Defending Spaceflight - The Echoes of Apollo (original) (raw)
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THE PEACEFUL USES OF OUTER SPACE
The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Treaties, 2019
The creation of space law is rooted in the aftermath of the Second World War. The two world powers of the time – the USA and the USSR – joined forces in the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to introduce law to outer space and ensure that the use and exploration of this domain was conducted for peaceful purposes. Against this backdrop, the negotiations underlying the drafting of the Magna Carta of outer space – the Outer Space Treaty – demonstrate how these two world powers set aside various political differences in order to reach a legal compromise for the benefit of the world as a whole. Today, half a decade after this milestone, the landscape of the use and exploration of outer space has changed dramatically, particularly in terms of the technology involved. As a result, the question is whether international space law and UNCOPUOS are still able to provide a relevant framework within which the peaceful use and exploration of outer space can progress. This work is published in: Simon Chesterman, David M. Malone, and Santiago Villalpando, "The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Treaties" (OUP 2019).
Space Renaissance International web site, 2016
Two months ago, the SRI 2nd World Congress updated our analysis of the status of civilization, and defined our program for the next four years, toward 2020. This paper aims to focus our priorities within the current global perspective, as the space renaissance continues to unfold. We may face unavoidable turmoil and dramatic events, challenging established routines and customs, and extending public opinion as perceptions move forward. Looking towards our immediate future, even events perceived as far distant, will become immanent, as a fast paced process of global engagement for space begins to emerge. We have identified, three essential developments, which SRI will support with immediate outreach actions: Establishing Low Cost Access to Earth Orbit, addressing the issues of the protection of civilian life and health in space, and advocating for a suitable set of laws for the global governance of activities in Outer Space, i.e. to collate, and extend international civilian rights in space. Some key technological advances, including fully reusable rockets and additive manufacturing, will allow the inception of comprehensive manned activities in Earth orbit, and the first steps for industrialization of the space surrounding the Earth and Moon space region. SRI will promote and support such an on going process: establishing the paradigm shift from military space exploration to civilian expansion in Outer Space. In the “Military and civilian space” section of this ocument, we include a brief note about our anthropologic analysis of the paradigm shift.