In 2019, India launched an anti- satellite missile in Low Earth Orbit, becoming only the fourth country to test an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon. The United States was not alone in violating the spirit of a peaceful outer space. In 2018, Donald Trump announced the creation of a new US Space Command, the sixth branch of the US military, saying that his “new national strategy for space recognizes that space is a war-fighting domain just like the land, sea and air,” the exact opposite of the intent of the UN declarations on outer space. In December 2020, as a complement to the 2019 work of the UN Fourth Committee on peaceful cooperation in space, the UN First Committee on Disarmament passed four resolutions on “Confidence Building Measures in Outer Space,” “No First Placement of Weapons in Outer Space,” “Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space” and “Reducing Space Threats Through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behavior.” These hopeful declarations, however, followed state behaviors that increased the militarization of outer space instead of reducing it. In the 19 th century, transformative changes in communication technology such as the telegraph and underwater cables led to some of the first international organizations like the 1865 International Telegraph Union and the 1874 Universal Postal Union and, in the 21 st century, we will need the same creativity to govern communication satellites in space.īut, alas, as is common with our species, for every bit of news that gives one hope there are just as many actions that bring despair. With 100,000 satellites on the horizon, greatly pushed by the private sector, the need for a global framework is obvious. In November 2019, after many years of work, the United Nations approved a draft resolution on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space with specific guidelines for the “Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities.” China's representative emphasized that there should be no legal or regulatory vacuum in the governance of space resources exploration and pressed for the creation of a working group within the Outer Space Committee's Legal Subcommittee to develop international rules and regulations. The International Space Station is a multinational collaborative modular space station in low Earth orbit involving the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada. Nations share space tracking stations: China, for example, has tracking stations in Kenya and Argentina and shares other facilities jointly with France, Brazil, Sweden and Australia. These ideals have largely been put into practice. The treaty prohibits countries from putting nuclear weapons in orbit and tasks countries with “avoiding the harmful contamination of celestial bodies.” The treaty represents the best ideals of humankind privileging planetary protection, the common good and peaceful cooperation. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty establishes that all nations should have free access to space and that exploration of the cosmos should be a peaceful enterprise “for the benefit and in the interests of all countries.” Space and celestial bodies cannot be appropriated by a state, i.e. And according to Victoria Samson in a February 2021 article “Threats to space aren't just weapons" in Trends Research that succinctly outlines the issues involved in the current debate over outer space and informs much of what follows in this piece, there is potential for over 100,000 satellites by 2029 vastly affecting space traffic considerations, competition over the spectrum and the problem of space debris. ![]() ![]() Our image of space is usually state centric with space missions organized by NASA or the Chinese National Space Administration, but the private sector is increasing its impact in space exponentially: In the past year, SpaceX, owned by entrepreneur Elon Musk, has launched more than 1000 satellites or about a quarter of all operational satellites. Over 80 countries own or operate the 3500 active satellites now orbiting in space and today almost every person on the globe is a user of space data/services from the cell phone user in Botswana, to massive institutions like the Microsoft system cloud storage. The introduction of 5G capability will increase fantastically the speed of the internet and “the internet of things” propelled by artificial intelligence and the speed and storage of data is just around the corner. Satellites produce the GPS networks that allow us to navigate our streets, pinpoint our locations and monitor our weather. Space has become more and more woven into our daily lives: The satellites that orbit the earth send and receive signals and data that are used for communications over the internet.
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