Legal Action against China Unlikely in Orbital Debris Collision

摘要

The apparent destruction of a tiny Russian satellite by a piece of Chinese space junk probably will not result in legal action against China, experts say. The collision involved Russia's Ball Lens In The Space (BLITS) nanosatellite, which likely collided Jan. 22 with a piece of orbital debris spawned by a 2007 anti-satellite test in which China deliberately destroyed one of its defunct weather satellites known as Fengyun-1C (FY-1C). China could technically be held responsible for the current state of the 7.5-kilogram BLITS satellite under the 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, analysts said.