Open Access Research Article

THE OWNERSHIP TRAP: ARTICLE VIII OF THE OUTER SPACE TREATY AND THE LEGAL OBSTACLES TO ACTIVE DEBRIS REMOVAL

Author(s):
VIBODH SINGH NRIPANGANA DEKA
Journal IJLRA
ISSN 2582-6433
Access Open Access
Volume 3
Issue 6
DOI https://www.doi-ds.org/doilink/09.2026-57148322/THE OWNERSHIP TRAP: ARTICLE VIII OF THE OUTER SPAC
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Abstract

ABSTRACT
Active debris removal (“ADR”) technology has matured faster than the law meant to authorise its use. This article argues that the central legal obstacle to ADR is not the absence of a debris-specific treaty, but a structural feature of the Outer Space Treaty 1967 itself: Article VIII's rule that ownership of, and jurisdiction over, a space object is unaffected by its presence in orbit, however defunct that object has become. Unlike maritime salvage law, space law recognises no doctrine of abandonment, so a party wishing to remove another state's debris must first obtain that state's consent, even where the object is untracked, unidentifiable, or has been derelict for decades. Drawing on the design of the two ADR missions that have actually flown, the European Space Agency's ClearSpace-1 and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration, this article shows how operators have so far avoided the consent problem entirely by targeting only debris they, or their sponsoring state, already own: a strategy that cannot scale to the multi-state debris field crowding low Earth orbit. It further argues that the fault-based liability standard in Article III of the Liability Convention 1972 compounds the problem by exposing prospective ADR operators to uncapped liability for damage caused during genuinely untested capture manoeuvres. The article concludes with a proposal for a COPUOS-negotiated framework combining a rebuttable, notice-based presumption of consent for long-dormant, unclaimed objects with a capped-liability safe harbour for licensed removal operators.

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Author Details

Authors: VIBODH SINGH & NRIPANGANA DEKA
Registration ID: 1013109 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13109 & IJLRA13110
Year: Sep-2026 | Volume: 3 | Issue: 6
Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, India
Page No.: 189-199

Article Information

THE OWNERSHIP TRAP: ARTICLE VIII OF THE OUTER SPACE TREATY AND THE LEGAL OBSTACLES TO ACTIVE DEBRIS REMOVAL

Authors: VIBODH SINGH, NRIPANGANA DEKA

  • Journal IJLRA
  • ISSN 2582-6433
  • Volume 3
  • Issue 6
Citation Download Paper Full Details Search on Google Search on Google Scholar

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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis

  • AbbreviationIJLRA
  • ISSN2582-6433
  • AccessOpen Access
  • LicenseCC 4.0

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