Space war – doesn't it sound like a plot of some fictional sci-fi novel or movie? It might, and it's also something that can become a reality in the future and the effect would be disastrous and beyond anybody's imagination.
Recently, experts from all over the world have launched a project, named Manual on International Law Applicable to Military uses of Outer Space (MILAMOS). The aim of the project is to "develop a widely-accepted manual clarifying the fundamental rules applicable to the military use of outer space, in times of peace, as well as in periods of tension and in outright armed conflict."
MILAMOS is significant, argue experts, saying it would lessen the prospect of a future space war, and if that still occurs, it would at least minimize its blow on space infrastructure, especially satellites and space labs.
Earlier this year, Heather Wilson, Secretary of the US Air Force, had stated that a space war in future looked imminent and that America is heavily investing to maintain its military supremacy in space. "We must expect that war, of any kind, will extend into space in any future conflict, and we have to change the way we think and prepare for that eventuality," said Wilson.
Thr first Gulf war of 1991 is often referred to as the first war in the outer space, although, it wasn't exactly fought in space. However, the coalition forces and the United States of America had depended on GPS and several other satellite technologies profoundly, said the report.
To date, we have only five global treaties that have been created precisely for space. The most important one among them is the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. However, even this one has only one provision (Article IV), which directly speaks of the military actions in space. It merely says: "States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner."
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Other than the MILAMOS project, the states also have the option of negotiating international instruments in order to elucidate or broaden the laws. Regrettably, recent attempts to achieve that have been unsuccessful and that's why this initiative now wants to fill in the legal gaps, stated the report.
