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IANAL, and a lot of this hasn't really been tested in the courts, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Liability_Convention would seem to apply:

"If State A caused the launch to happen, then State A is fully liable for damages that result from that space object."

and

"Whereas under most national legal systems an individual or a corporation may bring a lawsuit against another individual or another corporation, under the Liability Convention claims must be brought on the state level only."



Hasn't it been tested? It applied (only) once, but in that one case the responsible country (USSR) paid out the damages.


Liability was a lot clearer there - it was a Russian government satellite, launched by the Russians.

Here we've got a satellite owned by an American company launched by an Indian rocket. The US is likely to say "the Indians shouldn't have launched it!" India's likely to say "it's an American satellite!"




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