PANTEION UNIVERSITY

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND E.U.

LAW OF AIR AND SPACE

MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN OUTER SPACES

Written by:
Buciu Vlad-Antonio
ERASMUS STUDENT

I.

INTRODUCTION

We are living in a world with various methods of travelling, through air,water

and ground and due to constant evolution of the technology we can explore more and
more day by day. Despite the fact that the phrase militarisation of space sounds
something a bit futuristic, we need to know at first that this idea was discussed during
1970s and 1980s but largely disappeared after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. But this idea
didnt stayed in silence too much, as the rapidly growing market of technology
appeared and its everywhere nowadays, the idea of the arms use in space got more and
more interest shown by the leaders of the world.
First of all, every action that someone wants to do in the outer space its
followed by rules and treaties as this subject is a sensitive one and can put in danger
our planet and humanity so fueled by the technological revolution in military affairs,
the military doctrine of a growing number of actors ( led by China, Russia, the US and
key European states) increasingly emphasizes the use of space system to support
national security. Dependence on these systems has led several states to view space
assets as critical national security infrastructure. 1 We need at first to take care about the
dangers of those kind of activities and also to research what its good and what its bad
about it because as I said we have treaties and laws that covers up the Outer Space
military activities but even if those laws are there and used since a lot of years ,I think
that the most important thing is to keep them up with the military and technological
evolution.
In the other hand, its vital to respect the difference between airspace and outer
space as they can rise both scientific and legal problems. It is very important to respect
every borderline of every country as if not the states can start new disputes and in the
worst case a war. Recently we had some events in the airspace zone that went very
close to a negative ending and of course in the outer space problems can raise a bigger
level of awareness.
I would like to take a look in the next chapter at the history of the militarisation
of space because as I said this subject its not something that weve met and talk in the
last years and it had been discussed before.

1 Executive Summary, Space Security 2008,

http://spacesecurity.org/SSI2008ExecutiveSummary.pdf
2

II.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN OUTER SPACE

So, as I said before we can find traces of the idea of militarisation of space in our
history and exactly in the period of the mid-20 th century as the exploring of space
caught more and more attention for the biggests nations from all over the world.
The rapid development of nuclear arms was also a clear sign that in this
confrontation no avenue would be left unexplored and that few limits would be
respected. While, thus, land, air and sea were already theatres of an unending arms
race, the question remained to what extent it might also reach into new spheres.
Here, early ballistic weapons developed by a desperate Nazi Germany towards the
end of the Second World War pointed in an ominous new direction. When, thus, in
October of 1957, the Soviet Union managed to launch a first man-made object into
outer space, it became clear that a new area of competition between the two
superpowers of the day had been opened, especially as the United States had been
caught quite unawares and were certain to react in one way or another 2

One of the first very first event that occurred in the history and raised awareness was
in 1927 when the members of the Verein fr Raumschiffahrt (VfR) had started to
experiment liquid fueled rockets, the response didnt camed so late as the Treaty of
Versailles forbade solid fuel rocket research in Germany. As the events that occurred in
the 1927 becamed more and more interesting and by the 1932 a team led by General
Walter Dornberger shown a test vehicle designed and flown by Wernher von Braun.
The brilliant mind of Braun was remarked and he had joined the army and in the
December 1934 von Braun scored another success with the flight of the A2 (A for
Aggregat) rocket, a small powered by ethanol and liquid oxygen. 3 Several models of
this rocket appeared and were tested in the following years as the model reached more
and constant upgrades in number and quality. In October 3,1942 the version A5 of the

2 Handbook of Space Law ; Frans von der Dunk, Fabio Tronchetti ; Edward Elgar
Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978 1 78100 035 9
3 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space#Outer_Space_Treaty
3

