Is there a protocol for warning people if an out-of-control satellite crash is imminent in a populated area?
Who is responsible for covering damages caused by this satellite?
Who is responsible for covering damages caused by this satellite?
Depending on who you talk to, much more natural rock falls to earth every day (asteroids etc) than satellites. A hundred pound rock might make a local newspaper headline but only if someone sees it.
Space Law is a developing and mostly uncodified field of International Law, but it is generally considered very uncontroversial that the nation(s)/cosporation(s) responsible for causing the satellite to go out of control should foot the bill for any cleanup/damages. It could be the entity that made a faulty satellite or the entity that failed to launch it to the proper orbit or even an entity that created the debris that caused another satellite to lose orbit.