What Is Outer Space?

chapter 15 What is Outer Space?

15.1 The Undefined Frontier

To advance the discussion beyond the circular definition of “space object” pro- vided in the Liability Convention1 and the Registration Convention,2 it is neces- sary to apply some logic. A space object is, inter alia, an object which has been launched into outer space. This immediately begs the question: what is the legal definition of outer space? Of course, there is no such generally recognized legal definition. To proceed from another point, the following language should be noted. The 1961 UN General Assembly Resolution 1721 (XVI), International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space,3 section B, paragraph 1:

Calls upon States launching objects into orbit or beyond to furnish infor- mation promptly to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, through the Secretary-General, for the registration of launchings;

Similarly, the Registration Convention, Article 2, paragraph 1 states:

When a space object is launched into earth orbit or beyond, the launching State shall register the space object by means of an entry in an appro- priate registry which it shall maintain. Each launching State shall inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the establishment of such a registry.

From these texts, it can be deduced that a space object, inter alia, is an object which has been launched into Earth orbit or beyond. Although the meaning of the term “Earth orbit” is clear enough as “orbiting around Earth,” what is meant by “beyond?” Logically, it must mean orbiting around or being on a celestial body (other than Earth, which is legally not a celestial body), such as the Moon, the Sun, or one of the planets or their moons, or in the case of several

1 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, 29 March 1972, 961 UNTS 187, http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/publications/STSPACE11E.pdf. 2 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched Into Outer Space, 12 November 1974, 1023 UNTS 15, http://www.iasl.mcgill.ca/spacelaw/registration.html. 3 UN A/RES 1721 (XVI), International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, http:// www.unoosa.org/documents/pdf/inf001E.pdf.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/9789004366022_016 What is Outer Space? 281 space vehicles which are departing the Solar System, the supermassive black hole at center of our Milky Way galaxy.4 Arguably, “beyond” might even include a suborbital object which is intended to achieve an altitude beyond the lowest recorded perigee of a satellite; however, this is not the prevailing usage of the term. Now we arrive at a syllogism:

A space object is an object which has been launched into Earth orbit or beyond. “Earth orbit or beyond” means Earth orbit, on a celestial body, or an orbit around a celestial body. Therefore, outer space is Earth orbit, a celestial body, or an orbit around a celestial body.

In keeping with the strict functional approach, this is not to say that outer space is defined as a “place;” rather, it is defined as a set of “space activities:” either orbiting Earth or orbiting another celestial body. However, “an orbit around a celestial body other than Earth” is not the only possible meaning of “beyond.” It is just as logical to conclude that it refers to any altitude beyond which an orbit around Earth is possible. This is the logic of the lowest perigee theory of the spatial approach, which leads to a more comprehensive legal definition:

4 With the proviso in the last sentence of this note, everything which is not on a suborbital trajectory orbits around some celestial body, because each one exerts gravity. If an object is not in orbit around Earth, then it must be in orbit around something else. So, flying on the way to the Moon or deep space means that an object has escaped Earth’s gravity and is technically in solar orbit. Five space vehicles (Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and New Horizons) are on interstellar trajectories, that is, they have escaped the Sun’s gravity, after gravity assist maneuvers at Jupiter, and are technically in orbit around the gravitational center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Hypothetically, were a space vehicle on a galactic escape trajectory, it might still be in orbit around the gravitational center of the Local Group of more than 54 galaxies within its diameter of 10 million light-years; or were the space vehicle on a trajectory to escape the Local Group, it might still be in orbit around the gravitational center of the Virgo Supercluster of at least 100 galaxy groups and clusters within its diameter of 110 million light-years; or were the space vehicle on a trajectory to escape the Virgo Supercluster, it might still be in orbit around the Great Attractor, which is the gravitational center of the Laniakea Supercluster of approximately 300 to 500 known galaxy clusters and groups (approximately 100,000 galaxies) within its diameter of 520 million light-years. With the excep- tion of the Laniakea Supercluster and perhaps the estimated 10 million other superclusters in the observable universe, on which scale the repulsive (not in an aesthetic sense) influence of dark energy may overcome gravity, everything is in orbit around something else.