Small Satellite Legal Issues Paul B
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Journal of Air Law and Commerce Volume 82 | Issue 2 Article 3 2017 Small Satellite Legal Issues Paul B. Larsen Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/jalc Part of the Air and Space Law Commons Recommended Citation Paul B. Larsen, Small Satellite Legal Issues, 82 J. Air L. & Com. 275 (2017) https://scholar.smu.edu/jalc/vol82/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Air Law and Commerce by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. SMALL SATELLITE LEGAL ISSUES PAUL B. LARSEN* I. INTRODUCTION.................................. 276 II. USES OF SMALL SATELLITES .................... 280 III. LICENSING OF SMALL SATELLITE OPERATIONS ..................................... 281 IV. RADIOFREQUENCIES AND ORBITS MUST BE LICENSED BY THEIR NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS AND REGULATED BY THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION ............................................ 283 V. SMALL SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING .......... 287 VI. SMALL SATELLITES MUST BE REGISTERED IN THEIR NATIONAL REGISTRY AND IN THE U.N. REGISTRY ......................................... 289 VII. LIABILITY ISSUES OF SMALL SATELLITES ...... 291 VIII. SPACE DEBRIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ............................................. 294 IX. PUBLIC SAFETY EFFECTS OF SMALL SATELLITES ....................................... 299 X. SMALL SATELLITE NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES ............................................. 302 XI. CONCLUSION..................................... 306 * The author taught air and space law for more than forty years respectively at Southern Methodist University and Georgetown University. He is co-author of FRANCIS LYALL & PAUL B. LARSEN, SPACE LAW: A TREATISE (2009) and of PAUL B. LARSEN ET AL., AVIATION LAW: CASES AND RELATED SOURCES (2d ed. 2012). Author may be reached at [email protected]. 275 276 JOURNAL OF AIR LAW AND COMMERCE [82 I. INTRODUCTION1 ITTLE SPACE CULTURE is ready to take over a large “Lshare of future unmanned activities in space.”2 Recent plans to place a large number of small satellites in orbit present a host of new legal issues. Previous discussion of law and regula- tion of outer space has assumed use of large complex satellites like the military satellites launched by the United States, Russia, and China, and the communication satellites launched by IN- TELSAT, SES, INMARSAT, and EUTELSAT. These satellites can be the size of multistoried buildings and may cost $400 million to build and $100–200 million to launch. But many tasks in space that formerly required complex, expensive satellites can now be performed by very small satellites.3 These miniaturized satellites are sometimes called “cubesats” because they are only ten centimeters tall, wide, and deep.4 Whereas the large satel- lites are built to perform multiple tasks and last a long time, the small satellites are less complex and last a much shorter time.5 Since small satellites are so much less expensive than existing large satellites, they may be treated as being disposable. They can also be mass-produced, whereas existing large satellites are planned and built individually, one at a time. Small satellites tend to be used in low Earth orbit (LEO) where they have an inherent advantage of clock speed over the large satellites in ge- ostationary Earth orbits (GEO).6 In the current high-technology world, that is a significant advantage. We are at a stage of tension between older, proven technology of large, expensive, complex, and durable satellites and their likely replacement by inexpensive, expendable, short-term satel- lites. There is an expectation that this new technology will need 1 SMALL SATELLITES, REGULATORY CHALLENGES AND CHANGES (Irmgard Marboe ed., 2016). This book is an important resource on the special legal problems of small satellites. It is a collection of essays authored by small satellite experts, and presented as a briefing for the COPUOS Legal Subcommittee. 2 Freeman Dyson, The Green Universe: A Vision, N.Y. REV. BOOKS (Oct. 13, 2016), http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/10/13/green-universe-a-vision/ [https: //perma.cc/6LVX-ZUCB]. 3 SMALL SATELLITES, REGULATORY CHALLENGES AND CHANGES, supra note 1, at 68. 4 Id. 5 See id. at 68–70. 6 Jono Anderson, The Coming Satellite Revolution, AVIATION. & SPACE TECH., Aug. 12, 2016; see Marco Villa, Builders of Satellites Large and Small Must Work Together to Benefit Science, SPACE NEWS MAG. (Aug. 1, 2016), https://www.spacenewsmag. com/commentary/builders-of-satellites-large-and-small%E2%80%A8-must-work- together-to-benefit-science/ [https://perma.cc/27YN-WA5T]. 