Outer Space and International Legal Control

The development of modern space technology has opened wide prospects for the humankind to know about the outer space and have access to it peacefully. In the meantime, there has been a tendency of capitalizing on a nation's advantages in its space technology to pursue its own absolute security. The outer space explorations conducted by the developed countries had in its initial stages only an academic outlook but gradually it transformed into a military one, this rose apprehensions with regard to International peace and security. For years, many countries have done a lot for the attainment of a grand goal for the peaceful use of the outer space. Since the late 1950s, the UN General Assembly has listed the outer space issue on its agenda and signed a couple of documents, contributing positively to the restrictions on and prevention of weaponization in the outer space. On 13 December, 1958 the general assembly of the United Nations passed a resolution 1348(X111) where in it recognized the “common interest of mankind in the outer space and that outer space shall be used for peaceful purposes only”. On 12 December 1959 the general assembly passed another resolution1471 entitled “International cooperation in the peaceful uses of Outer space”, subsequently many resolutions were passed by the general assembly which ultimately resulted in the Treaty of principles Governing the Activities of State in the Exploration and Use of Outer space including the Moon and other Celestial bodies in 1966 which came to be known as the Outer Space Treaty, 1966. The treaty was opened for signature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on January 27, 1967, and entered into force on October 10, 1967. As of January 2007, 98 countries are states-parties to the treaty, while another 27 have signed the treaty but have not yet completed ratification. The Outer Space Treaty represents the basic legal framework of international space law. Among its principles, it bars States Parties to the Treaty from placing nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or to otherwise station them in outer space. It exclusively limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications (Art.IV). However, the Treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit.

The treaty explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet, since they are province of mankind. Art. II of the Treaty states, in fact, that "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 and each state party from whose territory or facility an object is launched ,is internationally liable for damage to another state party to the Treaty or to its natural or judicial person by such object or its components on the earth ,in air or in outer space , including the moon and other celestial bodies (Article VII).One of the major setbacks of the space treaty was that it did not provide for any international control machinery to look after the implementing of the provisions in the treaty , it did not provide for compulsory jurisdiction of the international court of justice for the settlement of disputes. On December 12, 1977 the assembly decided to enlarge the membership of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer space from 37 to 47 by regulation 32/196-B.The legal sub-committee of the committee discussed the legal aspects of the possible hazards of the use nuclear powered satellites and priority was given to the drafting of a moon treaty and the legal implications of remote sensing of earth from Space. Consequently, the Agreement Governing the Activities of State in the Moon and Other Celestial bodies was adopted by the general assembly in 5 December 1979.The treaty clearly laid down that the states parties should use the moon exclusively for peaceful purposes. The moon and its resources are the common heritage of mankind (Article I).The treaty provides that the exploration and use of moon shall be the province of all mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development (Article IV).

Yet another milestone in the process of establishing peaceful use of outer space was the UNISPACE 82 formally known as the Vienna Conference on the Exploration and the Peaceful Uses of Outer space which was held at Vienna from August 9 to August 22 1982.The conference appealed the states especially the states having nuclear capability not to increase arms race beyond earth. A report adopted by consensus asked the states to follow Outer Space Treaty which has exclusively forbidden the use of weapons of mass destruction in the outer space.

But in spite of these measures the world has witnessed the super powers continuing with the production of weapons of mass destruction for satisfying their thirst for world domination. Following a vote on the draft resolution in the Disarmament Committee at the United Nations Head quarters on 25 October 2005, the United States representative said that “that there was no arms race in outer space and, thus, no arms control problem to address. Addressing also the draft on the promotion of transparency and confidence-building in outer space, which had not yet been considered, she said there was unprecedented cooperation in civil and commercial activities in outer space. Moreover, there was already an extensive and comprehensive system for limiting certain uses of outer space, and the existing multilateral outer space arms control regime already adequately dealt with the non-weaponization of space. The United States was committed to the peaceful exploration and use of space by all nations for peaceful purposes, but 'peaceful purposes' included appropriate defence activities in pursuit of national security and other goals. Her country took seriously its commitment to carry on all United States activities in the exploration and use of outer space in accordance with international law, in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and promoting international cooperation and understanding. Thus, she saw no reason for international institutions to address a non-existent arms race in outer space.” This reflects the implied policy of the superpowers like the United States of not stepping back from the commitment of establishing a military base in the outer space for establishing their unprecedented superiority over its fellow nations.

The General assembly of the United Nations is the organ which is most concerned with the activities of the nations in the outer space. The proposals for the establishment of a Special Enterprisory Organisation for the Space have not found much consensus among the states. To sum up, there is a need for a universal policy for the regulation of outer space activities .The countries should reach at consensus and should establish an international body for ensuring peaceful use of the outer space for the common benefit of mankind.