rocket after several times in which the rockets didnt reached the expected results we
faced the first man-made object that entered the space.
In another spot, during the cold war , USSR and USA entered in a kind of Space Race
and in 1957 the USSR launched the first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1). This launch
made USA react and both countries regularly deployed satellites which were used by
militaries to take pictures of the enemies military instalations (Reconnaissance
satellites). Of course the spying of each other countries military forces was a major
plus for each country that was using them but created a lot of reaction so the alarm was
raised and the anti-satellite weapons were made in order to crush or blind the enemies
satellites.
With the time passing with the evolution of technology and also of the rivalry
between countries made the superpowers to develop ballistic missiles to enable them
to use nuclear weaponry across great distances. As rocket science developed, the range
of missiles increased and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) were created,
which could strike virtually any target on Earth in a timeframe measured in minutes
rather than hours or days. In order to cover large distances ballistic missiles are usually
launched into sub-orbital spaceflight.4
In the period of 1970s-1980s through the 1970s, the Soviet Union continued their
project and test-fired a cannon to test space station defense. This was considered too
dangerous to do with a crew on board, however, so the test was conducted after the
crew had returned to Earth.
Space warfare strongly influenced the final design of the United States Space
Shuttle. The distinctive delta wing shape was needed if the shuttle were to launch a
military payload towards the Soviet Union and perform an immediate de-orbit after
one rotation to avoid being shot down.
Both the Soviets and the United States developed anti-satellite weaponry
designed to shoot down satellites. While early efforts paralleled other space-to-space
warfare concepts, the United States was able in the 1980s to develop ground-to-space
laser anti-satellite weapons. None of these systems are known to be active today;
however, a less powerful civilian version of the ground-to-space laser system is
commonly used in the astronomical technique of adaptive optics.5
In the 2000s more close to our times we had a problem in the field of military
activities in outer space as Republic of China tested a ballistic missile in order to
4 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space#Outer_Space_Treaty
5 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_warfare
4

destroy a satellite and they succed on January 11,2007. This test raised awareness and
criticism from the whole world but especially from USA,Britain and Japan. The mass
that remaind after this experiment or any other can do harm to our planet and to the
other satellites or objects from the space and that seems dangerous. Also,the China
response of the criticism was ferm as Liu Jianchao (Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman) said that There is no need to feel threatened about this and argued that
China will not participate in any kind of arms race in outer space. 6
I tried to put here the most important events that occurred in the past but of course that
they are not the only one but maybe the major, a lot of experiments has been made
through the history, we need to worry about the dangers of the materials left in the
outer space as it can be harmful.

III.

MILITARISATION OF SPACE. IS A SPACE WARFARE POSSIBLE?

This question has been discussed a lot of times, as we progress with the
technology and we see a lot of tests like the one in 2007 made by China and the space
warfare theory that is usually promoted with the help of the science-fiction books and
movies,we can admit that a space warfare its not something that we shouldnt talk or
think about. We all saw crazy scenarios and huge aftermaths after some theories that
have been said through years but we need to think that the problem of a space warfare
is not old and we have to think that since the Cold War some incident of this kind
occurred.
I would like to propose to take a look at the following dates to see the recent
developments in the militarisation of space:
Recent developments in the militarisation of space
To see current European developments in military space policy in
perspective this box summarizes a few of the main international issues in
the field of international space warfare over the past decade or so.
August 1996: General Joseph W. Ashy, then Commander-in-Chief
of US Space Command (CINCSPACE): Were going to fight a war in
6 "China says space programme is no threat". Agence France Presse. January 19,
2007. January 22, 2007.
5

space. Were going to fight from space and were going to fight into
space...
February 1997: US Space Command produces Vision for 2020,
laying out an expansive plan to achieve full spectrum dominance of the
battlespace: dominating earth through the control of space. Space
superiority is emerging as an essential element of battlefield success and
future warfare.
November 2000: ESA and EU Councils adopt resolutions endorsing
European Strategy for Space
January 2001: Space Commission (aka Rumsfeld Commission)
warns of a Space Pearl Harbour. The US is more dependent on space
than any other nation. Yet the threat to the US and its allies in and from
space does not command the attention it merits. The commission
appreciated the sensitivity that surrounds the notion of weapons in space
for offensive or defensive purposes, but believed the US president should
have an option to deploy weapons in space to deter threats to and, if
necessary, defend against attacks on US interests.
January 2003: Green Paper on European Space Policy
November 2003: - U.S. Air Force Transformation Flight Plan
document maintains space dominance as leading concept. On the
ambitious weapons wish list are e.g. the rods from God, or
hypervelocity rod bundles - White Paper on European Space Policy
May 2004 ESA/European Commission Framework Agreement
enters into force
January 2005: Israels top defence lawmaker urges development
and deployment of space-based weapons to deliver victory in future
conventional wars.
April 2006: While lagging 15 years behind the US and Russia,
China could catch up within 10 years with enough government funding,
according to an assessment by a Chinese space leader.17
July 2006: US dismisses proposal by China and Russia at UN to ban
all space- based weapons.
August 2006: - Chinas Peoples Daily publishes analysis from
researchers at the National Defence University who state that Our
military should not only protect Chinas national sovereignty and
territorial integrity, but should also protect the oceans and transport
routes and other economic interests as well as the security of space. 6

