UN recommends new treaty to ensure peace & security in outer space

UN recommends new treaty to ensure peace & security in outer space

Subject :Science and Technology

Section: Space technology

Context:

• The United Nations (UN) has recommended a new treaty for ensuring peace and security as well as preventing an arms race in outer space.

Details:

• The recommendations come ahead of the UN Summit of the Future, which will be held on September 22-23, 2024, in New York.
  • At the Summit of the Future, member states will agree on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow and to strengthen global governance.

Need for a new treaty:

• Increased number of satellite launches:
  • The number of satellite launches has shot up exponentially in the past decade after it stayed consistent from 1957-2012.
  • In 2013, there were 210 new launches, which increased to 600 in 2019 and 1,200 in 2020 and 2,470 in 2022.
  • This increase is fuelled by the active participation of the private sector.
  • Though the private sector is more active in the United States, China, India and Japan are catching up.
• Human presence in outer space and on moon:
  • NASA, through its Artemis mission,plans to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon, marking the return of humans to outer space after more than 50 years.
  • India is planning a manned mission in space, known as the Gaganyaan.
• Presence of mineral in outer space:
  • Minerals on the Moon, asteroids and planets can be attractive for countries. Moon has rich deposits of helium-3, which is rare on Earth.
  • Asteroids contain abundant deposits of valuable metals, including platinum, nickel and cobalt.
• Currently, there is no agreed international framework on space resource exploration, exploitation and utilisation, or a mechanism to support how it is implemented.
• Currently, space traffic is coordinated by national and regional entities. Each has its own standards, best practices, definitions, languages and modes of interoperability.
• Space debris:
  • Space debris is another issue. More than 24,000 objects which are 10 centimetres or larger, about one million smaller than 10 cm and likely more than 130 million smaller than one cm have been recorded.
•  The UN has also recommended an effective framework for coordinating space situational awareness, space object manoeuvres and space objects and events.

Existing treaties:

• In 1959, the United Nations established the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to review and enable international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.
• In 1963, countries agreed to prohibit testing nuclear weapons in outer space; in 1977, the prohibition of altering the space environment as a weapon was agreed upon.
• More recently, member states have set upa series of guidelines, frameworks and recommendations on issues such as mitigation of space debris, nuclear power source safety, the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space activities.

Outer Space Treaty, 1967:

• The treaty provides the basic framework for international space law.
• The exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind.
• Outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States.
• Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.
• States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner.
• The Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.
• Astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind.
• States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental activities.
• States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects.
• States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.