Some Legal Issues on Removal of Defunct Spacecraft

Removal of defunct spacecraft involves not only complex technical problems, but also many legal problems, which are needed to be examined under international law. The determination of the legal status of the defunct spacecraft is the premise of clarification of the relationship between the rights and obligations in removal of the defunct spacecraft. The defunct spacecraft belong to the category of space debris and space objects. The state of registration or the launching state is the legal subject of the removal of the defunct spacecraft, and the non-launching state may also remove the defunct spacecraft under certain conditions. Although the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines have provided regulation for the removal of defunct spacecraft, they are not legally binding. Therefore, removal of defunct spacecraft is non-mandatory.