A large object found on the shores of western Australia has been confirmed to be the debris of an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) PSLV rocket, the Australian Space Agency said.
- ISRO has agreed with the assessment, saying the debris could be from one of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rockets.
Key points
- The threat to life and property from falling space junk is not negligible.
- Even when falling into the oceans, which is more likely since 70 per cent of the earth’s surface is ocean, large objects can be a threat to marine life, and a source of pollution.
- There are no recorded incidents of these falling objects causing any appreciable damage anywhere on the earth.
- Most space-faring countries are signatories to the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects.
- This convention is one of the several international agreements that complement the Outer Space Treaty, the overarching framework guiding the behaviour of countries in space.
- The Liability Convention deals mainly with damage caused by space objects to other space assets, but it also applies to damage caused by falling objects on earth.
- The Convention makes the launching country “absolutely liable” to pay compensation for any damage caused by its space object on the earth or to a flight in air.
- The country where the junk falls can stake a claim for compensation if it has been damaged by the falling object.
- This provision of the Convention has resulted in compensation payment only once so far — when Canada sought damages from the then Soviet Union, for a satellite with radioactive substance that fell into an uninhabited region in its northern territory in 1978. The Soviet Union is reported to have paid 3 million Canadian dollars.
