state can be entitled to make certain reservations, as, for instance, in the case of the convention of Warsaw (principle of liability of fault), excluding, for instance, responsibility in case of force majeure. We could imagine, for instance, the unforeseen collision with a meteor.

3. One may consider the solution of an international guaranty fund for paying the damage caused by satellites (except in the case where the damage is intentionally caused, in which case the state responsible will always have to pay the damage).

Each state interested in astronautics will deposit a sum of money in the fund.

This third solution may be desirable because in the future it may not be possible to insure the damage caused by earth satellites, in view of the great risks and the uncertainty of the matter.

1 The author of Rechtsvergelijkende beschouwingen ten aanzien van het luchtrecht delivered this paper before the International Astronautical Federation, The Hague, August 29, 1958.

Such a fund could exist under control of the United Nations, a body that most experts have pointed out already as most competent to control the traffic in outer space.

The United Nations are willing to study the problems connected with outer space, as is evident by the declaration this body has made some months ago.

In each case it will be urgent to regulate the liability in cases of damage caused by the body launched, which is connected with one of the basic principles of air law that third persons having no relation with air traffic had to be protected as much as possible.

THE LAW OF OUTER SPACE-SCIENTIFIC AND
ANTHROPOCENTRIC CONSIDERATIONS 1

By Andrew G. Haley

1

On this occasion I will not discuss the subject of metalaw, which on many previous occasions I have defined as the law governing the rights of intelligent beings of different natures and existing in an indefinite number of different frameworks of natural law. Instead, I will endeavor to probe into the meaning of scientific achievements in astronautics for the purpose of evaluating the effect of these achievements on human conduct. Anthropocentric law is simply the law of human beings, a science of principles, and, specifically, a science or system of principles or rules of human conduct. How will rocket technology affect the environment of mankind in outer space, both spaceman qua spaceman and spaceman qua earthman?

I look back with considerable nostalgia to the first meeting of the American Rocket Society space flight committee. At the time, in 1952, I was given the dubious honor of being elected the first chairman of this committee. The committee was authorized only after many long discussions, and the "visionary" proponents of the committee, including myself, were really in a minority. At that time "astronautics" was not quite respectable. I was permitted to name the membership of the committee, and I am very proud that several members have since been noted for high achievements, such as Richard W. Porter and Samuel K. Hoffman.

The first meeting of the space flight committee was held in my office in Washington on May 17, 1952.

Item 2 of the agenda of that first meeting listed potential developmental steps utilizing actual vehicles, such as the earthbound unmanned rocket; sounding rockets; long-range missiles; the earthbound manned rocket; the earth satellite, unmanned and manned; the space station; one-way lunar rocket; and even exploratory and scheduled space flight.

Item 3 of the agenda was concerned with the feasibility and utility of these projects and included such headings as technical procedure, i. e., what steps and in what order; probable magnitude of effort required in each step; effect on military programs; the utility with respect to civilization; projected timetables for each step; the cost involved in each respect; method of financing.

On this occasion, I will address myself briefly to the subject of utility, the source material of my talk being derived from the two reports of the committee when I was chairman and from subsequent reports.

1 Lecture by Andrew G. Haley, president of the International Astronautical Federation, before the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Ruimtevaart, in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Benefits may be expected from a space-flight program in a number of categories. Wars will become improbable and, therefore, there will be increased national security as a direct result of the devices produced and as a result of the type of industry developed and supported. There will be industrial benefits as a result of the new discoveries made both in the development of the vehicles and their equipment and in their use for scientific purposes.

For the individual, in the light of immediate aspects, the largest direct benefit will be a sense of participation in a great adventure, and a new breadth of understanding resulting from a better understanding of the universe around him. The term "immediate aspects" is taken to mean a time period in which the following programs have been advanced to the state of practical accomplishments:

Instrumental satellites for distances as far as the 24-hour orbit, for payloads up to the order of 2,000 pounds for long operational life, with long or indefinite power supply and with recoverability (where needed).

Lunar instrumented probes.

