It’s a question that could appear on a law school exam: If a home is hit by debris falling from space, who is liable for the repairs?
The question isn’t theoretical for Naples, Florida, resident Alejandro Otero, whose home was hit by debris from the International Space Station earlier this month.
He tells NPR that his homeowners’ insurance put the cost of the damage at more than $15,000 and that he will be sending NASA a claim for damages not covered by insurance.
Mark Sundahl, director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University, tells NPR that the situation is “kind of unprecedented,” though it is covered by a 1972 international convention on liability caused by objects from space.
It becomes a domestic legal issue, and a homeowner would have to bring a tort action against the federal government.”
With space junk proliferating, the incident should serve as a “wake-up call to policymakers, major aerospace players and the public at large,” writes Leonard David at Scientific American.
Otero tells NPR that his 19-year-old son was home when the debris hit but wasn’t injured.
(More space junk stories.)
Alejandro Otero, a resident of Naples, Florida, had his home struck by debris from the International Space Station earlier this month. While this may seem like a hypothetical question for a law school exam, Alejandro Otero has personal experience with this issue. He tells NPR that the damage was valued at more than $15,000 by his homeowners’ insurance, and he plans to submit a claim to NASA for any damages not covered by the policy. The situation is “kind of unprecedented,” according to Mark Sundahl, director of Cleveland State University’s Global Space Law Center, even though it is covered by a 1972 international convention on liability caused by objects from space.
When falling NASA debris strikes an American’s property, however, “then the international law no longer applies,” according to Sundahl. Under the convention, “the launching state is absolutely liable for any damage to property or persons that occurs on the surface of the Earth.”. A homeowner would have to file a tort action against the federal government since it becomes a domestic legal matter. According to NASA, the 14.6-pound metal fragment that broke through Otero’s roof was a stanchion from NASA flight support equipment, which was utilized to arrange 5,800 pounds of outdated batteries on a pallet before being launched into space in 2021.
An investigation is planned, according to NASA, “to ascertain the cause of the debris survival and to update modeling and analysis, as needed.”. According to Leonard David at Scientific American, “the incident should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers, major aerospace players, and the public at large” given the proliferation of space junk. Otero tells NPR that his son, 19, was at home when the debris struck, but he was unharmed. “Everyone’s safety and well-being are greatly appreciated,” he states. For the family, Otero claims it was “really scary.”. He claims that there are numerous lessons to be gained from this experience. “Hopefully, this won’t have to be experienced by anyone else. (More tales of space junk. ).
