The peaceful use of outer space : protecting life on earth

Steven Freeland

doi:10.1057/s42984-023-00065-w

The peaceful use of outer space : protecting life on earth

Steven Freeland

Western Sydney University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The way we explore and use of outer space is fundamental in terms of the world economy, strategic thinking, terrestrial military strategy, geopolitics, human rights, commercial enterprise, tech innovation and, frankly, the future of humankind. The impact of our use of space and the increasing range of space activities mean that law has an important role in ensuring that such activities are carried out in an appropriate manner. But law is not enough. We need to adjust our mindset about the use of space to recognise its uniqueness and the 'humanity' and 'common interest' doctrines that underpin it. A claim by some elements of society that space is the new 'warfighting domain' contradicts the 6-decade-long understanding that it is a shared area governed by international law, where global interests converge to ensure its exploration and use for the benefit of humanity. The goal of preventing an arms race in outer space (PAROS) is vital and must be continued, yet it still contemplates and may even legitimise increased military uses of space. We need to set our ambitions even higher"”a pursuit of a 'peace race' in space. Only then can we begin to move towards an even broader aspirational goal of utilising international human rights law to protect humanity for all threats that might emerge from activities taken above us.

Original language	English
Number of pages	5
Journal	Digital War
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1057/s42984-023-00065-w
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print (In Press) - 2023

Open Access - Access Right Statement

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Access to Document

10.1057/s42984-023-00065-w

Cite this

@article{b5e338de655a423e8ec2a61e8d1057f9,

title = "The peaceful use of outer space : protecting life on earth",

abstract = "The way we explore and use of outer space is fundamental in terms of the world economy, strategic thinking, terrestrial military strategy, geopolitics, human rights, commercial enterprise, tech innovation and, frankly, the future of humankind. The impact of our use of space and the increasing range of space activities mean that law has an important role in ensuring that such activities are carried out in an appropriate manner. But law is not enough. We need to adjust our mindset about the use of space to recognise its uniqueness and the 'humanity' and 'common interest' doctrines that underpin it. A claim by some elements of society that space is the new 'warfighting domain' contradicts the 6-decade-long understanding that it is a shared area governed by international law, where global interests converge to ensure its exploration and use for the benefit of humanity. The goal of preventing an arms race in outer space (PAROS) is vital and must be continued, yet it still contemplates and may even legitimise increased military uses of space. We need to set our ambitions even higher{"}”a pursuit of a 'peace race' in space. Only then can we begin to move towards an even broader aspirational goal of utilising international human rights law to protect humanity for all threats that might emerge from activities taken above us.",

author = "Steven Freeland",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1057/s42984-023-00065-w",

language = "English",

journal = "Digital War",

issn = "2662-1975",

publisher = "Palgrave Macmillan",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The peaceful use of outer space : protecting life on earth

AU - Freeland, Steven

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The way we explore and use of outer space is fundamental in terms of the world economy, strategic thinking, terrestrial military strategy, geopolitics, human rights, commercial enterprise, tech innovation and, frankly, the future of humankind. The impact of our use of space and the increasing range of space activities mean that law has an important role in ensuring that such activities are carried out in an appropriate manner. But law is not enough. We need to adjust our mindset about the use of space to recognise its uniqueness and the 'humanity' and 'common interest' doctrines that underpin it. A claim by some elements of society that space is the new 'warfighting domain' contradicts the 6-decade-long understanding that it is a shared area governed by international law, where global interests converge to ensure its exploration and use for the benefit of humanity. The goal of preventing an arms race in outer space (PAROS) is vital and must be continued, yet it still contemplates and may even legitimise increased military uses of space. We need to set our ambitions even higher"”a pursuit of a 'peace race' in space. Only then can we begin to move towards an even broader aspirational goal of utilising international human rights law to protect humanity for all threats that might emerge from activities taken above us.

AB - The way we explore and use of outer space is fundamental in terms of the world economy, strategic thinking, terrestrial military strategy, geopolitics, human rights, commercial enterprise, tech innovation and, frankly, the future of humankind. The impact of our use of space and the increasing range of space activities mean that law has an important role in ensuring that such activities are carried out in an appropriate manner. But law is not enough. We need to adjust our mindset about the use of space to recognise its uniqueness and the 'humanity' and 'common interest' doctrines that underpin it. A claim by some elements of society that space is the new 'warfighting domain' contradicts the 6-decade-long understanding that it is a shared area governed by international law, where global interests converge to ensure its exploration and use for the benefit of humanity. The goal of preventing an arms race in outer space (PAROS) is vital and must be continued, yet it still contemplates and may even legitimise increased military uses of space. We need to set our ambitions even higher"”a pursuit of a 'peace race' in space. Only then can we begin to move towards an even broader aspirational goal of utilising international human rights law to protect humanity for all threats that might emerge from activities taken above us.

UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:74848

U2 - 10.1057/s42984-023-00065-w

DO - 10.1057/s42984-023-00065-w

M3 - Article

SN - 2662-1975

JO - Digital War

JF - Digital War

ER -

The peaceful use of outer space : protecting life on earth

Abstract

Open Access - Access Right Statement

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this