US National Space Policy states that the US will deny, if necessary,

adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to US national interests
and that it will oppose the development of new legal regimes or other
restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit US access to or use of space....
Freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air
power and sea power.
January 2007: In a surprise move, China shoots down outmoded
weather satellite Feng Yun 1C
May 2007: Launch of European Space Policy
June 2007: - Israel embarks on a major expansion of its space
capabilities21 - US boosts space spending, pushes NATO members to help
develop and build new generation satellites and rockets - South Koreas
ambitious space programme shows progress in developing indigenous
space technology; the building of a Space Centre nears completion
January 2008 - Israel launches its first synthetic aperture radar
(SAR) reconnaissance satellite launched from an Indian space centre, a
dramatic improvement in Israels intelligence-gathering capabilities.
February 2008: - Russia and China present draft Treaty on the
Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use
of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT) to the Conference on
Disarmament.
- Cruiser USS Lake Erie shoots down defunct experimental
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) spy satellite US-193 with a
Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) - originally developed by Raytheon for missile
defence operations.7

After we see these events that occurred through the years we can say that the Space
Warfare is not far from us. As we see a lot of treaties and acts that have been ratified
and used through years. Those documents that are guiding and protecting the humanity
from a warfare are a proof that the idea of a space conflict is in our history since a lot
of years and is not a fiction.
If we take a look at the treaties that have been drafted we will see that the risks
of getting involved in this sort of war raised a lot of awareness as several movements
of anti-space war have been made.
7 Slijper, F. From Venus to Mars: The European Unions steps towards the militarisation of
space, Transnational Institute briefing paper. (November 2008)

The OST did not break any new ground when it was signed in 1967. It represented a codification of certain principles applicable

to outer space which had gained general acceptance by members of the United Nations and which had been previously expressed in the form of U.N. resolutions.2 " Article I confirms the general principle that the exploration and use of outer space is to be carried out for the benefit of all mankind, by States on the basis of equality, with free access to all areas of celestial bodies. s International cooperation in scientific investigation is encouraged.29
Under article II, "Outer Space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.' "" While this provision does not resolve the issue discussed above as to where outer space begins, it effectively recognizes the free flight principle for satellites in orbit.2 International law and the United Nations Charter are made specifically applicable in
outer space and on the moon and other celestial bodies by article In. 2 Article IV is the key

Most of the world's communications systems rely heavily on the presence of

satellites in orbit around Earth. Protecting these assets might seriously motivate
nations dependent upon them to consider deploying more space-based weaponry,
especially in conflicts involving advanced countries with access to space. Even
without the further militarization of space, a future conflict conducted largely on the
ground through conventional means might well be sparked by actions conducted
entirely in space. Alternatively, the very threat of space warfare may be enough to put
considerable pressure on the political system of a nation, such as the pressure which
caused the formation of the Outer Space Treaty.8
So, we can think at a Space Warfare as a real thing and a future plan for some states of
gaining control through the advanced technology, personally, I think that if in the
future a war will be started, it will be more or less an outer space one too as we saw in
the events that happened through all the years that the actual world is tending to
expand and explore other planets or to find resources in the outer space.

IV.

THE OUTER SPACE TREATY

As I mentioned before we have a big piece of evidence that proof the fact that
the world was conscious about a space war and that is The Outer Space Treaty. Outer
Space Treaty, formally Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,
(1967), international treaty binding the parties to use outer space only for peaceful
purposes. In June 1966 the United States and the Soviet Union submitted draft treaties
on the uses of space to the United Nations. These were reconciled during several
months of negotiation in the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and the resulting document was endorsed by the UN
General Assembly on Dec. 19, 1966, and opened for signature on Jan. 27, 1967. The
treaty came into force on Oct. 10, 1967, after being ratified by the United States, the
Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and several other countries.
Under the terms of the treaty, the parties are prohibited from
placing nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit, on
the Moon, or on other bodies in space. Nations cannot claim sovereignty
8 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_warfare
8

over the Moon or other celestial bodies. Nations are responsible for their
activities in space, are liable for any damage caused by objects launched
into space from their territory, and are bound to assist astronauts in
distress. Their space installations and vehicles shall be open, on a
reciprocal basis, to representatives of other countries, and all parties
agree to conduct outer-space activities openly and in accordance with
international law.9

