With the international space station being decommissioned within the decade and other abandoned satellites what are the rules on independently saving these objects?
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1Has anything actually been abandoned in a long-term stable orbit which is useful and economical to claim and refurbish instead of replace? The cost of salvage would be, ahem, astronomical. – Starfish Prime May 03 '23 at 16:16
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I've submitted a vote to close as a duplicate for a related question about salvaging lunar equipment. To my knowledge the answer covers all the same ground that an answer to this would. – Erin Anne May 03 '23 at 20:35
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@StarfishPrime I'm no expert in anything maritimeish or lawish, but I think that salvage is about recovering some otherwise lost value, and is not limited to refurbishment and reuse. So if you pull an old first stage engine off of the ocean floor that didn't originally belong to you, clean it up and put it in your living room or sell it to a museum, your right to keep it for whatever reason you like might also fall under the umbrella term "salvage law". See for example Could parts be salvaged off the Apollo thrusters found on the ocean floor? – uhoh May 03 '23 at 22:15
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@StarfishPrime also slightly related What happens to rocket stages that land in the oceans, and how many are still there? and Do space industry companies want their defunct satellites back? – uhoh May 03 '23 at 22:21
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@Joe if that's what you mean then I think you should click "edit" under your question and make that clearer. If you are specifically asking about refurbishment and reuse, or recovering cash compensation from the original owners, you should make that clear as well. It's hard to say if you want to claim ownership or repair and return to service for financial reward. Thanks! – uhoh May 03 '23 at 22:26
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See also this answer to Legality of nuclear debris field on the Moon? which links to the old TV show Salvage 1 (Wikipedia, IMDB) and includes a screenshot of Andy Griffith in a space suit something you don't see every day! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saPerT1lpJA&t=191s – uhoh May 03 '23 at 23:04
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1@StarfishPrime, I'm sure the NSA would love to get their hands on a derelict Russian surveillance satellite. – Mark May 03 '23 at 23:22
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@Mark the NSA famously adheres to international law in all aspects of its work, so I'm sure they'd keep their hands off any russian satellite stuff if there was any hint of impropriety. – Starfish Prime May 04 '23 at 08:26
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@StarfishPrime, you can't sneak up on things in space. Claiming salvage rights on a derelict would generate much less of an international incident than stealing it outright. – Mark May 04 '23 at 21:53
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1@Mark yep, I'm sure once you've told the russians it isn't stealing, its just salvaging, they'll just sigh and nod leave you to it. – Starfish Prime May 05 '23 at 08:35