Andreea ZALOMIR
Beginning with 1966, under the aegis of the United Nations, five international treaties covering various aspects of states’ activities in outer space came into existence, the most important being the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies or “the Outer Space Treaty” (OST). However, as technological development progressed and states incurred new vulnerabilities from their dependence on space-located assets, the danger of conflict in this new realm also increased, thus transforming outer space into an area of confrontation. Currently, there is no clarity as to the interpretation of international legal norms in the particular context of outer space warfare. The international legal community has promoted two initiatives, with the aim of drafting a manual on the applicability of international law in the context of space military operations. Both the Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space (MILAMOS) and the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations attempt to draw from other relevant manuals, such as the San Remo Manual or the Tallinn Manual which contain soft law rules on armed conflicts at sea and, respectively, on cyberspace conflicts.[1] The purpose of the present paper is to analyse the five UN treaties pertaining to outer space and to clarify certain issues related to the legal regime of this environment, such as the definition of outer space, the demarcation of outer space from airspace and the legal status of the geostationary orbit.
