India And Outer Space Treaty | Burning Issues | PDF Download

MISSION SHAKTI

NOTES

• India’s anti-satellite missile test – Mission Shakti – did not violate any international treaty it is a party to, the Government said

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Treaty on Principles Governing Activities of States in Exploration and Use of Outer Space – commonly known as “Outer Space Treaty” – came into force on October 10, 1967. India signed the treaty on March 3, 1967, but ratified it almost 15 years later, on January 18, 1982.

GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) pointed it out that the “Outer Space Treaty” prohibited use of only the weapons of mass destruction in outer space. It did not bar the use of ordinary or conventional weapon – like the one used in Mission Shakti – in outer space

GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE

• New Delhi made it clear that the test was conducted only to demonstrate India’s capability to safeguard its space assets and defend its interests in outer space.
• The MEA noted that the Mission Shakti test had been conducted in the lower atmosphere to ensure that it did not generate much “space debris” after the missile destroyed the satellite. “Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks.”

OUTER SPACE TREATY

• A treaty that forms the basis of international space law. The treaty was opened for signature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on 27 January 1967, and entered into force on 10 October 1967.
• The Outer Space Treaty does not ban military activities within space or the weaponization of space, with the exception of the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space

FOLLOW-UPS TO OUTER SPACE TREATY

• The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, does not address the use of ASATs

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