Table Of ContentStudies in Space Policy
Annette Froehlich Editor
On-Orbit
Servicing: Next
Generation
of Space
Activities
Studies in Space Policy
Volume 26
Series Editor
European Space Policy Institute, Vienna, Austria
Edited by: European Space Policy Institute, Vienna, Austria
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Annette Froehlich
Editor
On-Orbit Servicing:
Next Generation of Space
Activities
123
Editor
Annette Froehlich
European Space Policy Institute
Vienna,Austria
ISSN 1868-5307 ISSN 1868-5315 (electronic)
Studies in SpacePolicy
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Preface
On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) is a clear sign that space activities have entered a new
phase.Thefirstphasewascharacterisedbytheemergenceofthemajorspacefaring
nations and includes the space race. During this era, space activities were over-
whelminglygovernmentalormilitaryinnature.Thesecondphasesawtheopening
upofthesectortocommercialactors,withactivitiesnolongercenteredasheavilyon
governments or militaries. New activities in commercial fields such as telecom-
munications multiplied. The latest phase has witnessed the rise of private space
actorsandischaracterisedbytheemergenceofanin-spaceeconomy,withamuch
greaterfocusonneweconomicactivitiesandopportunitiesinorbit.Emergingspace
actors from the Global South are also participating in this new phase to a much
greater extent than hitherto. Also, whereas in previous phases the consequences of
spaceactivitiesweregivenscantattention,thisfocusisnowattheforefront,andas
such,OSSisattheheartofthisnewphaseofspaceactivities.Adedicatedvolume
thatbringstogetherarangeofnewanddiverseinsightsonOSSisthustimely.OSS
itselfisalsoevolving,withearlyoperationscarriedoutbyastronautsorcosmonauts
whilefurthermissionsarelikelytobeconductedbyrobots.Assuch,inthisvolume,
theimplicationsof OSS will be explored from a varietyof angles.
Space debris mitigation is a critical issue in terms of the sustainability of outer
space activities and has been the subject of vigorous debate in the United Nations
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) and elsewhere.
Various regulations and standards have consequently been created, including the
UNCOPUOS Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, the European Space Agency
(ESA) Debris Mitigation Requirements, and the U.S. Orbital Debris Mitigation
StandardPractices.Whiletheseregulationsarewelcome,OOSpresentsbothanew
challengeandopportunity,sinceitisopeningupthepossibilityofin-spacerepairs,
refuelling, and refurbishment of spacecraft. OOS is thus a further evolution of
debris mitigation. The possibility of servicing satellites can play a critical role in
extending the satellite lifecycle, and as such also supports the ESA’s Clean Space
initiative. However, it is necessary to approach the topic of OSS from more than
just a technical feasibility angle, since it raises questions and concerns from
political, legal, economic, and security perspectives.
v
vi Preface
Indeed,fromamilitarystandpoint,duetothedual-usenatureofOOS,normsof
behaviour must be formulated and implemented in terms of transparency and
confidence-building measures (TCBMs) in outer space activities. Moreover, the
principle expressed in the Outer Space Treaty that all space activities shall be for
peaceful purposesstillhasnouniformlyaccepteddefinition, anditisvitalthatthis
issueisclarifiedsoitcanplayapartinpreventinghostileactionsundertheguiseof
OSS. As such, a distinction may have to be made between governmental and
non-governmental OSS operators. This is only one of many legal questions and
challenges arising from OSS. Others include, for example, the status of re-worked
and recycled space objects, especially in terms of a potential transfer of ownership
and jurisdiction. There is also the question of control in terms of operations per-
formed in orbit, i.e. in the international sphere. A distinction will need to be made
betweenarepairoperation,andtheuseofrecycledmaterialfromdisusedspacecraft
to create new objects manufactured through, for example, 3D printing utilising the
recycled material. This issue has serious legal implications regarding the status
of the manufactured objects and applicable law, including liability and registration
(forexample,whowillbeconsideredasthelaunchingstate?).Inturn,thiswillhave
animpactoninsurancelawandriskmanagement.Forinstance,satellitespreviously
considered total losses might be viewed differently by insurance companies in the
context of OSS technology. Risk management thus has to be reviewed.