2017] SMALL SATELLITE LEGAL ISSUES 277 new operating principles.7 The current plans for deployment of small satellites will drastically change the outer space environ- ment. As of 2016, there are about 1,400 functioning satellites in orbit, in addition to non-functioning satellites, and almost incal- culable amounts of space debris.8 To this already crowded envi- ronment, one expert estimates the launch of an additional 3,800 small satellites by 2020.9 On November 17, 2016, Elon Musk, President of SpaceX, requested permission from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch 4,425 small satellites in LEO using the Ka/Ku-band radiofrequency spec- trum.10 And yet others have indicated interest in launching small satellites.11 Thus, within a few years, satellite navigation and tracking will become more complex. New launches will have to be planned more carefully, particularly in LEO, in order to avoid interference. Space situational awareness will become even more important than before this new development. The cumulative consequences of launching thousands of these tiny satellites will be great. The fact is that the commercial space industry is growing sig- nificantly.12 There are dozens of new private launch companies either already operating or on the drawing board. Chief among them is SpaceX, which is able to launch significantly more 7 Villa, supra note 6. 8 Goktug Karacalioglu, Impact of New Satellite Launch Trends on Orbital Debris, SPACE SAFETY MAG. (June 2, 2016), http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space- debris/impact-new-satellite-launch-trends-orbital-debris/ [https://perma.cc/5JA 9-EWZB]; Brian Weeden, Insight – Small Satellites and Space Situational Awareness, SECURE WORLD FOUND. (Sept. 1, 2016), https://swfound.org/news/all-news/20 16/09/insight-small-satellites-and-space-situational-awareness [https://perma.cc/ 46WD-U357]; see also Technology Quarterly: A Sudden Light, ECONOMIST (Aug. 25, 2016), http://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2016-25-08/space-2016 [https://perma.cc/C4A7-6D5Y] [hereinafter Technology Quarterly]. 9 Karacalioglu, supra note 8. 10 First Take: Space, AVIATION WK. & SPACE TECH., Nov. 21, 2016, at 11; Peter B. de Selding, Enough Satellites to Darken the Skies, SPACE NEWS MAG. (Nov. 21, 2016), https://www.spacenewsmag.com/the-bottom-line/enough-satellites-to-darken- the-skies/ [https://perma.cc/K9TE-J8GF]. SpaceX plans to launch these satel- lites during the next ten years, offering a global satellite Internet service. SpaceX will also act as launcher for small satellite companies. See Technology Quarterly, supra note 8. 11 See de Selding, Enough Satellites, supra note 10. 12 See Dylan Taylor, Smallsats and the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Data Set, SPACE NEWS MAG. (Aug. 1, 2016), https://www.spacenewsmag.com/august-1-2016/smallsats- and-the-multi-trillion-dollar-data-set/ [https://perma.cc/NS6A-63NP]. A billion dollars was invested in small satellites from 2013 to 2016. 278 JOURNAL OF AIR LAW AND COMMERCE [82 cheaply than other launch operators.13 SpaceX is a multiple-use launcher serving a mix of large and small satellites. SpaceX’s large Falcon 9 launch rocket is able to launch ninety small satel- lites in one launch.14 The September 1, 2016, destruction of a Falcon 9 rocket during launch at Cape Canaveral will delay some of the planned launches in the short term.15 However, SpaceX is expected to recover its pace of launches.16 Other launch operators such as Arianespace, Blue Origin,17 and Vector Space Systems are eager to jump into the small satellite launch business.18 A California company, Planet, is an example of the start-ups engaged in building small satellites.19 The small satellites of Planet each carry a telescope that is able to observe the Earth. Planet currently operates sixty-three small remote sensing satel- lites in LEO. Each satellite lasts nine to eighteen months. The satellites are inexpensive and their frequent replacement is part of the business plan. Even existing large space companies are beginning to take notice of low-cost small satellite technology. Expert estimations of the number of small satellites to be launched in the next decade vary.20 Euroconsult estimates the launch of 3,600 small satellites. A small satellite company called One Web is being established jointly by INTELSAT, Virgin Ga- lactic, and Airbus. One Web plans to launch 648 small satellites in LEO. These satellites will provide continuous and simultane- ous communication service to and from anywhere on Earth. 13 See Technology Quarterly, supra note 8. 14 Mike Wall & Calla Cofield, SpaceX Returns to Flight with 10-Satellite Launch, Rocket Landing, SPACE.COM (Jan. 14, 2017), http://www.space.com/35338-spacex- return-to-flight-rocket-launch-landing-success.html [https://perma.cc/Y44H-QS LX]. 15 Peter B. de Selding, The White Knight is Talking Backwards, SPACE NEWS MAG. (Sept. 12, 2016), http://www.spacenewsmag.com/the-bottom-line/the-white- knight-is-talking-backwards/ [https://perma.cc/WGK5-JWW6]. 16 See Mission, Interrupted, ECONOMIST (Sept. 10, 2016), http://www.economist. com/news/business/21706560-expensive-rocket-accident-puts-pressure-spacex- mission-interrupted [https://perma.cc/2RHV-RFF6]. 17 See Frank Morring Jr., When to Reuse, AVIATION WK. & SPACE TECH., Nov. 7, 2016, at 52. Blue Origin and SpaceX are both developing reusable launch vehi- cles to reduce the cost of launches.