‘A Very Famous Payload’: The Launch of a Car into Orbit around the Sun Offers an Opportunity to Reconsider the International Framework for the Prevention of Harmful Contamination of Outer Sp

Abstract

On 6 February 2018, the US corporation SpaceX launched a highly publicized payload into orbit around the sun. Although the use of a car as a payload mass simulator might be dismissed as a publicity stunt, it represents an opportunity to examine whether the current legal framework governing what we put into space is adequate. The Outer Space Treaty provides all States with the freedom of scientific investigation, exploration and use of outer space, while balancing this with obligations to avoid its harmful contamination. In the burgeoning New Space era, will commercial space operators be held to the same standards as national space agencies? Is it legal to launch a car into orbit, contributing to the growing problem of space debris? How should we ensure private space operators comply with their obligations to prevent the harmful contamination of outer space? This article explores these questions in the context of theOuter Space Treaty, the Planetary Protection Policy maintained by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and the UN Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, offering proposals to strengthen these guidelines, while highlighting the unique opportunity COSPAR has to redefine the role it plays in protecting the environment of outer space.