Given that Russia charges a lot for flights over Siberia from Europe to Asia, would flying above the Kármán line (100km) effectively bypass this restriction (from legal perspective) ? If not, what is that altitude ?
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3Related: Is there a height limit to national airspace? – Jan 05 '20 at 21:36
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The Kármán line is considered to be the upper limit of airspace and the lower limit of outer space. According to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 outer space cannot be appropriated by nations (nations cannot claim ownership of parts of outer space).
In that sense, one would be able to fully legally avoid navigation (and other) fees and bureaucracy imposed by any country one was to fly over if it was done above the Kármán line, but since the stunt would require a spacecraft, it hardly would pay off...
Jpe61
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The Kármán line is an attempt at a definition. For instance the USAF and FAI have different definitions for it. The cost-effectiveness part of your answer is good, but the rest may give the wrong impression that all countries agree to where space starts. – Jan 05 '20 at 21:34
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Any aircraft that must generate net downlift in order to not gain altitude, can be safely considered to be orbiting rather than flying. – quiet flyer Jan 06 '20 at 20:19
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You are correct @ymb1 FAI and space trieties use Kármán line, while for example US consideres space to begin 20km lower. I might have to improve the wording of my answer. What I was after is that Kármán line is the "safe" option with not much of anyone claiming you to be in their airspace. For cost, the aforementioned 20k difference hardly makes, well, a difference. – Jpe61 Jan 06 '20 at 20:33