Finally, OSS also has implications for emerging space actors in the Global
South. While their capabilities are more limited in terms of participating as OSS
providers, this will directly affect their space operations. For example, OSS has a
major transformative potential for emerging space actors who have experienced
losses of expensive spacecraft providing critical services. For this reason, while
OSS may seem to be a concern of the developed space actors, emerging space
nations, particularly in Africa, will have to play a much more active role in the
debates on the legal, political, economic, security, and risk issues if they are to
safeguardtheirowninterests.Thecriticalchallengeistoachieveaparadigmshiftin
perspective so that developing countries recognise the need and urgency of being
involved in discussions around OSS, as opposed to leaving it up to the developed
space actors.
Providinganovel approachtoand perspectivesonOSSthis publicationwill be
of great interest to practitioners, academics, and students working in the space
sector and related fields.
Vienna, Austria Dr. Annette Froehlich
May 2020 European Space Policy Institute (ESPI)
Seconded by German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Contents
1 Legal Approach on the Dual-Use Nature of On-Orbit Servicing
Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Anne-Sophie Martin
2 Risk Management and Insurance of On-Orbit Servicing . . . . . . . . . 13
Katarzyna Malinowska
3 Legal Aspects of Space Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Zhuang Tian and Yangyang Cui
4 On-Orbit Servicing: Security and Legal Aspects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
John Tziouras
5 On-Orbit Servicing: Space for Africa? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
André Siebrits
6 The Space Race on Sustainability: Business and Legal Challenges
for On-Orbit-Servicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Claudiu Mihai Tăiatu
7 On-Orbit Servicing, Opportunity and Liability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Christoffel Kotze
8 On-Orbit Servicing from a Legal and Policy Perspective . . . . . . . . . 141
Margaux Morssink
9 Legal Aspects Relating to On-Orbit Servicing and Active
Debris Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Ewan Wright
vii
Chapter 1
Legal Approach on the Dual-Use Nature
of On-Orbit Servicing Programs
Anne-SophieMartin
Abstract On-orbitservicing(OOS)activitiesconsistinafocusedaction,througha
‘spacetug’inordertomaintain,repair,upgrade,refuelorde-orbitaspacecraftwhile
itisinorbit.Theseactivitiesrequiretheservicerspacecrafttoapproach,rendezvous
andinteroperatewiththespaceassettoanotherState,Agencyorprivatecompany.
In this context, even if OOS missions are as a first step not considered as military
activities,thebasicabilitiesofthesystemareofdual-usenature,allowingciviland
military capacities. So, one can highlight the fact that an on-orbit service vehicle
might represent a risk to the peaceful uses of outer space. Thus, one of the main
legalchallengesistofigureouthowtheOOSvehicleisusedandthepurposeofits
mission.Asafirststep,thechapteranalysesthearticleIVoftheOuterSpaceTreaty.
Then, it underscores that if these technologies cannot be considered as weapons;
theycanbeviewedasamenacebecauseoftheirdual-usenature.Hence,thechapter
considersthecriteriaforTransparencyandConfidenceBuildingMeasuresinorder
toidentifynormsofbehaviorallowingtoreducetherisksofmisunderstandingthat
couldinducecrisisorconflictinouterspace.
1R.S.Jakhu,J.N.Pelton(eds),GlobalSpaceGovernance:AnInternationalStudy,Springer,2017,
331 ss; SpaceNews, On-Orbit Satellite Servicing: The Next Big Thing in Space?, November
17, 2017: https://spacenews.com/on-orbit-satellite-servicing-the-next-big-thing-in-space/; Space-
News,In-OrbitServicesPoisedtoBecomeBigBusiness,June10,2018:https://spacenews.com/in-
orbit-services-poised-to-become-big-business/.
