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Why countries are breaking the Outer Space Treaty
Launchpad Newsletter
July 02, 2024
Breaking Down the Business of Space for People on Earth
Welcome to the Launchpad Newsletter, your top source for political, economic, and social developments in the New Space Economy, built by real entrepreneurs shaping it.
Ready-for-launch into the insights of the most impactful industry of the 21st Century.
This Week’s Next-Gen Newsflash
🚀 Boeing Starliner’s return delayed to July, stranding astronauts aboard the ISS. Don’t worry though, they’re having fun.
🛰️ Starlab commercial station adds military intelligence company Palantir to its list of strategic partners. You can probably guess why.
💸 Damages incur as Chinese rocket booster is destroyed over populated area.
Today’s Subject of Space: Is the Outer Space Treaty Dead?
Is the Outer Space Treaty dead?
In 1967, the US and Soviet Union spearheaded the Outer Space Treaty, governing the usage of the Moon, ownership of deep space resources, and standards for safe and sustainable space exploration.
At the time, it was a major step forward in diplomacy during the height of the Cold War, but recent developments question the treaty’s value in 2024:
1) Allegations that Russia aims to place anti-satellite nuclear charges in Earth orbit would violate the treaty’s prohibition of nuclear weapons usage in space.
2) Commercial asteroid mining companies the world over have been granted mineral rights for the resources they extract, negating the treaty’s ban on private ownership of objects in space.
3) The Artemis Accords have been signed by 42 countries promising the safe exploration of the Moon, allowing political interests to carve up lunar resources and territory, and setting a new status quo for international space diplomacy.
And all this framed by a new space race between America and its allies through the Artemis program, and China and its allies, to return to the Moon for permanent habitation.
It’s safe to assume that the Outer Space Treaty no longer reflects the complex global priorities of the 21st Century, having been written in a time before rapid reusable rockets, expanding international and commercial involvement in space, and even the original Moon landings themselves.
The treaty is still often cited as an ethical guideline, but modern governments and private entities alike seem to have no problem with skirting or amending the rules in the name of national security.
After all, “if we don’t, they will,” and when the bounty and authority of the solar system is at stake, change is inevitable.
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