III. Perspectives of prevention of an arms race in space

Since the issue is becoming more and more urgent, measures to resolve it shouldbe taken as soon as possible. In October 2004, the Russian Federationunilaterally assumed the obligation not to use space weapons first. This decisioncan mean that the country is ready to make concessions to prevent an arms racein space.

In 2005, a similar statement was made by member states of the CollectiveSecurity Treaty Organization, namely Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia.

The Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China are developing"Transparency and Confidence" measures against which the United States ofAmerica votes annually. The measures are supposed to significantly reduce thelikelihood of military threats in space and from outer space.

In 2008, the draft treaty on the prevention of the deployment of weapons inouter space was provided.

In accordance with Article 1, precisedefinitions of the terms "outer space","space object", "weapons in outer space", "placement of weapons in outerspace" and "use of force" are introduced.

Article 2 fixes the provision that the states participating in the Treaty undertakenot to use or place weapons in outer space. The treaty also stipulates that in case thestates fail to reach consensus, two variants are possible: no report would be issued, or a report that provides no recommendations but instead outlinescompeting views will be forwarded[18].

The authorship of this treaty belongs to the Russian Federation and the People'sRepublic of China. The United States of America expressed its disagreementwith this treaty.

It is easy to see the trend that as soon as a draft that restricts activities in theouter space of a single country is introduced, the United States of America strongly opposes any changes in the space order.

In 2008, the European Union proposed the Code of Conduct for Outer Space.The difference is that it does not touch upon armament issues, but deals with other aspectsof safe use of outer space, the issue of space debris in particular.

The signatory countries should "refrain from any actions aimed at causingdamage or destroying space objects, except when such action is carried out toreduce the generation of space debris and/or justified by the realization of theinalienable right to individual or collective self-defense in accordance with theUN Charter ".

The Code of Conduct in Outer Space and the Treaty on the Prevention of thePlacement of Weapons in Outer Space regulate various aspects of the activitiesof states in outer space, so that their separate acceptance is permissible (RussianFederation, United States of America). At the same time, the United States ofAmerica refused to consider the first draft of the Code of Conduct due toexcessively harsh conditions that would hamper the development of the U.S.space program.

Moreover, the adoption of the Code of Conduct is inexpedient without theprior adoption of the Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons inOuter Space.

The draft does not determine its exact place in the system ofinternational instruments for providing the safety of space activities.

Conclusion

The prevention of an arms race in outer space is a long-term aspect ofinternational space policy, since in reality such weapons do not exist yet.

However, projects are being actively developed, and the states are temporarily constrained by existing space treaties (which do not guarantee security). However,there are more and more countries that are creating all new types of weapons inorder to fight not only on Earth, but also in outer space.

Annex

UN key documents

1. UNGA Resolution No. 1472 http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/gares/ARES_14_1472E.pdf

Accessed: October 22, 2017

2. A/RES/18/1884 - «Question of general and complete disarmament» http://www.undocuments.

net/a18r1884.htm. Accessed: October 22, 2017

3. Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under

Water (1963) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Partial_Test_Ban_Treaty Accessed: October 22,

2017

4. UN Office for Disamament Affairs, «Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the

Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water»: http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/

test_ban Accessed: October 22, 2017

5. Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of

Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (1966) http://www.unoosa.org/

pdf/gares/ARES_21_2222E.pdf Accessed: October 22, 2017

6. Treaty between the United States of America and the USSR on the Limitation of Anti-

Ballistic Missile Systems (1972) https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/

Volume%20944/volume-944-I-13446-English.pdf Accessed: October 22, 2017

7. The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of

Environmental Modification Facilities (1977) http://www.un-documents.net/enmod.htm

Accessed: October 22, 2017

8. Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies

(1979) http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/gares/ARES_34_68E.pdf Accessed: October 22, 2017

Other useful material

1. U. S. Department of Defense, «Nuclear Weapon Effects in Space»: https://history.nasa.gov/conghand/nuclear.htm Accessed: October 22, 2017.