B
A.-S.Martin( )
DepartmentofPoliticalSciences,SapienzaUniversityofRome,Rome,Italy
e-mail:[email protected]
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicense 1
toSpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2020
A.Froehlich(ed.),On-OrbitServicing:NextGenerationofSpaceActivities,
StudiesinSpacePolicy26,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51559-1_1
2 A.-S.Martin
1.1 Introduction—RecentPracticeinSpaceServicing
Missions
On-orbit servicing (OOS) and Rendezvous and Proximity (RPO) missions are
becoming a reality.1 They represent the next generation of space activities2 with
the purpose to approach and to operate space assets in orbit. Recently, the private
companyNorthropGrummansuccessfullylaunchedanOOSmission.3Othercompa-
niessuchasAirbusDefenceandSpace,4MDACorporation5aredevelopingthistech-
nology.Moreover,spaceinsurancecompaniesareimplementingnewunderwriting
processbasedonthesenovelbusinessplans.6
TheEuropeanSpaceAgencyisalsoenhancingthisnewtechnologywithClean
Space.7 Themissionhasvariouspurposes,andinparticularspacedebrisremoval.8
Itwillallowtorefuelingsatellites,repairingandmovingthemtoneworbits.
These missions depict a new paradigm in space activities. Indeed, on one hand
there is a requirement to prevent collision in orbit; on the other hand, in case of
OOS/RPO, the issue is to dock two space assets, which raise some legal issues,9
inparticulartowhatextentthesetechnologiescanbeviewedaspeaceful.Further-
more, if at first sight OOS are not military space activities; nevertheless, the basic
abilitiesofthesesystemsareofdualusenature,enablingalsomilitarycapabilities.
Consequently, this technology has the capacity to being used to harm other space
asset.
2ESPIBriefs,In-OrbitServicing:ChallengesandImplicationsofanEmergingCapability,n.38,
February2020.
3The Verge, Two commercial satellites just docked in space for the first time, Feb.
26, 2020: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/26/21154426/commercial-satellites-docking-space-
northrop-grumman-intelsat; SpaceNews, Northrop Grumman’s MEV-1 servicer docks with
Intelsatsatellite,Feb.26,2020:https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans-mev-1-servicer-docks-
with-intelsat-satellite/; see also EOportal Directory, MEV-1 (Mission Extension Vehicle-
1): https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/m/mev-1; Northrop Grumman,
MissionExtensionVehicle:https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/space-logistics-services/mis
sion-extension-vehicle/; SpaceNews, Intelsat-910 Satellite, with MEV-1 Servicer Attached,
Resumes Service, April 17, 2020: https://spacenews.com/intelsat-901-satellite-with-mev-1-ser
vicer-attached-resumes-service/;seealsoSpace,AilingIntelsatSatelliteBeginsNewLifeinOrbit
AfterHistoricServicingMissionSuccess,April17,2020:https://www.space.com/ailing-intelsat-
satellite-revived-by-mev-1-mission-success.html.
4Airbus website, O. Cubed Services: https://www.airbus.com/space/Services/on-orbit-services.
html.
5MDAwebsite,RoboticsandOn-OrbitServicing:https://mdacorporation.com/isg/robotics-automa
tion/space-based-robotics-solutions/.
6J.J.Klein,UnderstandingSpaceStrategy—TheArtofWarinSpace,Routledge,2019,258p.
7ESAwebsite,In-OrbitServicing:Missionprofile:http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/
2019/07/In-Orbit_Servicing_Mission_profile.
8Ibidem.
9A.S.Martin,S.Freeland,ExploringtheLegalChallengesofFutureOn-OrbitServicingMissions
andProximityOperations,JournalofSpaceLaw,43.2,2019,196–222.
