Salvage rights

Out of curiosity I sent this inquiry to the Orbital Debris Program
Office at NASA. Mr. Johnson was kind enough to respond. Transcript
follows.

Mr. Gidman,

Man-made objects in space are never officially "classified" as space
debris. They remain the property - and responsibility - of the
country which was responsible for their launch, as indicated by the
register of space objects maintained by the Office of Outer Space
Affairs at the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. I recommend that
you visit their website which has considerable background
information, including all UN space-related treaties.

Nicholas L. Johnson
Chief Scientist and Program Manager
Orbital Debris Program Office
NASA Johnson Space Center

> ----------
>
> Mr. Johnson,
>
> A question recently came up in our newsgroup about salvage rights
and orbital debris. Are there national or international policies,
laws, or treaties regarding the ownership of space debris?
>
> The specific example was the abandonment of the Hubble Telescope.
When does it become space debris? Once classified as space debris,
could it, in the current political environment, be salvaged by anyone
and resold or put back into use?
>
> Where can I go to read more about this?
>
> Chris.
>

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