UN explores options to prevent arms race in space

GENEVA: Government experts from 25 countries gathered at the United Nations in Geneva on Monday for talks on how to prevent outer space from becoming a battleground.

“Space is more and more important for military dominance overall,” the chairman of the talks, Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, told reporters ahead of the two-week session.

Most military operations on Earth rely on communication satellites, and countries are increasingly concerned that such assets in space could be destroyed, the Brazilian diplomat added.

The UN talks had been initiated before US President Donald Trump announced his plans last June to establish a Space Force as a new military branch to guarantee “American dominance in space.” In 2008, Russia and China proposed a treaty to ban any weapons in the Earth’s orbit and beyond, as well as attacks against space objects.

However, Western countries have resisted such a legally binding pact. The US and the EU favour non-binding measures. The Geneva session, which also includes Iran, Pakistan and India, is meant to break this deadlock, by drawing up various elements that could be included in a UN pact in the future.

Participants are set to debate whether to focus on banning certain weapons or certain types of behaviours in space, according to Patriota. They will mull legally binding rules as well as non-binding transparency measures.

Actions that could be considered hostile include jamming of communication signals, targeting satellites, as well as exploding space objects to create debris that hampers other space objects.