Space diplomacy refers to the integration of the collaboration of the knowledge, technology, and legislation involved in science diplomacy as applied to the expanded exploration of space. As diplomatic relationships are integral to the mitigation of various health, scientific, natural or technological issues across nations, space diplomacy is a growing field in which various nations can come to a consensus on what is fair when it comes to the exploration and commercialization of space travel.
Background Space travel is a necessary resource for people around the world, especially when considering the use of satellites in areas like research or telecommunications. With the exploration of space, major issues are merging, such as environmental concerns and pollution or the monopolization of space travel. Space diplomacy allows for the consideration of such concerns, as officials, scientists, environmental activists, and private corporations can come together in order for both national and private space exploration to prosper. As a term, space diplomacy dates back to at least the 1960s.
Space diplomacy policy and legislation have evolved to accommodate novel space activities and challenges. Initially, from 1959 to 1980, U.S.-Soviet Cold War considerations drove the emergence of the majority of space diplomacy in the form of the slew of binding international agreements that continue to form the basis of the majority of today's space governance. Then, from 1980 to 2000, the rise in the number of both space activities actors and space actors slowed the development of next generation governance. This resulted in weaker, more voluntary diplomatic outputs. This trend continued from 2000, as actors like the European Union and Japan developed their own space diplomacy via instruments like the E.U.'s Galileo satellite navigation system, which went live in 2016, and Japan's Basic Space Law of 2008, while actors like China and the U.S. struggled to find common ground despite China's increasing capacity to reach into space. Today's picture is of increasingly complex space diplomacy, with governments and civil society keen to influence space development despite lacking strong international norms, laws, or standards that might inform such governance, a goal pursued by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.
The development of future space diplomacy for 2030 and beyond will have to accommodate these trends, which are likely to continue in terms of increasing numbers of activities and actors, for instance through greater involvement of civil society and Global South actors in the attempt to develop supportive legislative and policy solutions. Crucially, in order for space diplomacy to become effective in allowing the sustainable development of space, according to agencies like the U.N., governments must better incorporate civil society in the creation of norms and rules. An increase in the diversity of activities and actors may also result from the U.N.-facilitated Human Space Technology Initiative, launched in 2010 and instrumental in promoting access to space education, space data, and space technology and research facilities, as well as direct access to space via, for example, the U.N. facilitated launch of CubeSats.
International space law
Established international laws and regulations Outer space is one of the four identified "global commons", along with the ocean, the atmosphere, and Antarctica. Although the definition of what is a global domain is changing with time and inclusivity, these four domains representing aspects of the environment are the "common heritage of mankind," and as such they are resources that should be shared with all the countries of Earth. In other words, no nation has a sole claim, and the resources associated with these domains should be preserved for everyone. Current international regulations to protect space as a global common and for space travel have been set by the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which governs that space exploration and the use of celestial bodies are to be used for “peaceful purposes” and for scientific research, as established in Resolution 2222 (XXI). The Treaty states that no country can achieve sovereign control over regions of space. Consequently, the Treaty requires that space should be used as a resource of all people. Space law itself is relatively new as a branch of international law, encompassing the need to designate the access to, and freedom to explore, space. Especially with the establishment of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in 1959, participating countries within the United Nations have worked to regulate further human expansion into space, via five main international treaties of space law. These treaties include the Rescue Agreement, the Space Liability Convention, the Registration Convention, and the Moon Treaty, which together regulate activities conducted on celestial bodies. Other agreements aside from the main five were also established in efforts to avoid the use of weapons of mass destruction in space, such as the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which bans the testing of nuclear based weapons in domains including space.
Rising pressure to reform space law treaties and principles As the Outer Space Treaty was signed in 1967 as a consequence of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, continuous updates to the international agreement to space accounts for the great expansion of space travel in the past 20 years. Despite the attempts to preserve space as a global commons, demands due to technological and science advancements in space, including space exploration and private spaceflight, like in the other global commons domains, have been threatening the guidelines set by the Outer Space Treaty. The “New Space” sector of private industry, which refers to civilian space activities funded by companies such as SpaceX, has been an increasingly competitive entity in the exploration and commercialization of space travel. Representing a contemporaneous space race, the growing network of privatized space flight requires legislation that would facilitate the union between both the public and private sectors of space travel and research across nations. Coupled with growing orbital and suborbital launches across the world, there is a growing need to reform the established legislation set by the United Nations. Another consideration for law reform is the increase in space trash and debris as a result of international orbital launches and exploration.
The Outer Space Treaty and other principles of space law ban the use or testing of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear warheads, including in stations in the Earth's orbit. Yet, it is still possible for a nation to participate in space military activities, such as the launching of a nuclear missile through space. Aside from private spaceflight or rover launches in the field of research, nations around the world have recognized the potential to use the domain of space for military defense. For example, the United States and Russia, two of the main actors in the current space race, have not signed the Moon Agreement and so have not agreed to the stipulations of the peaceful treatment of celestial bodies. Signed under the Trump administration in December 2019, the Space Force represents a new branch of the Defense Department and served to establish formal military jurisdiction in the Earth's orbit. The release of the 2020 Defense Space Strategy represents another effort by the United States to expand its national military and defense into space.
Other nations have also been involved in security considerations, such as the effort by the European Union to establish its own policies towards space security. This collaboration of European countries builds upon current shared policies while prioritizing the sustainability and security of space travel.
Prevention of the militarization of space The members of the UN have been discussing the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty since the 1980s. In 1981, the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space was presented by the UN General Assembly and has been discussed during the Conference on Disarmament as a resolution that reestablishes the principles of peace outlined in the original Outer Space Treaty. However, due to the clash between the priorities of the UN members, discussions for a Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space initiative have never come to full fruition. In favour of such hard legislation, in 2008, both China and Russia drafted and proposed the Prevention of an Arms Race in Space Treaty, which would serve to reaffirm the principles of the Outer Space Treaty while also preventing the militarization of space. Working on a softer policy-driven path, in 2019, the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Working Group on the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities finally reached consensus among its 84 member states on 21 'Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities.' The following year, to specifically counter an arms race in outer space, the U.N. General Assembly adopted Resolution 75/36, Reducing Space Threats through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviours. Issues like dual-use technology and the efficacy of an agreed set of principles versus the long time a formal U.N. treaty might take to be signed and ratified, and especially policed and verified, continue to pose problems.
Space privatization Over the past few decades, the space environment has dramatically changed as private companies entered the space exploration domain, meaning the sector is no longer the sole preserve of governments and their space agencies, such as NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Unlike the space race that occurred between the United States and Russia, this new era of the space race is accelerated by the competition of customers. Private companies in many nations have been involved in the satellite market for many years, and their efforts have paved the way for entrepreneurs to develop their own vision and contribution to space exploration.
Privatization in the United States The U.S. space industry is composed of four sectors: (1) defense (2) intelligence, (3) commercial, and (4) civil space sectors. Space privatization is associated with the commercial space sector. For the most part, the U.S. national launch infrastructure has been privatized or leased to companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Bigelow Aerospace, and the Sierra Nevada Corporation. These competitors are focused on reducing the cost of access to space, for example through the reuse of launchers and spacecraft, making space accessible to people and not just trained astronauts.
SpaceX