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Comment by m1el | Hacker News Reader

What happens if I go to Russians?

They will have equivalent regulations, and they will tell the US all about your rocket anyway so World War III doesn't start because you thought it would be cool to try to sneak something into space.

Then the Red Airforce will ask a lot of questions about what you're doing. The last thing they want is the US confusing your rocket launch with a preemptive nuclear strike.

Then, the rest of the government will have their pick at you. By international law, each country is responsible for anything that gets launched into orbit by their citizens/companies/from their territory.

It may be 'international law', but I'm pretty sure it has never been enforced, and probably never will be unless there's an intentional aggressive action against some other country outside a time of war.

It's the kind of international law that results in lawsuits, which nation states don't always ignore.

But they generally do, since they are not enforceable... Worst case, you get some sanction/parting shot.

That said, I would love some examples of a country being convicted of violating international law (or losing a lawsuit in an 'international court'), and having to pay for it. The only ones I can think of are WTO trade disputes, but recent (~2 months?) history shows that this body is now incapable.

Oil companies have won international law cases against Venezuela as one normal example. You have to be able to enforce that through seizing assets though (if necessary), backed by force. That's true in any such court case, whether we're talking domestic or international.

Conoco won a judgment against Venezuela before the International Chamber of Commerce and they have an open case before the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes. They can then plausibly leverage the US Government as the means to seize assets of Venezuela in the US (Citgo being an example).

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/business/energy-environme...

An unorthodox example: Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was basically universally found to violate international law. The UN authorized coalition of 30 nations made them pay for it (crushed their military and economy).

You have to have a really big stick to back-stop anything like 'international law.' The UN and most agencies don't have that kind of power unto themselves, only nations do, because in most cases it ultimately comes down to military enforcement (for the exact same reason taxation enforcement ultimately is supported by a gun). The sole major exception to that, is the US using the USD global reserve currency as a platform for sanctions (through various levers), and or working with the EU and other large economies to sanction in concert (Iran, North Korea, et al.).

The US is one of the few entities capable of unilaterally dictating international law, because of its numerous large sticks. It occasionally suffers the non-surprising blowback from doing so (as with the recent withdrawal from the Iran deal).

Depends on how much they think it would annoy the US

If you're a US citizen, FAA regs still apply.

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