Outer Space Law: Treaties, Africa, and Zimbabwe's Security

Introduction

The regulation of outer space relations is a contemporary and fundamental area of international law. This paper examines key treaties and conventions to explore the relevance of regulating outer space relations in international law. It begins with a brief background on international space law, followed by an examination of five key treaties and conventions, whose importance is analyzed and relevance determined. The paper then focuses on developments in Africa and the effects of regulation on national, regional, and international security from the Zimbabwe perspective.

International Space Law

International space law is the body of law pertaining to the governance of space-related activities, and includes international agreements, treaties, conventions, and UN General Assembly resolutions (UN, 2022). Some of the major issues in space law are "the preservation of the space and Earth environment, liability for damages caused by space objects, the settlement of disputes, the rescue of astronauts, the sharing of information about potential dangers in outer space, the use of space-related technologies, and international cooperation" (UN, 2022). The issues of space are guided by principles such as the idea that space is a realm belonging to all humankind and not to any one nation in particular; that all states have a right to explore and use outer space without discrimination; and that outer space should not be appropriated by any state for hostile or exploitative purposes (UN, 2022).

The five key treaties and conventions on outer space are the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the Rescue Agreement of 1968, the Liability Convention of 1972, the Registration Convention of 1976, and the Moon Agreement of 1984 (UN, 2021). The Outer Space Treaty was the first of its kind and emerged during the space race between the rival superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. It was feared that space would be weaponized and militarized by one or the other — or by a third state — and the treaty was designed to prevent this from happening. The treaty prohibited nuclear weapons in outer space, required that the moon and other planets be used only for peaceful purposes, and established that no sovereign nation could claim ownership over outer space (UN, 2020).

Five Key Treaties and Conventions

The importance of the Outer Space Treaty was that it placed a curb on the development of weapons that could potentially be installed on satellites in outer space and aimed at other countries. The treaty thus helped bring about a degree of international peace insofar as the threat of an attack from outer space was concerned. It did not, however, put an end to the space race, and the world's superpowers continued to vie to be the first to reach the moon.

The Rescue Agreement of 1968 fostered greater international collaboration between states by obliging signatories to share responsibility for the rescue of personnel from any spacecraft that might land in another state's territory (UN, 2022). Its importance lies in the fact that it ensures astronauts or spacecraft personnel are to be rescued by all signatories of the treaty. However, it remains a vaguely worded agreement, and there is some dispute about what constitutes a spacecraft.

The Liability Convention established that whichever state launches a spacecraft is responsible — or liable — for any damages caused by that spacecraft. To date, only one claim has been filed under this convention, when the Soviet-launched Kosmos 954 crashed in Canada (Benko, 1985). The importance of this convention was that it clarified who is the responsible party should a satellite or other spacecraft crash in another country.

The Registration Convention requires all signatories to provide the UN with details about the orbit of all their spacecraft. This ensures that a proper registry of all craft orbiting in space is maintained. It is important because it essentially provides a log of space traffic — with routes — to reduce the risk of space traffic accidents.

The Moon Treaty is perhaps the least relevant of these five instruments because so few states have signed it. The United States, Russia, and China have not signed on, which means it carries little weight as treaties go. It was intended to provide legal parameters for exploiting resources found on the moon — but since the world's superpowers have not signed, it has little to no binding force (Koch, 2018).

Conclusion

Outer space has been settled and colonized to some extent by the developed world and the world's superpowers, which have benefited from the Outer Space Treaty and the other UN treaties and conventions. This treaty has ensured the peaceful use of space, but it has also ensured that no nation will be able to make a claim of sovereignty over its own air space beyond a certain limit. When some African states attempted to do this through the Bogota Declaration, their claims were rejected, and the dispute continues today. For Zimbabwe, the present course of action is to join the world's spacefaring nations by sending up a satellite into outer space — a step it planned to take for the first time in 2022. This places Zimbabwe ahead of many other African states in terms of space engagement. However, if these same states were able to claim sovereignty over the space above their territories in the same way that other states claim their land, substantial revenues could be generated. The price to send a satellite orbiting overhead would likely be considerable, and these nations could enrich themselves in a manner comparable to how Middle Eastern countries have enriched themselves through their natural resource wealth. Air space is no less vital than the ground below, but currently no state is compensated for it — and the Outer Space Treaty is the primary reason why.