NASA still could be liable for space station operations after transferring to commercial companies - Houston Chronicle

NASA still could be held liable for what happens on the International Space Station even after transferring operations to commercial companies, a space law expert said Wednesday.

NASA has been toying with the idea of ending federal operations -- and therefore, funding -- on the International Space Station for several years. In theory, commercial companies would take over, allowing the U.S. to funnel the more than $1 billion it spends on the orbiting laboratory each year toward other human exploration endeavors.

But Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, professor emerita of space law at the University of Mississippi, says that two international treaties would make such a transition trickier than simply handing over the keys and walking away.

The International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement, says that "the transfer of ownership shall not effect rights and obligations of parties."

American officials could try to renegotiate this agreement with the more than a dozen partners on the orbiting laboratory, Gabrynowicz told members of U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics on Wednesday.

But even if a new agreement could be reached, she said the U.S. would need to tackle the limitations of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which requires the signing parties to use space for peaceful purposes only.

That treaty requires the U.S. to be responsible for ISS "in perpetuity," she said

"The U.S. government and through it, the U.S. taxpayers, will ultimately be deemed responsible for reparations if it is deemed necessary because of events arising from U.S. non-governmental activities," Gabrynowicz said.

America could withdraw from the treaty or alter it, she said, but "that is not favored by the space industry itself or by the U.S. Department of State."

Currently, operations on the space station are scheduled to end in 2024, but Congress has the ability to extend that date. Experts have said the space station can operate safely until at least 2030.

President Donald Trump has a different idea. Last year, he proposed ending federal funding in 2024, allowing commercial entities to take over its operation by 2025.

But many in Congress have questioned whether commercial companies could step up to fill the government's funding role. Several lawmakers also have taken the initial steps to extend federal operations through 2030.

The Trump administration has since backed off on a hard deadline for the transition, opting instead to move forward with an as-soon-as-possible approach. But the treaties's limitations suggest another stumbling block for the president.

Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and science for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/space/article/NASA-still-could-be-liable-for-space-station-14085126.php

2019-07-10 15:14:00Z
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