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James Cooper, Ankush Chauhan, Olivia Puchalski
Air and Space Law
Volume 45, Issue 3 (2020) pp. 359 – 364
https://doi.org/10.54648/aila2020043
Extract
The article conceptualizes the existing international environmental law principles to better understand their applicability to outer space. The article proposes utilizing existing international environmental legal principles to implement the idea of waste hierarchy concept of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ to address issues concerning long-term sustainability of outer space. The primary focus is on issues pertaining to transfer of ownership, on-obit servicing, and active debris removal and how they can be used to achieve the sustainable development goals of outer space through the waste hierarchy concept. The article ultimately suggests that existing international environmental law and space law together can ensure an efficient framework to help cope with issues threatening the sustainable use of outer space. The article works towards understanding the importance of bridging the gaps in the existing international space law regime with respect to long-term sustainability of outer space.