Attorney Mica Nguyen Worthy is suing NASA on behalf of Florida homeowner Alejandro Otero and his family to recover damages after space debris struck their family home in early March, according to the Cranfill Sumner law firm where Worthy is a partner.
On March 8, a piece of space debris crashed through the roof of Otero’s house while his son Daniel was in the room. The debris left a large hole in the roof through the subfloor.
NASA later confirmed that the space debris came from the flight support equipment, which was used to mount the batteries on the cargo pallet.
In March 2021, NASA’s ground forces used the International Space Station’s robotic arm to release a cargo pallet of batteries from the space station after installing new batteries as part of an orbital outpost upgrade.
NASA stated that although the hardware was expected to burn up during entry into Earth’s atmosphere on March 8, a piece of hardware survived the reentry and struck the Florida home.
In discussing the cause of the debris, NASA added: “Based on the investigation, the agency determined that the debris was a support of the NASA flight support equipment used to mount the batteries on the cargo pallet. The object is made of the metal alloy Inconel, weighs 1.6 pounds, is 4 inches high and 1.5 inches in diameter.
The space agency said they will continue to investigate why the hardware did not burn out during entry and will update their systems so this doesn’t happen again.
The Otero family is demanding damages
Otero’s family members are pursuing claims for uninsured property damage, business interruption damages, emotional/mental anguish damages and the costs of third party assistance required in the lawsuit.
In addition, Oteros’ homeowner’s insurance company simultaneously filed a claim for damages to the property he had subrogated.
“Space debris is a real and serious problem due to the increase in space traffic in recent years,” Worthy emphasizes.
“My clients seek adequate compensation to take into account the stress and impact of this event on their lives. They are grateful that no one suffered any physical harm from this incident, but a “near miss” situation like this could have been catastrophic. If the debris had traveled a few meters in another direction there could have been serious injury or death,” Worthy added.
Worthy is a partner in the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Cranfill Sumner LLP and chair of the firm’s Aviation and Aerospace Practice Group.
Worthy also emphasized to NASA that it should keep in mind that U.S. citizens do not need to bring a claim under a legal theory of negligence when the U.S. government has agreed to be “absolutely liable” under international treaty law for harm to persons or properties on the Earth’s surface caused by its space objects.
“If the incident had occurred abroad and someone in another country had been damaged by the same space debris as in the case of the Oteros, the US would have been absolutely liable to pay for those damages under the Convention on International Liability for damage caused by space travel. Objects also known as the ‘Space Liability Convention,'” Worthy noted.
“We have asked NASA not to apply a different standard to U.S. citizens or residents, but instead to care for the Oteros and make them whole,” she said.
“Here the U.S. government, through NASA, has the opportunity to set the standard or ‘set a precedent’ for what responsible, safe, and sustainable space operations should look like. If NASA were to take the position that the Oteros’ claims should be paid in full, it would send a signal to other governments and private industries that such victims should be compensated regardless of their fault,” Worthy concluded.
NASA has six months to respond to the allegations.