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41 Int'l Law. 1091 (2007)
Space Weaponization and the United Nations Charter Regime on Force: A Thick Legal Fog or a Receding Mist

handle is hein.journals/intlyr41 and id is 1105 raw text is: Space Weaponization and the United Nations Charter Regime on Force: A Thick Legal Fog or a Receding Mist? JACKSON NYAMUYA MAOGOTO* AND STEVEN FREELAND** Abstract As space technology develops into more sophisticated areas such as space planes and a variety of space-based platforms with the potential capability to carry weapon systems, the issue of space as a theatre of war is a now a pressing issue that needs to be addressed. Underpinning this Article is a discussion of the militarization and weaponization of outer space and its intersection with the international regime on the use of force. It juxtaposes technological advances in the military utility of space and the tenets of the UN Charter against the landscape of the peaceful purposes mantra that underpins the Space Law regime. The Article highlights the fact that the international legal arena now has a new game in the making for which it is in many ways ill equipped to handle as the ambitious military programs of extant space powers seek to utilize the full spectrum of space tech- nology for both defensive and offensive purposes. At the heart of the Article is the argu- ment that there is a need to analyze extant principles on the use of force in order to address the lacunae in the current regime on the use of force as a means to enhance its utility. I. Introduction On January 11, 2007, the Chinese military launched a KT-1 rocket that successfully destroyed a redundant Chinese Feng Yun 1-C weather satellite, which it had launched in 1999, in Low Earth Orbit approximately 800 kilometers above the earth. As details of the test emerged, governments from around the world, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, all raised diplomatic concerns as to the nature of the test * L.L.B (Hons) (Moi), LL.M (Hons) (Cantab), LL.M (UTS), PhD (Melb), GCertPPT (UoN), Senior Lecturer in International Law, University of Newcastle (Australia). ** Associate Professor in International Law, University of Western Sydney (Australia); Visiting Professor of International Law, University of Copenhagen, (Denmark); Member of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association; Member of the International Institute of Space Law.

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