JAXA’s First Wooden Satellite Deploys from Space Station, Photo via NASA
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When world leaders started discussions about sustainability and law in space, the world was filled with hope. Space innovation is an ever-changing, infinite cycle of questions on the balance of international sovereignty and transparency. The day the Outer Space Treaty was signed, we as a collective fostered space law that discouraged accountability and transparency.
The Outer Space Treaty (OST) was created in hopes of fostering peaceful exploration in space. Unfortunately—58 years later— after the tensions from the space race had long been gone, we realized that it had allowed loopholes to emerge and drafted vague space laws. Further, the OST is silent on conventional weapons, has weak enforcement, and a lack of specifics. The treaty attempted to manage space exploration ethically, while ensuring a framework that would adapt over time. The unfortunate truth is that it wasn’t achieved.
The loopholes and vagueness of space laws weren’t just limited to the OST. These problems extended to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as well. The NPT continues to allow weaponry, dual-use technology, and Anti-Satellite Weaponry (ASATs) in space through its own 6th article. The lack of legislation on these is harmful because it increases the risk of spatial conflict and undermines long-term space sustainability. Space is very vast, and so the guidelines must be very thorough to ensure positive space exploration. While our global community has attempted to understand space law, that was decades ago. Now we exist in a gray area, and orbital innovation doesn’t look to be ceasing anytime soon. It is important to have legislation that keeps up with new innovations, especially in the area of space.
Fortunately, there are some straightforward solutions that can be implemented in the current legislative structure. The NPT specifically, in Article VI, states: “Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.” Amending this specific article of the NPT to include the prohibition of the deployment of nuclear weaponry and nuclear explosive devices in Earth’s orbit and non-approved celestial bodies would be extremely beneficial. Further amending existing text in obligation to all parties to pursue disarmament in good faith is imperative to ensure ethics in space. It is necessary to ensure that past legislation continues to support, not contradict, our upcoming laws.
The director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Aarti Holla-Maini, has a few noteworthy quotes on spatial sustainability. She says, “Without sustainability in space, our ability to deliver on the 2030 agenda is bleak.” In the modern era, we have developed wooden satellites that burn upon reentry and other amazing technological advancements to ensure we eliminate debris. If we do not continue to keep sustainability in space at the forefront of our minds, we will never be able to fully utilize the sector that is beneficial for profit and innovation.
Our international laws surrounding nuclearization, weapons of mass destruction, and on-orbit innovation are crucial in framing legislation that will work as an adaptable framework. This way, when nations continue to explore space, the frameworks we create will still apply. While each state has different spatial law for themselves, there are intricate ways of constructing legislation to ensure space law is less vague.
Overall, it is necessary to try to incorporate on-orbit law as a service to the global public. Because of the continuous collective action problem we see in terms of regulation in space, elected officials need to take initiative in terms of space innovation and ethics. Constantly, countries that would benefit from working together betray and work against one another because of the encouraged space race. Our elected officials and appointed diplomats tend to neglect the stakes that are involved in space law, just like we do in society. Sustainability in on-orbit innovation isn’t something all states are focused on. There are not only sustainability concerns regarding innovation, but also the ethics of peaceful affairs. Across the globe, there are stagnant conflicts (in space and on earth) that continue to destroy community after community. If we don’t start to address the concerns of a lack of oversight on space innovation, as well as the nuclearization of space, then we will continue to destroy our environment as we move closer to the future.
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This article was edited by Alissa Mili and Sofia Alvarez.
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