TAKING SOVEREIGNTY OUT OF THIS WORLD: WEAPONISATION OF SPACE

Author – Abhinav Viswanath, Student at School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be) University

BEST CITATION – Abhinav Viswanath, TAKING SOVEREIGNTY OUT OF THIS WORLD: WEAPONISATION OF SPACE, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 3 (1) OF 2023, PG. 816-821, ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

Preventing space from turning into an arena of conflict is essential for world peace and strategic stability. Consistent with this notion, for the decade’s nations have been working towards developing a network of multilateral treaties, conventions, resolutions and declarations to face the challenges presented by the exploration and use of outer space and to adopt approaches for promotion of space activity. These multilateral treaties and conventions highlight the importance of international cooperation in developing the rule of law and creating the foundation for the outer space legal framework we have today. Through this paper, the authors try to bring out the significance of ‘sovereignty of states’ to the discussion of activities in outer space. Furthermore, this paper brings out the distinction between space militarization and space weaponization. Additionally, this paper discusses some of the developments in light of strategies to weaponization of outer space adopted by various states. To conclude, the article proposes the establishment of a World Outer Space Authority to regulate behaviour in this domain of International Relation. This Authority galvanizes the efforts made in the several conferences and committees held so far in developing the rule of law. It will provide an alternative platform where binding decisions can be made by majority vote versus consensus to ensure enforcement of the rule of law.