The U.N. First Committee deals with disarmament, global challenges and threats to peace that affect the international community.
On Nov. 1, it approved a resolution that creates an open-ended working group.
We are two space policy experts with specialties inspace lawand thebusiness of commercial space.
We are also the president and vice president at the National Space Society, a nonprofit space advocacy group.
It is refreshing to see the U.N. acknowledge the harsh reality that peace in space remains uncomfortably tenuous.
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Activities in space are governed by the1967 Outer Space Treaty, which is currently ratified by111 nations.
Essentially, the treaty assures freedom of exploration and use of space to all humankind.
There are just two caveats to this, and multiple gaps immediately present themselves.
The first caveat states that the Moon and other celestial bodies must be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.
It omits the rest of space in this blanket prohibition.
The vague military limitations built into the treaty leave more than enough room for interpretation to result in conflict.
With increasing commercialization, the lines between military and civilian uses of space are less blurry.
However, satellites that provide terrestrial benefits could or already do serve military functions as well.
Growing commercial operations will also provide opportunities for disputes over operational zones to provoke governmental military responses.
Russias test is only the most recent example.
In 2007, China tested an anti-satellite weapon and created an enormous debris cloud that is still causing problems.
The International Space Station had tododge a piece from that Chinese test as recently as Nov. 10, 2021.
Properly executed, this could go a long way toward providing the guardrails needed to prevent conflict in space.
From guidelines to enforcement
TheU.N.
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Spacehas been addressing space activities since 1959.
