Artificial Intelligence (AI) has permeated our every-day lives. What once was solely a human task, has now been taken over by AI. May it be credit card approvals, customer support, financial transactions, medical imaging or software development, there is AI working behind the scenes.
Outer space, historically always amongst the most developed domains, has not remained untouched for long and space applications have started to increasingly rely on AI. However, this increase in use also leads to a myriad of legal issues, particularly the issue of responsibility and liability under Article VI and Article VII of the Outer Space Treaty and the Liability Convention. Our legal norms, may they be domestic or international in nature, are ultimately built around human behaviour and when applied to AI might not function. Should damage caused by an AI-enabled space object arise, it proves difficult to assess the responsibility of the appropriate State party under Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty, or the liability of the launching State.
While legal literature is primarily concerned with domestic legal issues arising from the use of AI, an in-depth analysis concerning State responsibility and liability for AI-enabled space activities is absent. Space legal literature strongly favours a view advocating for the creation of new “hard law” in form of new binding legal instruments, or the amendment of existing law. Suggestions de lege ferenda are often relied on by authors.
Given the inherent difficulty in creating new law, or amend existing legal instruments, this book proposes to look towards the lex lata and argues that the existing legal norms of State responsibility, State liability and treaty law are sufficient to govern the responsibility of States for their AI-enabled apace activities. The present research looks at these issues from a public international law perspective and proposes a solution within the lex lata.
1. Introduction.-
2. Non-Contractual Liability.-
3. The Liability of the
Launching State under the Outer Space Treaty and the Liability Convention.-
4. State Responsibility for AI-enabled Space Activities.-
5. Conclusion.
Prof. Mag. Dr. Stefan-Michael Wedenig, LL.M, D.C.L, KC*HS, FRAeS is the Executive Director of the Institute and Centre for Research in Air and Space Law at McGill University, as well as an Assistant Professor (Professional) at the Faculty of Law. He holds a Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from McGill University, a Magister Iuris (Mag.iur.) from Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. His current research focuses on the international responsibility of States for space activities involving artificial intelligence (AI), exploring the interactions between AI and public international law, extra-contractual liability, torts and the adaptability of current legal frameworks to new technologies. He explores the complex interactions between advanced AI systems and multiple branches of public international law, focusing on areas such as State responsibility, extra-contractual liability, and torts. A key aspect of his work is analyzing whether existing legal frameworksoriginally designed for traditional human-operated activitiesare sufficiently adaptable and robust to account for the unique risks, uncertainties, and legal challenges posed by rapidly developing technologies. Prof. Wedenigs research also investigates the extent to which international law and national legal systems can accommodate novel scenarios, such as attribution of liability for decisions made by autonomous AI agents, the management of AI-induced accidents or malfunctions in aerospace, and the implications for sovereignty, risk management, and jurisdiction.
He has been a core member of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) Working Group on Legal Aspects of AI in Space, co-authoring a widely recognized international report on AI regulation in space, presented at major conferences and bodies such as UNCOPUOS, ESOC, ITU, and the Space Symposium in 2025. Beyond his primary research he also explores topics in aviation finance and urban air mobility.
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