Need for Regulatory Measures for Peaceful Sustainable Development in the Outer Space.
- Paper number
IAC-10,E7,4,10,x8363
- Author
Mr. Arjun Reddy, PES School of Engineering, India
- Coauthor
Mr. P R Goutham, PES School of Engineering, India
- Year
2010
- Abstract
When Sputnik 1 soared through the earth’s atmosphere and beyond on the 4th of October 1957, man had taken his first step into a new dimension of development. The outer space has slowly evolved as the biggest contributor to mankind’s growth in terms of learning, understanding and living with Mother Earth. Thousands of objects that succeeded in the way Sputnik 1 did have gone to space with a purpose each. Space has been harnessed to provide benefits for the civilized society. Yet, there is another aspect that space has contributed to. Space Research has enhanced military architecture on the ground. This spawns a possibility of future misuse of the developments made in the field and has bred the concern for some sort of regulatory measures in this arena. Space Faring Nations must come together and cooperate in accepting that sustainable development in space can be brought about by renouncing military efforts and prospering only the peaceful uses of the Outer Space. There is a need for the global stakeholders in Space Research to trust each other and maintain a level of transparency with respect to their mission objectives. The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was set up by the United Nations shortly after the first object was sent into space. The purpose of such an organization was to review the scope of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of Space research, exploration and technology. In the past a certain degree of advancement has been made with the aid of COPUOS towards ascertaining that the sending of objects through outer space shall be exclusively for peaceful and scientific purposes. However, under a variety of pretexts, military uses of Outer Space haven’t been ignored by many countries. It is argued that these pretexts defeat the very purpose of Space Research. Many countries have come forward to improvise on the current peace treaties to prevent a possible arms race in Outer Space. This paper intends to analyze the hurdles that are in the way towards modifying the existing rules of Peacekeeping in space. It gathers the varied opinions of various Space Faring Nations in enhancing the present treaties and suggests a pragmatic approach to reach a consensus in this matter.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)