[petabytes]

Why wouldn't they just pay it? Would there be any negative consequences?

[vikingerik]

Not really for this one incident, but you don't really want to set a precedent if anything bigger ever happens. A spacefaring nation doesn't want to establish the idea it could owe financial liability for it to someone else.

[robocat]

> don't really want to set a precedent

Or sensibly they want to set the precedent that AU$400 is the appropriate amount!

[wkat4242]

Well Russia did eventually pay Canada the cleanup bill for the nuclear pollution of Kosmos-954. Precedent is already there.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954

And as the article says, states are already obligated to do so under the outer space treaty.

[ddol]

admission of guilt, liability

[porompompero]

Indeed, and perhaps fear of precedent?