Emission Permits In Outer Space Regulation: Balancing Exploration And Exploitation

Ms. Alina Shiji Abraham, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR

ABSTRACT

The dawn of the 21st century has witnessed the success of the world’s superpowers in achieving milestones in space exploration. From the Sputnik 1 to the OSIRIS- APEx mission, humans have triumphed in scouting for opportunities in aerospace. When the world celebrates the victory of space missions, it has always remained deaf to the space junk left in outer space. Space junk or Space debris are fragments of human-made objects, that litter outer space. This fallout of space activities has been increasing, menacing galactic exploration. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has recognised this peril, resulting in the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines by the General Assembly in 2007. The existing framework has failed to ensure space sustainability and safety, calling for innovative measures to tackle the problem. The Emission Trading System is a market-based approach that has been proven successful in controlling pollution. The system has been employed in the Kyoto Protocol. The research paper seeks to appraise the existing framework on space junk mitigation and the liability imposed on nations for contributing to its degradation. It further aims to investigate the suitability of the Emission Trading System in space junk clearance. In addition, the author aims to test its efficiency in bringing sustainability to the existing system.

Keywords: Space Debris, Space Junk, Emission Trading System, Sustainability, Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, Space Technology