At the moment 101 states have ratified .the Outer Space Treaty and 26
additional States have signed the Outer Space Treaty(as of January 2009). 10
The Outer Space Treaty establishes significant principles such as:
freedom in the exploration and use of outer space;
freedom of scientific investigation in outer space;
international cooperation in scientific investigation;
principle of non-appropriation;

principle of the denuclearization;

It also codified the principle of using the Moon and other celestial bodies
exclusively for peaceful purposes.

The first Article of the Treaty is defining the idea of exploration and use by
putting some limits for every state,also we can say that in this article are determined
the core principles of using outers space.The text of the article says:
ARTICLE 1
The exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon
and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and
9 See https://www.britannica.com/event/Outer-Space-Treaty
10 See http://www.oosa.unvienna.org
9

in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of

economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of
all mankind.
Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies,
shall be free for exploration and use by all States without
discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in
accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to
all areas of celestial bodies.
There shall be freedom of scientific investigation in outer
space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, and States
shall facilitate and encourage international cooperation in such
investigation.

First of all, if we analyze the text we can clearly see and determine the reasons
of why this kind of document appeared and why there was need of something like that.
Words like development, equality, freedom and cooperation can be remarked in the
Article and when we put them together we can determine de purpose of this document.
So, the article 1 is making the use of space and promoting values like freedom
and properly use of space in order to progress and not to make the outer space a war
zone.The article is also mentioning the international law and so we can see that every
move or decision reffered to the outer space activity should be in the interests of all
countries and making individual tests or so can risk to raise international awareness.
In the Article II of the Treaty we find the principle of non-appropriation related
to outer spac as a whole, this article is following the idea that the space belongs to
humanity and should not be put any type of sovereignty, by means of use or
occupation or any means that would result in a sort of privatization of it.
In the Article III we find a relation between the space activities and
international law as inside the text we can find a very important reference to the
Charter of United Nations11 mainly for the prohibition of the threat and the use of
11 Art.51 of The Charter of the U.N.Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the
inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a
Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary
to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise
of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and
shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under
the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to
maintain or restore international peace and security.

10

force. Promoting the international peace and security and the international cooperation
and understanding,the article III gives us a way to use the outer space by respecting the
international law.
Article IV of the Treaty is protecting the celestial bodies and also again the
peaceful purposes of the space. The evolution of nuclear weapons raised awareness
through the outer space subject too, this article is banning the us of mass destruction
weapons in orbit or on celestial bodies. Also, the Article 4 says clearly that the military
bases and arms experiment on Moon and celestial bodies is forbidden.

We have some international legal initiatives12 related to the subject :

Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the
Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects (2008)
territorial delimitation of outer space at 100 km above ocean level of the Earth;
No prohibition of the development of ASAT weapons;
Controversial definitions.
Draft International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities (2010)
the Code is voluntary and open to all States. It has a non-legally binding
instruments;
it adopts a systematic approach to embrace all dimensions of space operations;
Commitments in Point 4.2: refrain from any action intended to bring damage or
destruction to outer space objects and take appropriate measures to minimize
the risk of collision.

Article 5 of the Treaty is including some principles regarding astronauts and the
mankind in outer space in the event of accidents, distress, or emergency landing on the
territory of other states or on the high seas. And a commitment to ensure the return of
astronauts thus landing was assumed.13
12THE TREATY ON PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE ACTIVITIES OF STATES IN THE
EXPLORATION AND USE OF OUTER SPACE,INCLUDING MOON AND OTHER
CELESTIAL BODIES, S.Marchisio, Universita di Roma
11

