(Source: SpaceNews – Sandra Erwin) – U.S. to support international effort to set rules of behavior in space
The United States and allies are drafting language in support of an international effort to adopt rules of behavior in space, U.S. Space Command’s Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt told SpaceNews.
Burt is the commander of U.S. Space Command’s combined force space component at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. She said international momentum is building for the adoption of a binding set of rules to make space safer and sustainable.
U.S. Space Command is taking a central role in this effort amid growing alarm about Russia’s anti-satellite weapon tests and concerns that the proliferation of satellites and debris is rapidly cluttering Earth orbit.
Burt said a team of Defense and State Department officials is drafting language on the U.S. position on a resolution approved in December by the United Nations General Assembly which calls for “norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviors” in space. The UN has asked countries to submit input by May 3 for inclusion in a report to be reviewed by the UN General Assembly this summer.
The problem with previous UN resolutions is that they were non binding, said Burt. (…)
A useful template for rules in space is the maritime domain, she said. “There’s been a lot of exploration over hundreds of years and we’ve established norms that become laws about the rules of the sea. How we operate in the space domain needs very similar kinds of customs and processes.” (…)
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photo © US Space Command, as published in ibid
