Major Threats to Space Security

MAUREEN WILLIAMS

Río ded Janeiro, Brasil

Congreso; 73rd Conference of the International Law Association (ILA); 2008

International Law Association (ILA)

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 .