Space weaponization and the United Nations Charter Regime on Force: a thick legal fog or a receding mist

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 technology for both defensive and offensive purposes. At the heart of the Article is the argument 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.