The best we can do is look at what is happening today, consider where we see that going, and take a best guess at what the future will look like,” Schmitt says.
“Are we going to get everything right? No. “MILAMOS is about having the space experts make their best predictions about what kind of scenarios might come into play – such as the use of kinetic weapons in space.”
Rather, it is about having the space experts make their best predictions about what kind of scenarios might come into play – such as the use of kinetic weapons in space – and then having the law experts deconstruct those scenarios from a legal perspective. Of course there is no way to be one hundred percent sure that the MILAMOS Project will come up with all the definitive answers, particularly when dealing with issues that cannot be accurately forecast and future technologies that may not even exist today. And some militaries are already advancing anti-satellite weapons, both that could use kinetic force to blow up satellites or undertake proximity operations, where one space object is brought very close to another creating the possibility that it could be bumped off orbit or otherwise interfered with. While there have been no incidents of one country aggressively attacking another in this way, the ground is already being laid by cyber attacks which could easily translate into the space domain.
#Armies in space warfare full#
“So if my enemy is using GPS for warship navigation and I take out their satellites, is that going to affect civilians on the ground, and is that legal? What if I blow up an enemy military satellite and it breaks into tiny pieces so that orbit is rendered unusable for civilian purposes because it’s now full of space debris?” The MILAMOS ProjectĮssentially the project is aiming to get ahead of the issue. “Group three says, OK, we’re at war now what are the rules of the game? How do we protect civilians and civilian objects? How do we ensure that war which is now extending into space doesn’t unduly interfere with civilian activities elsewhere?” Schmitt explains. The third group looks at international humanitarian law in the event that two states are at war, where both states rely heavily on space assets, as is the case in any conflict today. In short, what does and does not constitute a violation of international law or a war crime? The problem with relying on these largely undefended space assets in so many ways, is that if outer space were to become a battlefield, there are no legal parameters for military uses of space, such as attacking satellites or firing weapons from space. Soldiers, vehicles and aircraft use GPS to navigate, images captured by military satellites inform battlespace awareness at every level of the command chain, and air, land and naval weapons use GPS coordinates for targeting accuracy during combat operations. The stakes are even higher at the national level: the merchant shipping vessels that transport the vast majority of international commerce around the globe rely on accurate GPS systems, as does an increasing amount of military hardware. Whether using GPS satellite navigation to find your way from A to B, carrying out a transaction with a banking system that relies on satellite-based private networks, or even accessing Netflix through a satellite internet provider, secure and reliable satellite systems are behind many of the services we take for granted on a daily basis. Space assets play an ever-greater role in the everyday life of civilians around the world.
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