Jurisdiction, Control, and Ownership Regarding Space Objects Sample Clauses

Jurisdiction, Control, and Ownership Regarding Space Objects. This section will discuss the question as to whether a State may remove a piece of space debris under the jurisdiction of another State. This issue is addressed in Article VIII of the Outer Space Treaty. The first sentence of this Article provides that: “A State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space or on a celestial body.” Jurisdiction, as an aspect of State sovereignty, “refers to a state’s competence under international law to regulate the conduct of natural and juridical 186 Ibid, p. 131. persons”.187 The notion of regulation embraces the exercise of all govern- mental authorities including legislative, executive and juridical.188 Hence, Article VIII of the Outer Space Treaty affirms the power of States to enact and enforce law in relation to space objects carried on their registries.189 Control means “the exclusive right and the actual possibility to supervise the activities of a space object” and any personnel thereof.190 The whole concept of “jurisdiction and control” should not be read separately but as one block: “jurisdiction should induce control, and control should be based on jurisdiction”.191 Critically, the competence to “control” a space object is more than a technical capability.192 Hence, a State’s jurisdiction and control over its registered space object continues even if its technical control over such object is lost.193 This can be understood by looking at the two dimen- sions of State sovereignty, an internal one and an external one. The internal dimension refers to the highest authority of a State to regulate its domestic affairs, and the external one indicates that a State cannot be submitted to the authority of another State without its consent, as all States are legally equal under international law.194 Accordingly, the right of jurisdiction and control means not only a State’s power to regulate and supervise its space object but also its competence to preclude other States from manipulating, capturing or relocating such object without its permission. Article VIII speaks of “object launched into outer space” without adding further qualification, and it does not prescribe any temporal factor limiting the retention of a State’s jurisdiction and control over its registered space object.195 This implies that a State can continue to exercise jurisdiction and control over its registe...