LEGAL ASPECTS OF COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION By Leire Mugarra Faculty of Law McGill University, Montreal A thesis submitted to Mc Gill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree ofMASTER OF LAWS (LL.M.) Institute of Air and Space Law McGill University Montreal, Quebec March2008 ©Leire Mugarra, 2008 Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Bran ch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-51424-5 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-51424-5 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada .~""""· " ... space is thefourth domain for human activity after the land, sea, and air. Like those domains confined to Earth, space is a resource and can be utilized for scientific, strategie, and commercial applications where the benefits outweigh the cost. ln this sense, for the space res ource to be exploited to the fullest, the methods of accessing it should be as unconstraining as possible. Specifically, transportation to and from space should be regular, frequent, reliable, safe, and above ali, as inexpensive as possible. If technology is not a boundary, getting to and from space should ultimately be as inexpensive and easy as flying a Boeing 747 or using a freight train. " Hannigan, Russell J., "Spaceflight in the Era of Aero­ space Planes" (1994) ii To my family whose support has been essential for the accomplishment of my studies in International Law of Air and Space and, specially to the memory of my father which has been the indispensable strength in the most difficult moments. 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ~ 1 First, 1 would like to deeply thank the Faculty of Law at McGill University and its people who provided me a caring and helpful support during the entire duration of the research. Second, 1 sincerely appreciate the useful assistance of the Faculty's Library and its helpful resources, without which this research project would not have flourished. Thirdly, 1 would like to thank the supervisor of this project, Ram Jakhu, for his invaluable feedback and insights and the enormous patience throughout the reviewing process that showed his dedication and interest along the entire research. Finally, 1 would like to thank my family for the huge financial and encouraging support during the complete duration of my studies and for the force and strength transmitted in the most stressful moments. lV /~ ABSTRACT The commercial space transportation industry is growing with the technology that creates more capable spacecrafts to access space. However, there are still sorne academie discussions related to the delimitation of the outer space and the definition of space objects that could interfere with the regulation of this growing space activity. Because these discussions are not predicted to be solved soon, the developing space policies must attempt to clarify these issues between the parts avoiding the retard in the development of the industry. Moreover, these policies have to promote public-private partnerships and the emersion of private entrepreneurs for a faster development of a safe, reliable, and affordable commercial space transportation. v RÉSUMÉ L'industrie du transport spatial commercial croît de plus en plus avec les progrès technologiques qui créent des vaisseaux spatiaux capables d'accéder à l'espace. Cependant, il demeure encore des débats académiques liés à la délimitation de l'espace extra-atmosphérique et de la définition des objets spatiaux qui pourraient interférer avec la réglementation de cette activité spatiale en pleine expansion. Puisque ces débats ne pourront pas être résolus prochainement, les politiques de développement spatial doivent tenter de clarifier ces questions entre les parties, tout en évitant de retarder le développement de l'industrie. En outre, ces politiques doivent promouvoir les partenariats public-privé et l'émergence d'entrepreneurs privés pour contribuer au développement plus rapide d'un transport spatial commercial sûr, fiable et abordable. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements lV Abstract v Résumé vi Table of Contents vu Introduction 1 Part 1-Two Fundamental Issues of Space Law 3 Chapter I - Definition/Delimitation of Outer Space 3 A. Debates about the necessity of delimitation 4 1. Arguments in favor ofthe establishment of a boundary 5 a. Scholarly arguments 5 b. State's positions and UNCOPUOS debates 7 2. Arguments against the establishment of a boundary 10 a. Scholarly arguments 10 b. State's positions and UNCOPUOS debates 12 B. Approaches to definition/delimitation 13 1. Spatialist Approach 14 a. Identified alternatives by the Legal Sub-Committee of 14 the UNCOPUOS b. Environmental/Physical/Geophysical alternatives 15 • Atmosphere as a boundary 15 vu • Division of the atmosphere into layers 16 • Aerodynamic theory 18 • Range of terrestrial gravitation or gravisphere 18 theory/Earth's gravitational effects • Rotation theory 19 • Lowest perigee of orbiting satellites 19 • Maximum altitude of aircraft flight 21 22 • Biological theory c. Effective Control Approach 22 d. State Security and State Interests theory 23 e. Specifie boundary' s location/Arbitrary altitude 23 f. General critic of the spatialist approach 24 2. Functionalist Approach 24 3. Other Approaches 27 a. Allocative Approach 27 b. Definition of outer space by defining "objects in space" 28 c. Theory of a uniform legal regime 28 4. Conclusions of the chapter 29 Chapter II -Definition of Space Objects 30 A. Problems to obtain a uniform definition 30 1. Lack of a boundary between air space and outer space 30 2. Different approaches to a definition of a space object 30 Vlll ,--.. 3. Other problems derived from the unresolved definition of a 31 space object B. Attempts to obtain an acceptable definition 32 1. Treaties' contents 33 2. State's positions and UNCOPUOS' debates 34 3. "Progress Report on the Question of the Legal Status of 35 Spacecraft" of the International Law Association (ILA) 4. Scholarly approaches 37 a. Functionalist Approach 37 b. Spatialist Approach 37 c. Critics to the Functionalist and Spacialist approaches 38 d. Other Approaches 38 Part II - Space Transportation Vehicles 40 Chapter I- Space Objects 40 A. Space Objects v. Aircraft 40 B. Space Objects v. Aerospace Object 44 C. Classification of Space V ehicles 46 a. Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) 47 b. Hybrid Systems or vehicles 48 Chapter II - Space Transportation Systems 49 A. Proposed uses of the STS 49 B. Sorne types of STS 50 ix 1. Space Shuttle 50 .~ 2. Aerospace plane 51 C. Applicable Law 54 1. Space Shuttle 54 1. Functional Approach 54 11. Spatialist/Territorial Approach 55 iii. Other approaches 56 iv. Conclusion 56 2. Aerospace Plane 57 Part III- Commercial Human Space Transportation 58 Chapter 1 - Privatization/Commercialization of Space Activities 58 A. Privatization of space activities 58 B. Space Commercialization 61 C. Problems derived from the space commercialization 64 D. Applicable Law 67 Chapter II - Commercial Space Transportation 70 A. Evolution of Commercial Space Transportation 70 B. Possible Markets of Commercial Space Transportation 72 1. Space Rescue 73 2. Fast Package Delivery 74 x 3. Space Servicing!Transfer 78 4. Hazardous Waste Disposai 78 5. Other markets 80 C. Requirements for successful commercial space transportation 80 Chapter III - Commercial Human Space Transportation 85 A. Competition and Free Trade in Commercial Human Space 85 Flight B. Possible Markets for the Commercial Human Space 87 Transportation • Space Tourism 88 • Ultra High Speed Civil Transport 91 C. Governmental Initiatives and Incentives to Promote 92 Commercial Human Spaceflight D. The US' Office of Commercial Space Transportation and the 93 Commercial Space Launch Act E. Conclusions of Commercial Human Spaceflight 94 Chapter IV - Other Legal considerations of Commercial Space 98 Transportation Part IV - Conclusions and Final Recommendations 101 Selected Bibliography 104 Xl INTRODUCTION During the entire human history the attraction to conquer unknown territories and domains has remained evident. This overpowering desire of human beings has facilitated the development of technologies allowing them to cross terrestrial territories, to defy the law of gravitation by flying above those territories and, furthermore, to travel to the greatness infinity of the outer space. At the very first moment that a human visited outer space, numerous projects and ambitions emerged for the possible military, political, social, and economie uses of the, now reachable, domain.