MILITARIZATION

On 4th October, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificialsatellite, Sputnik 1.The United States of America followed by successfully launching its own satellite in 1958. Since then, satellites providing services in different fields ranging from scientific and research, earth observation, global communication services, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) services, banking services e.t.c. At the early stage of the development of space activities, there was a consensus amongst States that the outer space should be for the use and benefit of all States, to to avoid issue of a possible arms race in space in the future. This general understanding culminated in United Nations (U.N.) Outer Space Treaty, 1967, which provides that the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind. The Treaty further provides that States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space. While satellites have become very useful for many civilian services, the fact that they can also serve military purposes, has led to the issue of possible militarization of the outer space. The recent development of Anti-Satellites (ASAT) and other weapons by states, is posing a threat to the security of space assets. There is now the view that an arms race may soon be underway, since existing treaties did not impose a ban on use of other conventional weapons in space. The United States has in the past opposed the development of a new legal regime, since that may place some kind of restrictions on its activites in space. However, because of the vulnerability of of space assets, United States and France are taking steps to contemplating establish Space Command Force to protect their national interests. These devepment has led the United Nations General Assembly to express concern that there had been insufficient progress in recommending ways to prevent militarization in outer space. This thesis discusses the concept of the militarization of outer space from the perspective of the Outer Space Treaty 1967, issues arising therefrom and legal implication for the security of satellite systems and other space assets, and concludes that the current international space treaties provides insufficient safeguards against the militarization and weaponisation of outer space and made useful suggestions in this regard