…and they should be yours too! There is a question of when an international practice becomes a binding law. Some invoke the Treaty of Vienna, a highly controversial subject in the United States, to say that a treaty obligation arises as soon as a country signs a treaty regardless of whether or not it is ratified. Others talk about international norms becoming binding international law if enough countries follow it for long enough. I think I discovered the answer as far as space goes: its the “law” as soon as the space insurance industry decides it is.
The space insurance industry is now thinking that space-debris mitigation guidelines being propagated by the United Nations might define whether or not a satellite operator is at fault for any damage fragments from that satellite (or its launch vehicle) might do if those guidelines are not followed. That means if they don’t “re-orbit” a geostationary satellite to the so-called super-sync region several hundred kilometers above the geostationary altitude, they will be liable for any future damage. If they don’t have plans for doing that at launch time, they might not get launch insurance. If they orbit their satellite anyways and it does cause damage, the insurance companies of third party satellites damaged as a consequence will sue to recover the damages. This will probably be the financial incentive necessary to get satellites owners to comply with those guidelines (and codes of conduct).
This is in line with the unsung role insurance companies have played in preventing terrorists from sending WMD into US ports in shipping containers.
So, thanks insurance companies! Now about my auto rates…
