International Cooperation: The Key to Space Security

Abstract

One of the primary purposes of the Outer Space Treaty and its progeny was to increase international peace and security by creating a secure environment in which States could interact. The agreement itself was meant to enhance international peace and security as envisioned by the Charter of the United Nations, which is one of the primary reasons for the aspirational language found within the Outer Space Treaty. Of course, this treaty was negotiated in a geopolitical context in which two opposing superpowers saw strategic advantage in normalizing interactions in space.

Today, the geopolitical situation has vastly changed from that at the beginning of the space age; however, the law has not. While many view this lack of change in the space law regime as destabilizing, This paper argues that the key to space security law can still be found in the Outer Space Treaty. The concept of international cooperation is at the heart of the Outer Space Treaty's space security regime, and re-grounding space security law in this concept is vitally important to adapting the law to the changed geopolitical situation. This paper will explore the idea of international cooperation as envisioned in the Outer Space Treaty, and then discuss its implications for the development of space security and its legal regime.