Houston, we have a problem

The cold war began when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite and a modified inter-continental ballistic missile, into orbit in 1957. This news of overwhelming power left the U.S.A feeling very uneasy. As a result, in 1958, the U.S.A launched the Explorer 1 and founded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and established two other space-oriented programs under the Air Force and CIA.

The exchange between these two States accomplished many things such as the first man in orbit, the first lunar probe of the moon, chimpanzees in space, and then U.S. President, John F. Kennedy's public claim of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade in 1961 gave a compelling end-goal for both the countries.

From 1961-1964, NASA saw a considerable increase in its budget and human resources. Project Apollo was in place and on July 19, 1969, Apollo 11 began its journey. On July 20th, with the landing of the first man on the moon, the space race and the cold war concluded, with the U.S. emerging as the victor.

Image source: history.com

International Laws

The international forum began deliberating about space before the launch of Sputnik. It began by questioning the peaceful use of outer space. The General Assembly came out with the resolution A/RES/1348(XIII) [1]. The following resolution establishes an ad-hoc committee on the "peaceful use of outer space" which required the committee to report to the General Assembly on some predefined agenda. The ad-hoc committee's legal subcommittee reinstated through its resolution that outer space is not void of the United Nations Charter and the Statute of the International Court of Justice.

The Outer Space Treaty established in 1996 has provided a basic framework for space, and till date, acts as the basis of cooperation between nations, keeping aside political differences. The critical points of the Outer Space Treaty cover two significant aspects - control of arms and ownership of space. The control of arms states, "States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner."

While the other provisions of the treaty reinstate that space is no single country's domain and all countries have the right to explore space, it also places particular emphasis on the responsibility and damage caused by space-related activities.

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Space War

With science fiction, the general public’s imagination of space gravitates toward the usage of warships, laser weapons, and missiles which is very far from reality.

As of date, there are an estimated 128 million of space debris smaller than 1 cm. Another 900 thousand space debris that are greater than 10 cm. The total number of satellites orbiting earth is 4,987, out of which, only 1,957 are active and operational.

They orbit the earth at a speed of nearly 29,000 km. The presence of non-operational satellites and space debris is a bottleneck for a space war as we perceive it, since one wrong anti-satellite system could cause a catastrophic chain reaction, wiping out earth's critical systems. This would also bring about a rain of satellites whose impact would be disastrous, worse than the fall of the Skylab in 1979.

So how does space war even happen? The reasons for space war lie in the loopholes of the Outer Space Treaty and can be summarized in the following points:

● The boundaries of space are not defined, hence leading to a varied interpretation of the bounds.

● Even though the treaties state peaceful use of space, the meaning has been interpreted as non-aggressive, and not non-military. This allows the usage of space for military purposes as long as they are not aggressive.

● Space is also subject to the United Nations Charter and Article 51. It relates to the right of self-defence purposes, which can be revoked in space, and could lead to militarization going against the principle of peaceful uses. The distinctions between offensive, defensive, active and passive weapons blur.

● The statement of space belonging comes under res communis, i.e., the property of all, rather than res nullius, i.e., the principle that these resources belong to no one and are to be doled out on a first-come, first-serve basis. This gives a more significant advantage to present space-faring nations.

● Another flaw of the Outer Space Treaty is that it does not include private companies under any restriction, the new player in the market SpaceX being a case in point. Treaties must also consider other players and their effect on space.

Military satellites act as force multipliers rather than participate in actual combat acting as a vantage point for communication, espionage and a variety of other uses. They help in the fortification and better usage of traditional troops.

Image source: The New York Times

The Role of Space Agencies

The U.S. Space Force, established on December 20, 2019, was a part of the Air Force under the name of “Space Command” which was established in 1982. This was the only military sector to have a doctrine on space. Mixed opinions flowed in from across the world about the establishment of a space force.

They brought about fundamental questions about the tasks the space force would be involved in, in response to which the space force released a 64-page doctrine that addressed the function and plans for the future. They also accepted that this document would not answer all the questions but would ensue a start to the process. They also stated that this document was shared with allied forces before being released to the public.

The central theme of the document was the emphasis that the success of the space force would depend on its cooperation from the other existing military forces. It also emphasizes that the space force will protect national and international concern of space concerning the U.S. The space doctrine is organized into five sections: Space Domain, National Spacepower, Military Spacepower, Employment of Space Forces and Military Space Forces.

Many critics have pointed out that the establishment of a space force would be an indication of the militarization of space which is against treaties. They also demanded that any matter regarding space be dealt with by using diplomatic channels and international forums.

Many have felt that the space force is justifying itself and the budget allocated to it. They have also expressed the need for the space force to reaffirm to the citizens that the newly established force will be able to protect them while also maintaining international peace and treaties.

Article by-

Avva Sai Pranav,

PES MUN Society