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Responsible Behaviour in Outer Space Protects Everyone

EXPERT COMMENT

Outer space is a major investment opportunity and a driver for new technology, but global security is at risk without a shared understanding of the rules.

As a vital part of both national and international critical infrastructure, outer space is becoming a crowded field with a growing number of space-faring countries, private sector interest, and competition between global powers. And yet the Outer Space Treaty (OST) agreed way back in 1967 and subsequent agreements have not been developed with additional security measures to take account of these new factors.

Despite a clear need for new norms of behaviour and ‘rules of the road’, the Conference on Disarmament has failed to negotiate any new agreement since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996. The resulting gridlock grew from an inability of key states to overcome competing interests and diverging priorities and, as a result, negotiating any new binding treaty appears impossible.

1996

was the last time the Conference on Disarmament succesfully negotiated a new agreement.

Just recently the US has stated it aims to prepare a proposal for the United Nations with the hope it will result in a ‘binding resolution’ to support the UK-sponsored UN General Assembly (UNGA) initiative on reducing space threats through ‘norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours’. During the Donald Trump administration, the US declared a goal of space dominance and opposed binding rules for space, so this is clearly a change of policy and a signal that the US is willing to engage in multilateral discussion.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.

 

Channel website: https://www.chathamhouse.org/

Original article link: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/03/responsible-behaviour-outer-space-protects-everyone

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