营救协定对外空游客的适用性

Applicability of the Rescue Agreement to Space Tourists

《关于各国探索和利用包括月球和其他天体的外层空间活动所应遵守原则的条约》和《营救宇宙航行员、送回宇宙航行员和归还发射到外层空间的物体的协定》的起草历史表明,当时可以飞往外层空间的只有宇航员或宇宙飞船上的工作人员,因此,《关于各国探索和利用包括月球和其他天体的外层空间活动所应遵守原则的条约》和《营救宇宙航行员、送回宇宙航行员和归还发射到外层空间的物体的协定》中的"宇航员"和"宇宙飞船的船员"是不包括外空游客。尽管从人道主义的角度来看,在载人航天器上的每个人,无论其法律地位如何,在其生命处于危险之中时,都应有权获得援助。但需要国际社会通过新的国际立法予以扩大解释"宇航员"和"宇宙飞船的船员"的定义,确立关于外空游客的法律地位,或根据《维也纳条约法公约》的规定,扩大解释《营救宇宙航行员、送回宇宙航行员和归还发射到外层空间的物体的协定》的可能性。

The legislative history of the Rescue Agreement and the Outer Space Treaty indicated that the persons who could travel to outer space were only astronauts or personnel of spacecrafts when these agreements were drafted, so space tourists can＇t fall into the categories of ＂astronauts＂ and ＂personnel＂ in the Outer Space Treaty and the Rescue Agreement. From the perspective of humanitarianism,whenever lives in space shuttles are facing emergency,they should have the right to be aided. However, international community should establish new international legislations to broadly interpret the definition of ＂astronauts＂ and ＂personnel＂ or establish the status of on space tourist.