Safeguarding outer space: on the road to debris mitigation

MAUREEN WILLIAMS

Security in Space: the next generation

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research - UNIDIR/2008/14

Lugar: Ginebra; Año: 2008; p. 81 - 103

ABSTRACT   The military uses of outer space is not a topic specifically addressed by the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (Copuos) but no doubt the delegations are sensing that weapon deployment may affect the safety of outer space activities. A common denominator to be drawn from the doctrine today concurs that space debris should be on the top of the list, followed by weaponisation and NEOs - meaning natural near-Earth objects, such as asteroids, meteorites, etc. - and the risk of collisions with planet Earth. These three topics shall be taken in turn hereunder. Space debris is an increasing threat to security in space. In addition to active satellites -as well as abandoned or inactive satellites- orbiting the Earth, small particles originating from collisions between these objects, known as ´second generation debris´ imply an extremely serious risk of collision with active satellites, sometimes with untold consequences. These small particles -because of their size- cannot be detected from Earth in the present state of the art. They travel at very high speeds - roughly 8 km per second - and there are currently tens of thousands of  those pieces in outer space. As to weaponisation, it may be true to say that weapons of mass destruction have not, so far, been deployed in the space environment. Nevertheless, reconnaissance satellites and early warning satellites are constantly transmitting processed information which is then taken into account for decision-making mechanisms[1]. [1] Forum on Civil Society and Outer Space (CONGO), Vienna International Centre (VIC), 7-8 October 2007, Congo Final Report, page 31 et seq .