The Regulation of Outer Space Relations

Introduction

The regulation of outer space relations is contemporary and fundamental in the province of international law close court. This paper examines key treaties and conventions to explore the relevance of regulating outer space relations in international law. It proceeds with a brief background on international space law, followed by an examination of five key treaties and conventions, whose importance is analyzed and relevance determined. The paper then focuses on developments in Africa, and the effects of regulation on national, regional and international security from the Zimbabwe perspective.

International Space Law

International space law is the body of law pertaining to the governing of space-related activities, and includes international agreements, treaties, conventions, and UN General Assembly resolutions (UN, 2022). Some of the major issues in space law are the preservation of the space and Earth environment, liability for damages caused by space objects, the settlement of disputes, the rescue of astronauts, the sharing of information about potential dangers in outer space, the use of space-related technologies, and international cooperation (UN, 2022). The issues of space are guided by principles, such as the idea that space is a realm that belongs to all humankind and not to any one nation in particular; that all states have a right to explore and use outer space without discrimination; and that outer space should not be appropriated by any space for hostile or exploitative purposes (UN, 2022).

Five Key Treaties and Conventions

The five key treaties and conventions on outer space are the Outer Space Treaty of 1967; the Rescue Agreement of 1968; the Liability Convention of 1972; the Registration Convention of 1976; and the Moon Agreement of 1984 (UN, 2021). The Outer Space Treaty was the first of its kind and came during the space race between the rival superpowers of the US and the Soviet Union. It was feared that space would be weaponized and militarized by one or the other or by a third state, and the treaty was meant to prevent this from happening. The treaty prohibited nuclear weapons in outer space, the agreement to only use the moon or other planets for peaceful purposes, and the agreement that no sovereign nation should claim ownership over outer space (UN, 2020).

The importance of the Outer Space Treaty was that it placed a curb on the advancement of weapons that could potentially be used in or installed on satellites in outer space and aimed at other countries. The treaty thus helped to bring about a degree of international peace insofar as the threat of an attack from outer space was concerned. It did not, however, put an end to the space race, and the worlds superpowers continued to vie to be the first to reach the moon.

The next was the Rescue Agreement of 1968. This treaty helped foster greater international collaboration between states by obliging the signees to share responsibility for the rescue of personnel of any spacecraft that might land in another states territory (UN, 2022). Its importance is in the fact that it ensures astronauts or spacecraft personnel are to be rescued by all signees of the treaty. However, it remains a vaguely worded treaty and there is some dispute about what constitutes a spacecraft.

Then came the Liability Convention. This held that whichever state launches a spacecraft is responsible or liable for any damages caused by said spacecraft. To date, only one claim has been filed under this convention when the Soviet-launched Kosmos 954 crashed in Canada (Benko, 1985). The importance of this convention was that it made clear who is the responsible party should a satellite or other spacecraft...

…the space overhead will at least not be weaponized against them, even if the economic advantage of laying a sovereign claim over the space is not realized. The UN treaty has provided that no weapons will be placed in outer spacebut with superpowers now taking part in a new type of Cold Warparticularly with the US and Russiathere is no real confidence that these treaties and conventions will not be abandoned altogether at some point. That leaves Zimbabwe and other states in the region in a poor position.

Conclusion

Outer space has been settled and colonized to some extent by the developed world and the worlds superpowers, which have benefitted from the Outer Space Treaty and the other UN treaties and conventions. This treaty has ensured the peaceful use of space, but it has also ensured that no other nation will be able to make a claim of sovereignty over its own air space above a certain limit. When some African states tried to do this in the Bogota Declaration, their claims were ignored and today the dispute continues. For Zimbabwe, the present course of action being taken is to try to join the worlds superpowers in sending up a satellite into outer space, which it plans to do for the first time in 2022. This will put Zimbabwe ahead of many other African states in terms of space exploration; however, if these same states were able to claim sovereignty of the air in the same way other states claim the earth, it would mean that handsome revenues could be obtained, as the price to send a satellite orbiting overhead would likely be considerable and these nations would be enabled to enrich themselves just as Middle Eastern countries have enriched themselves with their natural resources in the ground. Air space is really no…