Article 6 is one that should be payed attention on as is text refers to the

international responsibility and it tries to put in light responsabilities and consequences
of international activities in outer space. The Outer Space Treaty is permissive with
tests in the outer space but when a state that is part of it is doing something wrong they
have to face legal consequences as the private space activities that they are doing
should be as I said before and also is written in the Treaty, peaceful and in the interest
of all the humanity.
The problem of international liability for damage caused by launching a space
object to another State or its natural or juridicial persons on Earth, in airspace or in
outer space is discussed in the Article 7. The liability for damage is a special category
of responsibility for activities, which due to their hazardous nature may cause harm to
be compensated, through such activities are not prohibited by law and do not violate
any rule of international law.
The problem of returning an space object that have been crashed or landed on
another state member of the party and also the exercise of jurisdiction and control have
been stipulated in Article 8. Every state should register and control the space object
that they have launched and keep them under control, if one object due to nature and
uncontrollable events have landed on another state, should be returned to the state that
is registered too.States parties shall implement Articles VI, VII and VII in their
domestic legal order by enacting, when necessary, specific legislation. National space
legislation has normally the dual objective: implementing the states obligations and
clarifying the legal framework vis--vis private entities.
The article IX of the treaty is protecting the outer space environment determing
that the space should remain clear and promoting ideas of no harmful contamination
and inter-relation with International Environmental Law. So this article is basically
telling states that every act should be careful and not harmful.14
The following articles of the Treaty(X-XI-XII) is trying aswell to promote the
international cooperation and to reach the target of a not harmful use of outer space.
The principle of equality and repciprocity are stipulated inside them.
I think that the Outer Space Treaty is trying since a lot of years to put order and
to keep peace in a place that seems very interesting to explore for a lot of states. Every
state should think about the need of being part in such a Treaty as the technology is
13 History and Evolution of Space Law , V. Kopal
14 Example of Best Practice: on 29 April 2003 the Italian BeppoSax minisatellite crashed
harmlessly into the Pacific Ocean, following a procedure of impact assessment and
voluntary notification to potentially affected States.

12

significantly growing month by month and year by year and the probability of a space
war and also of military activities inside it is very big.

V.

PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN OUTER

SPACES

First of all, I would like to say that any military activity which is made by any
state and can harm the peace and the humanity is not good and should be not promoted
in any way. Living in a world with thousand of electronic devices that were upgraded
unbelieveble in the past 10 years make us realize that the world is going to change
soon and everyone is trying to reach the most simple way to achieve something. We
should realize the fact that we are born with a sense of exploring and since the first
step on the moon until now, we try to make and find a new home and to explore
planets and maybe one day to chang our home from Earth to another celestial body. Of
course, exploring is something peaceful and we should work together to find benefits
for it but making the space a warzone and militarising it, will never make a benefit for
the whole of us.
In the other hand, militarisation of the space should be in interests of us all and
not on the interest of destroying peace and other qualities that we tried and we still try
to keep through years. Also, one of the most interesting thing that we will do in 2020 is
the Mars One project which wants to achieve colonisation of Mars and making it a
new home for us.
In the end I want to say that the idea of militarisation of the space can be good
under some certain circumstances and fatal under not proper use for humanity. I think
that the Outer Space Treaty should be avaible for every state in the world and everyone
should see the benefits of documents like these. States needs to think about making
exploration in benefits of all of us and not destroying or make it a warzone.
13

SUMMARY OF THE ESSAY

I.
INTRODUCTION
...p. 2
II.A BRIEF HISTORY OF MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN OUTER
SPACE.....p. 3-5
III.MILITARISATION OF SPACE. IS A SPACE WARFARE
POSSIBLE?...............................................................................
..... p. 5-8
IV.OUTER SPACE
TREATY.............................................................p. 8-12

14

V.Personal
opinion .....................................................................p 13

Bibliography and internet links used during the research :

1. http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/STSPACE11E.pdf
2. THE TREATY ON PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE ACTIVITIES OF STATES IN THE
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

9.

EXPLORATION AND USE OF OUTER SPACE,INCLUDING MOON AND OTHER

CELESTIAL BODIES, S.Marchisio, Universita di Roma
http://www.oosa.unvienna.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_warfare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space#Outer_Space_Treaty
http://spacesecurity.org/SSI2008ExecutiveSummary.pdf
Handbook of Space Law ; Frans von der Dunk, Fabio Tronchetti ; Edward
Elgar Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978 1 78100 035 9
History and Evolution of Space Law , V. Kopal
https://www.britannica.com/event/Outer-Space-Treaty

15