EDITORIAL
Disarmament in Space
S
pace has always been a great ‘asset’ for the military. The ability to conduct reconnaissance without dangerous clandestine forays in foreign airspace is a big attraction. While optical sensors on satellites were a big step forward from ultrahigh altitude spy planes like the U2, radar satellites provide information of a class beyond the capabilities of optical and IR sensors.
100 Km, also called the Kárman Line, where the speed of an aircraft has to be higher than the orbital speed in order to generate sufficient lift. In effect, everything below 100 Km is aeronautics, while everything above is astronautics. Many countries strenuously objected to this as it would restrict ICBMs, which spend a considerable time of their flight above 100 Km in a sub-orbital trajectory, and thus would violate the Outer Space Treaty. The treaty mentions ‘place’ and ‘stationing’ but is silent about ‘passage’. Thus, ICBMs and ASATs merely passing through outer Space on their mission do not violate the Treaty.
Yet another class of satellites are the ELINT satellites which can pick up radio chatter. Then there are the GNSS for location, navigation and timing used for guiding Prof. Arup Dasgupta offensive forces in the air, sea arup@geospatialworld.net and on the ground. Conventional On December 4, 2014, the communications satellites are also General Assembly of the UN passed two more resoused for strategic communications in C4ISR. lutions on preventing an arms race in outer Space. In a classic spear and shield paradigm, powerful The first one calls on all States, in particular those with major Space capabilities, to contribute actively lasers have been used to blind optical spy satelto the peaceful use of outer Space and prevent an lites and jammers have been used to temporarily arms race in Space. The second one talks about no incapacitate radar, ELINT, GNSS and Comsats. first positioning of weapons in outer Space. ASATs are another approach for a more permanent solution by eliminating such satellites. But ASATs However, this has not prevented countries from create a mess of debris which threaten other Space looking at Space militarization and setting up Space assets. Nearly 250 trackable debris resulted from Commands — China and Russia in 2015, France in the Indian ASAT test on March 27, 2019. 2019 and the US in 2020. While such commands cover defense rather than offence, the dividing In 1967, anticipating such a scenario, the United line is thin. In a war situation, C4ISR uses all these Nations, in its Outer Space Treaty, specifically technologies for both offence and defense. Denial stated that “States shall not place nuclear weapons of GPS service, for example, in the Gulf War and or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or allegedly during the Kargil conflict are examples of on celestial bodies or station them in outer Space such offensive use. It is also alleged that a Russian in any other manner”. Note the use of the words satellite shadowed a US spy satellite and fired a ‘place’ and ‘station’. projectile at it. An interesting point much argued in the UN was Clearly, disarmament is not only needed on the definition of where outer Space begins. After Earth, but as the UN anticipates, in Space as well. much wrangling, it was decided that it begins at 4 | www.gwprime.geospatialworld.net | March-April 2021
