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Lessons on conservation from the Long March 5B debris
According to Article 9 of the OST 1967, state parties shall avoid any harmful contamination of the Earth's environment.
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The Indonesian, Malaysian, and Philippine publics were surprised by the news that the Long March 5B rocket booster fell into the Sulu Sea on July 31. This rocket booster was part of a Chinese Space Station module with a weight of 20 tonnes and a diameter of 30 meters. (JP/T. Sutanto)
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he Indonesian, Malaysian, and Philippine publics were surprised by the news that the Long March 5B rocket booster fell into the Sulu Sea on July 31. This rocket booster was part of a Chinese Space Station module with a weight of 20 tonnes and a diameter of 30 meters.
According to observations, this booster crossed Sumatra, and some fragments of it crashed in an area stretching from Sanggau in West Kalimantan, before slamming into the Sulu Sea. This was confirmed by an eyewitness who saw the fragmentation of the rocket booster in Sarawak, Malaysia.
The space debris problem has become a very serious issue that needs to be solved for the safety of humans and space transportation. These problems align with the increasing number of space launch activities yearly. In 2020 alone, there were 114 launches carrying 1,300 satellites. With high demand for space missions in the future, we will likely see this phenomenon more frequently.
Article 6 of the Outer Space Treaty 1967 (OST 1967) says every state party that has caused damage to another party shall be liable. This sentence has been cemented in Article 2 of the 1972 Liability Convention, which holds that a state party shall be absolutely liable to pay compensation for damage caused by its space objects. For example, in 2016, part of the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket crashed in Sumenep on Madura Island in East Java and destroyed a local cowshed.
However, what if the space object just crashes into the ocean? As long as no damage occurs in other states, the launching state that the space object belongs to is not obligated to compensate anyone for such an incident. Yet, space debris may contain a hazardous substance that could possibly harm the ocean environment.
According to Article 9 of the OST 1967, state parties shall avoid any harmful contamination of the Earth's environment. But what is harmful contamination?
Unfortunately, there is no further explanation of what contamination means. Despite that, contamination must harm the environment and disadvantage human life. Space debris is part of harmful contamination.
