PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN OUTER SPACE - LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM OF SPACE DEBRIS

Space debris is a growing problem for human space activities. The international community has started to develop an ongoing debate about this problem about 20 years ago. First an Inter-Agency Space Debris Committee has adopted so-called Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines in 2002 which later on were the basis for Mitigation Guidelines adopted by the Scientific Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in its Resolution 62/217. Although some progress has been made, many of the "duties" of these guidelines are still legally non-binding and of a rather technical nature only. It will be seen in the future whether this is a sufficient legal basis for the mitigation and, moreover, the remediation of space debris.