Sanctuary is defined by the idea of keeping space and space
faring weapons-free for the benefit of the entire humanity. [1] In order to
protect the sanctuary of space, ever since the beginnings of the space age,
nations involved in space activities and not only were drawn towards legalizing
space activities to make sure no nation of the world would utilize space
capabilities for military purposes. This was the initial scope of the Outer Space Treaty, as well as the Moon Treaty. Maintaining the sanctuary
of space has been so far quite successful, despite the competition of the Space
Race and the tensions of the Cold War.
The subject of the sanctuary of space is somehow debatable.
Some nations claim that the Outer Space
Treaty refers not only to weaponization, but also to any sort of military
use of space itself, as well as space hardware. While keeping weapons away from
space has been achieved so far, the use of space for the military has been
widespread worldwide. Reconnaissance, communication and global positioning
satellites are all used for military purposes and ultimately for achieving
national security. However there have been suggestions that using space
hardware for national security can only benefit the entire humanity, because it
is a means of maintaining world peace. [2]
Placing weapons in space would affect the concept of
sanctuary in a negative manner, or in other words, space would not be a
sanctuary anymore. It is recommended to maintain space in a status somehow
similar to the international waters where special laws apply for all nations of
the world. Therefore, placing any type of weapon with any sort of
aggressiveness in mind would destroy the status of the sanctuary. However there
are exceptions that the international community must agree with. For example,
using nuclear weapons for deflecting a hazardous near-Earth object should be something
pre-agreed. Waiting until such a situation arises to decide may be a problem.
It is somehow widely agreed in the space community that blowing up an asteroid
in the “Armageddon” style would not be a good idea, but there are other ideas
circulating around that suggest using nuclear weapons to just change the course
of such a hazardous object while still at a considerable distance from Earth
would be a reliable method of deflection. Such uses of weapons in space would
help maintain the sanctuary.
Maintaining the sanctuary of space is beneficial for the
entire humanity, but especially to the space faring nations. [3] The sanctuary
assures the safety of space hardware of any kind, from satellites to the
International Space Station itself. It is important to note however that one of
the reasons the sanctuary of space has been maintained is that space faring is
hard and not at every nation’s hand. The more space activities and
possibilities will be developed, the more the sanctuary will be at risk. We are
presently witnessing the first tentative of Iran
Notes:
[1] Independent Working Group. Missile Defense, the Space Relationship and the Twenty-First Century.
2009 Report. https://www.claremont.org/repository/docLib/200901291_iwg2009.pdf
(accessed February 11, 2013), 38.
[2] Ibid, 42.
[3] Ibid, 80.
Image source: http://static.urbantimes.co/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Esa-space-exploration.jpg
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