2. Sublette, Carey, Nuclear Weapons Archive: http://www.nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Accessed: October 15, 2017

3. Naval Historical Center, «Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons» – Volume 2.p. 157, 190.

4. William Broad, "'STAR WARS' Traced to Eisenhower Era": http://www.nytimes.com/

1986/10/28/science/star-wars-traced-to-eisenhower-era.html. The New York Times. Accessed:Оctober 22, 2017.

5. Department of Defence, "Air Force to Develop Manned Orbiting Laboratory": http://

www.nro.gov/foia/declass/mol/6.pdf. Accessed: October 22, 2017.

6. David Vergun Army News Service «Laser Weapons Bring Sharp Advantages to the

Battlefield»: https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1229046/laser-weapons-bringsharp-advantages-to-the-battlefield/ Accessed: October 22, 2017

7. Anatoly Zak, "Sputnik's mission": www.russianspaceweb.com/sputnik_mission.html.

RussianSpaceWeb.com. Accessed: October 22, 2017.

8. Atomic Heritage Foundation, «Partial Test Ban Treaty»: http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/limited-or-partial-test-ban-treaty-ltbtptbt Accessed: October 22, 2017

9. https://fas.org/pubs/pir/2011winter/2011Winter-Transparency.pdf Accessed: October

22, 2017

Other useful links

1. UN web-site http://www.un.org/

2. SC web-site http://www.un.org/en/sc/

3. General Assembly web-site http://www.un.org/en/ga/

4. UNOOSA web-site http://www.unoosa.org

5. COPUOS web-site http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/index.html

[1]U. S. Department of Defense, «Nuclear Weapon Effects in Space»: https://history.nasa.gov/conghand/nuclear.htm Accessed: October 22, 2017.

[2]Sublette, Carey, Nuclear Weapons Archive: http://www.nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Accessed: October15, 2017

[3]Naval Historical Center, «Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons» – Volume 2. p. 157, 190.

[4]William Broad, "'STAR WARS' Traced to Eisenhower Era": http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/28/science/

star-wars-traced-to-eisenhower-era.html. The New York Times. Accessed: Оctober 22, 2017.

[5]Department of Defence, "Air Force to Develop Manned Orbiting Laboratory": http://www.nro.gov/foia/

declass/mol/6.pdf. Accessed: October 22, 2017.

[6]David VergunArmy News Service «Laser Weapons Bring Sharp Advantages to the Battlefield»: https://

www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1229046/laser-weapons-bring-sharp-advantages-to-the-battlefield/

Accessed: October 22, 2017

[7]Anatoly Zak, "Sputnik's mission": www.russianspaceweb.com/sputnik_mission.html. RussianSpaceWeb.com.Accessed: October 22, 2017.

[8]UNGA Resolution No. 1472 http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/gares/ARES_14_1472E.pdf Accessed: October 22,2017

[9]A/RES/18/1884 - «Question of general and complete disarmament» http://www.un-documents.net/

a18r1884.htm. Accessed: October 22, 2017

[10]Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water (1963) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Partial_Test_Ban_Treaty Accessed: October 22, 2017

[11]Atomic Heritage Foundation, «Partial Test Ban Treaty»: http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/limited-or-partialtest-ban-treaty-ltbtptbt Accessed: October 22, 2017

[12]As of October 22, 2017.

[13]UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, «Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water»: http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/test_ban Accessed: October 22, 2017

[14]Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, includingthe Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (1966) http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/gares/ARES_21_2222E.pdfAccessed: October 22, 2017

[15]Treaty between the United States of America and the USSR on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile

Systems (1972) https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20944/volume-944-I-13446-

English.pdf Accessed: October 22, 2017

[16]The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification

Facilities (1977) http://www.un-documents.net/enmod.htm Accessed: October 22, 2017

[17]Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (1979) http://

www.unoosa.org/pdf/gares/ARES_34_68E.pdf Accessed: October 22, 2017

[18]https://fas.org/pubs/pir/2011winter/2011Winter-Transparency.pdf Accessed: October 22, 2017