[FPSPACE] Liability for Mir, Iridium and the OST?

[Dwayne Allen Day]

I'm ignoring most of this story primarily to raise a question at the
end...

http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/mir_officials_001019.html


>Even If MirCorp Finds Funds, Will It Be Too Late?
>By Yuri Karash

>Dennis Titos training at Star City remains a real enigma. "There were no
>official petitions to Rosaviacosmos regarding the official enrollment of
>Tito in the cosmonauts training," said Gorbunov. "There is no official
>document substantiating his training." 
>"Titos issue does not exist for Rosaviacosmos at all," he said. "Only two

>Mircorp spokesman Jeff Lenorovitz was stunned by Gubunov's comment. 
>"We've got pictures!" Lenorovitz said. "We had 40-some journalists who
>attended the press conference in Space City announcing Tito's training." 
>In addition, Tito has an official medical document that qualifies him as
>an official cosmonaut, he said. 
>"This kind of comment once again shows the gap between a space agency and
>a real commerical company," Lenorovitz said. 

More dramatic lack of communication between these guys.  How
unsurprising...


>If RKK Energia does not find the money to continue piloted operation of
>Mir -- about $200 million for 2001 -- the corporation must deorbit the
>station at its own expense, according to government decree N-76. 
>This would cost about $21 million (600 million rubles) -- if everything

>"The federal government bears responsibility to the safety of people of
>the world who must not be hurt in any way by the Mir falling
>down," stressed Gorbunov. "This is why it is the responsibility of top
>government, including the president and the Parliament...to make such a
>decision." 

Now this is what I find so confusing.  The Outer Space Treaty clearly
indicates that states, not companies, are liable for their space
stuff.  If Mir fell on a school bus, then it would be the Russian
government that was liable.

But it appears as if the Russian government has issued a decree that
Energia is responsible for paying for the de-orbiting.  (It also looks
like this is what Energia and the govt. are trying to settle--neither one
wants to pay for it.)

I don't think there is any real precedent for this under the OST, is
there?  Most commercial spacecraft never face the possibility of falling
down (because they are in GEO).  But I guess that Iridium is the American
equivalent of this.  Iridium has decided to de-orbit its satellites even
though the US government would be responsible for any damages caused by
them.  But would the US government then have any domestic standing to sue
Iridium to reclaim its money?  Or by signing the OST, did the US
government essentially give away its right to sue companies for damages
that it has accepted liability for?



DDAY