Abstract
Two military programmes are related to the military use of outer space: the anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) programme and the space-based ballistic missile defence (BMD) system, officially referred to as the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI). Nevertheless, major differences exist with respect to the stage of their development: while ASAT weapons with a capability to engage satellites in low orbit have already been tested, the SDI programme is still in its research phase. Although the passive military use of outer space is already widespread, this chapter will consider only issues related to new developments in active space weapons, and their consequences for two agreements: the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and the bilateral Soviet-American ABM Treaty of 1972.1
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Notes
Speech by Ronald Reagan, quoted in Department of State Bulletin 83 (1983 April), p. 14.
This is stated by Morris D. Forkosch, Outer Space and Legal Liability ( The Hague: Nijhoff, 1982 ), p. 44.
Cf. Rüdiger Wolfrum, ‘The Problems of Limitation and Prohibition of Military Use of Outer Space’, Zeitschrift far ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht 44 (1984), p. 788.
This conclusion is made by Janos Bruhacs, ‘The Legal Status of Outer Space and High Seas from the Aspect of Military Activities’ (Paper presented at the 28th Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space, Stockholm, October 1985 ), p. 4.
Cf. Jury M. Kolosov and Sergei G. Stashevski, Borba za mirnij kosmos (The Struggle for Peace in Outer Space) ( Moscow: Mezhdinarodnije otnoshenija, 1984 ), pp. 55–6.
The Prcposal of Italy. UN. Doc. CD/9, 26 March 1979. Quoted by Sune Danielsson, ‘Approaches to Prevent an Arms Race in Outer Space’, in B. Jasani (ed.), Space Weapons — The Arms Control Dilemma ( London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis, 1984 ), p. 171.
Stephen Gorove, ‘Arms Control Provisions in the Space Treaty’, in S. Grove, Studies on Space Law: It Challenges and Prospects ( Leyden: Sijthoff, 1977 ), p. 94.
See Carl Q. Christol, The Modern International Law of Outer Space ( New York: Pergamon Press, 1982 ), pp. 34–5.
John B. Rhinelander, ‘The SALT Agreements’, in Mason Willrich and John B. Rhinelander (eds), SALT: The Moscow Agreement and Beyond ( New York: Free Press, 1974 ), pp. 125–6.
Edward McWhinney, The International Law of Détente ( Alphen aan den Rijn: Sijthoff and Noordhoff, 1978 ), pp. 77–8.
The same conclusions are drawn by Francois Chappuis, La limitation des armements en droit international public (Lausanne: Vaudoise, 1975), p. 250 as well as by Abram Chayes, Antonia Handler Chayes, and Eliot Spitzer, ‘Space Weapons: The Legal Context’, Daedalus (1985), p. 200.
Department of State Bulletin 67 (1972), p. 147, quoted by Pamela L. Meredith, ‘The Legality of a High-Technology Missile Defense System: The ABM and Outer Space Treaties’, American Journal of International Law 78 (1984), p. 420.
Cf. Raymond Garthoff, ‘Correspondence, On Negotiating With the Russians’, International Security 2 (Summer 1977), p. 108, quoted by Abram Chayes, Antonia Handler Chayes, and Eliot Spitzer, ‘Space Weapons’, p. 199.
Cf. Thomas K. Longstreth, John E. Pike, and John B. Rhinelander, The Impact of U.S. and Soviet Ballistic Missile Defense Programs on the ABM Treaty (Washington, DC: National Campaign to Save the ABM Treaty, 1985), pp. 28–9.
More recently it is worth mentioning two excellent studies in this respect: Abram Chayes, Antonia Handler Chayes, ‘Testing and Development of “Exotic” Systems Under the ABM Treaty: The Great Reinterpretation Caper’, Harvard Law Review 99 (June 1986), pp. 1956–71; Abraham D. Sofaer, ‘The ABM Treaty and the Strategic Defense Initiative’, ibid., pp. 1972–85.
This is what Julie Dahlitz calls attention to in her two studies: ‘ASAT and Related Weapons: Proposals for the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space’, Arms Control 4 (1983), p. 180 and ‘The Option of Star Wars. Meaning and Consequences’, Bulletin of Peace Proposals 16 (1985), p. 101.
Cf. George Schneiter, ‘The ABM Treaty Today’, in Ashton B. Carter and David N. Schwartz (eds), Ballistic Missile Defense (Washington: Brookings Institution, 1984), pp. 234–6.
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© 1989 Hans Günter Brauch
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Dunay, P. (1989). The Military Use of Outer Space: Implications for International Law. In: Brauch, H.G. (eds) Military Technology, Armaments Dynamics and Disarmament. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10221-1_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10221-1_14
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