高级检索

商业化空间碎片清除的法律问题探析

Analysis of Legal Issues in Commercial Space Debris Removal

  • 摘要: 随着空间碎片数量持续攀升,全球航天活动面临愈加严峻的安全挑战。在此背景下,引入商业力量参与主动碎片清除,既是缓解轨道环境压力的现实选择,也推动了外空治理模式由国家主导转向多元协作。商业化空间碎片清除涉及的法律问题错综复杂,聚焦于当前在轨操作中最具紧迫性与规制难点的三大核心议题:国家责任归属、损害赔偿机制以及安全规制。现行以国家为核心的国际外空法律框架,在促进和规制商业化空间碎片清除活动方面存在明显滞后,暴露出私营主体监管归属模糊、多国参与下的责任与求偿机制失衡、跨国监管存在空白,以及主动清除技术军民两用性带来的安全风险等结构性难题。这些问题不仅阻碍商业化空间碎片清除活动的实际推进,还可能引发国际法律争端,威胁外空安全秩序。对此,应当推动国际外空法律体系的时代化变革,明确商业化空间碎片清除中的私营主体法律地位,构建多边责任分担与协同监管机制,并就军民两用技术设立行为规范,以期为全球外空治理秩序的重塑提供制度支撑,并为中国在相关国际规则制定中争取更大主动权。

     

    Abstract: As the quantity of space debris continues to rise, global space activities are facing increasingly severe security challenges. Against this background, introducing commercial actors to participate in Active Debris Removal (ADR) is not only a practical choice to alleviate pressure on the orbital environment, but also promotes the transformation of the outer space governance model from state-led to diversified cooperation.The legal issues involved in commercial space debris removal are intricate and complex, centering on three core issues that present the greatest urgency and regulatory difficulty in current on-orbit operations: the attribution of state responsibility, damage compensation mechanisms, and safety regulation. The existing state-centered international legal framework governing outer space shows evident lag in promoting and regulating commercial ADR activities. It reveals structural challenges, including ambiguous regulatory attribution of private entities, imbalances in responsibility and compensation mechanisms under multi-state participation, gaps in transnational regulation, and security risks arising from the dual-use nature of active removal technologies.These issues not only hinder the practical advancement of commercial ADR activities, but may also trigger international legal disputes and threaten the security order of outer space. In response, it is necessary to promote the modernization of the international outer space legal system, clarify the legal status of private entities involved in commercial ADR, establish multilateral responsibility-sharing and coordinated regulatory mechanisms, and formulate behavioral norms for dual-use technologies. This aims to provide institutional support for reshaping the global outer space governance order and to secure greater initiative for China in the formulation of relevant international rules.

     

/

返回文章
返回