Instrumented comets for interplanetary, planetary, and solar research in the region from Venusian space to Martian space. Manned hypersonic gliders capable of descent from space. Small inhabitable earth satellites of 4- to perhaps 10-person capacity.

Manned lunar operations (circumnavigation, landing). Roughly, the first 3 programs could reach the state of practical operation in the 1958-70 period, the last 3 programs in the 1970–83 period. Thus, the term "immediate" is meant here to cover about the next 25 years.

The first three programs deal with unmanned space vehicles, exploiting the possibility for space research as far as it is possible for earth surface-based operations during this period.

The last three programs introduce manned space flight. The principal utility lies with the inhabitable satellites (they do not necessarily have to be permanently inhabited), but their use, of course, requires that personnel can get to the objective and back. To draw the maximum benefit from the inhabitability of satellites, however, reasonably economic means of ascent and reasonably nonhazardous means of descent must be available.

By surveying earth from space, long-range and short-range weather prediction becomes more accurate on a continental as well as local basis. Organized, satellite-based weather service would result in great benefits to agriculture, and therewith to the economy, of all nations.

Instrumented satellites, especially when they are at great altitudes (4,000 to 8,000 miles), can serve as passive intercontinental and transcontinental communication links for radio and television transmission. Manned satellites can, in addition, assume surveillance of terrestrial operations in remote areas and the servicing of ships, expeditions, et cetera, with information and advice.

The environmental conditions on satellites offer four outstanding features: Vacuum, extremely low temperatures and large temperature differences, intense radiation from infrared to X-rays, and weightlessness. Suitable orbit position can provide a maximum of sunshine which can easily and reliably be used for high-temperature processes.

Conversely, behind a solar and terrestrial radiation shield, extremely low temperatures can be maintained indefinitely for the storage of liquid gases and radicals, and for maintaining processes involving superconductors. Vacuum can be used for welding or soldering; various gas atmospheres can be established in special confinements for manufacturing processes. The industrial value of satellites may lie in the production of small parts for electronic products or instrumentation, for quantity production and storage of radicals and for other purposes possibly even for the manufacturing of completely new products.

The environmental conditions, particular to satellites or space vehicles, may equally benefit medical sciences. One field which is frequently mentioned is, of course, space-medical and space-biological research. Yet practical medicine may find equal benefits in many unsuspected ways. Weightlessness is normally considered a nuisance. It may, however, be of advantage in cases of heart disease, other organic disturbances, bone diseases, and perhaps for surgery in certain aspects. Low-temperature conditions, existing simultaneously with weightlessness, could be found useful in some medical applications. Controlled local or overall irradiation by the sun in space may furnish new therapies against cancer, skin diseases, et cetera. Apparently, not enough thought has been given so far to the possibilities of satellite therapy and satellite surgery to appraise its potential merits reliably.

In considering the industrial and medicinal benefits from satellites, it becomes particularly apparent that these utilities depend decisively on the success of the programs for manned hypersonic gliders capable of descent from space and for small inhabitable earth satellites of 4- to perhaps 10-person capacity.

The immediate politicomilitary utility is perhaps most apparent and, by comparison, most readily realizable. It is, for the time being, also the most important utility as far as the means for actual accomplishment are concerned. The prestige value of an advanced position in space-flight development is undoubted. This factor is particularly important during periods of cold war, where prestige is frequently more important than force in international negotiations. The leading military powers can ill afford to neglect the potential of hypersonic flight and satellite operations. Chemospheric superiority implies the successful operation of hypersonic gliders for bombing and reconnaissance. Ionospheric superiority means the capability of operating satelloids and satellites for reconnaissance purposes. Finally, exospheric and free-space operations, up to altitudes of several thousand miles, are of potential politicomilitary usefulness because of the increasing terrestrial area which can be kept under surveillance simultaneously. Concern with such possibilities has the added importance of being a necessary prerequisite for outguessing others and developing necessary countermeasures.

The foregoing are unfortunate truths.

The spectacular scientific utility of instrumental earth satellites is too well recognized to be iterated in detail. To the geophysical, geodetical, and astrophysical benefits, more advanced television stations will add meteorological and astronomical (observations) research possibilities unequaled on the earth's surface.