State Liability for Outer Space Activities in Accordance with the 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects

The utilization of outer space is fraught with dangers. In an effort to guarantee, as much as possible, the rights of victims of injury or damage caused by outer space objects, the United Nations, through its committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, adopted the 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects. The present volume provides an analysis of the Liability Convention. In Part One, the athor provides an article-by-article commentary on the convention. In Part Two, the implementation of the Convention is reviewed in the light of the events surrounding the 1978 Cosmos 954 incident when a nuclear powered Soviet satellite disintegrated over northern Canada spreading radioactive debris over a vast area. In Part Three, the author investigates the role played by the Convention in the development of international tort law within the context of the work of the International Law Commission on the question of "International Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Acts not Prohibited by International Law". Finally, in Part Four, the contribution of the Convention to general International Law is examined.