![]() “A civilian satellite can be used that way. “We don’t have a definition of what a weapon is in space,” Hertzfeld said. Practically any satellite could have a malevolent purpose due to the nature of “dual use” technologies-devices that can be deployed for both peaceful and military purposes. There are a lot of voids that are not clearly delineated in the treaties that will be resolved by national interpretations, which will vary.”įor instance, just because weapons of mass destruction are outlawed in space does not mean that every object cleared for launch is benign. “The treaties are good documents but they set up principles,” said Henry Hertzfeld, a research professor at the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. ![]() But the O.S.T., and the agreements that followed it, faces new challenges in the 21st century that could affect the lives of everyone on our planet. outlawed weapons of mass destruction in space, prohibited national appropriation of celestial bodies, and asserted that “exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind.”įor more than 50 years, this ideal of space flight as a (relatively) peaceful and inclusive endeavor has proven resilient, and as of 2019, more than 100 nations are party to the treaty. These imminent dangers were so obvious that the United States and the Soviet Union felt compelled to come to the negotiating table.Įven as Cold War tensions flared, the rivals, along with the United Kingdom, cosigned the Outer Space Treaty (O.S.T.) of 1967, the crown jewel of all international space law. As late as 1962, the Soviet Union and the United States were sabre-rattling by detonating nuclear weapons in space, raising the specter of devastating missile strikes from orbit. That famous step Neil Armstrong took onto the lunar surface is etched in the American imagination as the pinnacle feat of the space race and the dawn of a new era of human exploration.īecause the 1960s were capped off by this epic space high, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the decade began with widespread and valid fears about the perils of space flight. On July 20, space enthusiasts around the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 11 moon landing. ![]() While international laws attempt to keep the occupation of space peaceful, many countries seek to find loopholes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |