The Legality Of Space Militarization

This publication explores the concept of common security and the legal foundations for its application in outer space law, based on the premise that outer space is an internationalised common area beyond the national jurisdiction of individual states, and therefore security in space must be the common security of all states. Chapters cover a range of issues including: the principle of the peaceful use of outer space, passive military uses, and multilateral negotiations to prevent an arms race in outer space; structural change of international law and the common heritage of mankind principle; and proposals for a multilateral agreement and the creation of an International Organisation for Common Security in Outer Space.

This book offers a compendium of diverse essays on emerging legal issues in outer space, written by experts in the field of Space Law from different parts of the globe. The book comprehensively addresses opportunities in space and the inevitable legal challenges that these space activities pose for mankind. It explores the increasing role of private sector in outer space, which calls for a review of policy and legislation; invites opinio juris from law scholars for ensuring the applicability of the Outer Space Treaty on all states without ratification and universal abidance with Space Law without demur; reflects upon the challenges for the global space community involved in implementing a more effective approach to international space governance; and considers the use of domestic laws, and the consequent need for legal reform, to encourage broader engagement with commercial space innovation. Further, the book delves into the adequacy of existing international liability regime to protect space tourists in the event of a space vehicle accidents; examines the increasing use of space for military activities and canvasses how International Law may apply to condition behaviour; highlights the challenges of scavenging space debris; calls for protections of space assets; touches upon the legal regime pertaining to ASAT and discusses other ways of creating normative instruments, which also come from other areas and use other methods. Given its comprehensive coverage of opportunities in space and the inevitable legal challenges that they pose, the book offers a valuable resource for students, researchers, academics and professionals including government officials, industry executives, specialists, and lawyers, helping them understand essential contemporary issues and developments in Space Law.

This book delves into legal and ethical concerns over the increased weaponization of outer space and the potential for space-based conflict in the very near future. Unique to this collection is the emphasis on questions of ethical conduct and legal standards applicable to military uses of outer space. No other existing publication takes this perspective, nor includes such a range of interdisciplinary expertise. The essays included in this volume explore the moral and legal issues of space security in four sections. Part I provides a general legal framework for the law of war and peace in space. Part II tackles ethical issues. Part III looks at specific threats to space security. Part IV proposes possible legal and diplomatic solutions. With an expert author team from North American and Europe, the volume brings together academics, military lawyers, military space operators, aerospace industry representatives, diplomats, and national security and policy experts. The experience of this team provides a collection unmatched in any academic publication broaching even some of these issues and will be required reading for anyone interested in war and peace in outer space.

From the front jacket flap: Contrary to widespread expectations in the wake of Sputnik, outer space did not immediately become a new arena for a superpower arms competition. Although the United States and the Soviet Union began to use space extensively for military purposes, both exhibited relatively little interest in the development of space weaponry. By the beginning of the 1980s, however, an arms race in space seemed inevitable. Now both the United States and the Soviet Union have developed the means to disable satellites and are now also considering the deployment of ballistic missile defenses in space. Why were these weapons never extensively developed earlier? What changed in the late 1970s to reverse the predominant trend in the militarization of space? What are the lessons for arms control and for Soviet-American relations in general? Paul Stares addresses these fundamental questions by examining the factors that have shaped United States policy towards the military use of space and in particular the development of antisatellite weapons. States relies heavily on declassified documents found in Presidential libraries and made available under the Freedom of Information Act, and he obtained additional information from a comprehensive series of interview with former members of the U.S. government and armed services. By judicious use of this material, he provides the first detailed account of United States space weapons policy and programs. An invaluable source of information for defense analysts and scholars of international relations, The Militarization of Space is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand present United States military space policy and its implications for the future.

The militarization of space began as a rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and grew to enormous proportions during the height of the Cold War. Satellite reconnaissance, navigation and weapons guidance, and electronic intelligence comprise only a few of the efforts taken to militarize and dominate space. Today as the prominence of information technology, computing, and telecommunications advances, so does the concept of space as a battlefield. In The Militarization and Weaponization of Space, Matthew Mowthorpe diligently analyzes the military space policies of the United States, the Soviet Union/Russia, and the People's Republic of China from the Cold War period to the present day. Mowthorpe focuses on the development of the ballistic missile defense and other anti-satellite systems and aptly assesses to what degree space will become armed. This work cogently addresses an issue of increasing urgency to scholars of international politics.

Space Law: A Case Study for the Practitioner: Implementing a Telecommunications Satellite Business Concept concentrates on the law governing commercial space ventures, commercial telecommunications satellite projects, in particular. The telecommunications satellite industry is by far the most mature of all the commercial space industries with a commensurate body of law governing it, & many of the same types of regulatory processes & private law transactions discussed in this book also pertain to the implementation of other commercial, & even non-commercial & military space ventures. The reader will find a clear description of the necessary legal actions lawyer & client must take to provide for the construction, launching & operation of a privately-owned telecommunications satellite. Both international & national laws & regulations pertaining to space projects are discussed. A step-by-step approach to legal actions has been adopted to help make the book a practical, easy-to-use reference tool. It is designed to assist lawyers in private practice, government attorneys, corporate legal counsel, entrepreneurial executives & teachers & students of space law.

This book, first published in 1991, is the cumulative result of a long period of research by qualified experts in an attempt to analyse the legal and scientific problems of arriving at definitions in the task of preventing an arms race in outer space. Problems of definition confront the negotiator at the very outset of any discussion on preventing a space arms race – this book sets out to remove these problems by examining the possible definitions.