TECHNICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEMS OF SPACE DRONES

Abstract

The article presents several legal and technical challenges related to space drones. This topic isground-breaking, as space law (without a definition of space object or space drone) is attempting tokeep up with the evolving space technology.The design and construction of space drones may be used to study Mars, Venus and other celestialbodies. These first two planets were studied well in the 20th Century; for example, the atmosphereof Venus was explored by two balloons. A few years ago, the concept of using UAVs in spacemissions appeared. On April 19, 2022, a successful experiment was carried out with the first smallMars space drone Ingenuity; it took ten photos (of the crashed lander), which were sent to thePerseverance rover, and through it to the Earth. Larger space drones are currently being developed;one of the projects concerns a platform for launching spacecraft from a height of 18 km above theEarth, and another assumes the use of nuclear propulsion in space drones.However, it appears that the law is unable to keep up with evolving space technology. Plans for theuse of space drones may face many difficulties due to the imprecision or loopholes of internationalspace law and the need to rely on soft law, i.e. regulations and recommendations whose adoptiondepends on the goodwill of states. Besides, using analogy to unmanned aerial vehicle regulation(EU, ICAO) may not prove to be always possible. What is more, there is a scarcity of literature andlack of legislation on space drones, which is a challenge for international lawyers. Aviation law andaviation organizations taking care of UAVs are good examples to be followed by space legislators.