The use of force and outer space: The Draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (2014).

Abstract

The incapacity of the existing international legal framework to prevent the weaponisation of outer space causes international peace and security to be at jeopardy. The increasing degradation of the space environment together with the identification of outer space as a key domain for national security purposes has prompted the appearance of various normative initiatives aimed to fill this legal vacuum. In order to prevent the transformation of outer space in a new theatre of operations and expand its normative power in outer space governance, the Popular Republic of China in conjunction with the Russian Federation released under the Conference on Disarmament the revised Draft PPWT. This paper attempts to analyse China’s norm-setting initiative, having as added value the discernment of the limitations that it languishes and the weighting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s options regarding this legal instrument.