The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies is a treaty that lays the foundation of international space law.
As of February 2021, 111 countries are parties to the treaty, while another 23 have signed the treaty but have not completed ratification. India is a party to the Outer Space Treaty.
The Outer Space Treaty is an important topic in the current affairs, science and technology segments of the IAS Exam.
Importance of the Outer Space Treaty
Space, regarded as ‘the final frontier’ offers abundant opportunities in terms of resources and technological advances. In order to ensure that no single country or entity has a monopoly on the resources of space, the Outer Space Treaty is necessary.
With the Earth running short of resources and a boom in the population, chances are that explorations of other planets that will sustain life will be undertaken in the future. Thus the Outer Space Treaty will ensure that every country will get their due share.
Key Features of the Outer Space Treaty
The following features are part of the Outer Space Treaty:
- Prohibition of placing weapons of mass destruction in space or on any celestial body.
- Limits use of celestial bodies to peaceful purposes
- Prohibits use of celestial bodies for testing weapons of any kind, establishing military bases or conducting military maneuvers of any kind
- Forbids any country from claiming a resource from any celestial body as its own and treats them as common heritage of mankind
- Makes countries liable for any damages caused by their space objects.
What are the limitations of this treaty?
The Outer Space Treaty comes with its fair share of limitations. They are as follows:
It does not cover private players:
- Private players like Virgin, SpaceX are making forays into space ventures
- The United States signed the US commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act in November 2015.
- The law allowed private firms registered in the US to mine asteroids or celestial bodies for resources or any other commercial purposes
- Since the US government doesn’t own any resources exploited this does not violate the Outer Space Treaty.
- This increases the potential of the cumulative race for space exploitation.
- Though the treaty specifically states that no sovereign nations can claim appropriation on any of the celestial bodies, it does not include the private individual’s ownership.
The vulnerability of space assets:
- Ever since the Cold War, there have been increasing use of space for both fro civilian and military purposes
- These assets are vulnerable because of Anti-Satellite weapons designed specifically to destroy such assets
- The US, Russia, China and India are the only countries to develop anti-satellite capabilities so far.
- The latest to enter into this group is India when it announced its first ASAT test under the operation that was codenamed Mission Shakti.
- The treaty does not have any provisions that safeguard the countries’ assets in space.
| Brief About Mission Shakti: On 27 March 2019, India tested an anti-satellite weapon during an operation code named Mission Shakti. The target of the test was a satellite present in a low Earth orbit, which was hit with a kinetic kill vehicle.
The ASAT test utilized a modified anti-ballistic missile interceptor code-named Prithvi Defence Vehicle Mark-II which was developed under Project XSV-1. The test made India the fourth country after the United States, Russia and China to have tested an ASAT weapon. India’s successful demonstration of the ASAT capability is said to signify its ability to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile. The ASAT weapon is meant to act as a deterrent. |
No provisions to counter space terrorism:
- The current terrorist operations have shown that the terror groups are constantly evolving and are using all the modern means available to achieve their objectives. They are using social media, drones, etc., to spread their ideologies.
- With the increasing role of private players in the space sector, space is vulnerable to terrorism.
- Therefore it is essential to include counter-terrorism activities in space to prevent future threats that may arise within the outer space.
Lacks authority:
- Like all the International laws, this treaty is also under the mercy of the individual decisions of the nations.
- There aren’t any binding forces that can stop any country from violating the treaty. As it has been proven many times, international sanctions do little to stop the existing threats that affect international politics.
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