Outer space security: past and ongoing multilateral efforts and challenges/ Cécile Aptel & Sarah Erickson

This article reviews what is at stake in outer space security by contextualizing the growing dependency of civilian and military operations on outer space systems against the limits of the current international legal and governance framework. It provides an overview of existing and emerging threats to space systems and briefly examines the entanglement of space security with adjacent security domains, notably nuclear and cyber. The article discusses corresponding historical and contemporary multilateral efforts to secure space, notably the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and ongoing discussions at the UN General Assembly, the Conference on Disarmament, and the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats through Rules, Norms, and Principles of Responsible Behaviours. The article also provides a brief overview of some of the East Asian dynamics related to space security, before concluding with future outlooks on the issues of space security.

SECURITY, UN, EASTASIA, ASIAN, NATSEC, STRATEGY