Can the Outer Space Treaty Prevent Conflicts in Orbit in the 21st Century?
Masters thesis — Naval Postgraduate School, 2018. Full text: https://archive.org/details/cantheouterspace1094559607
Questions
Can the Outer Space Treaty Prevent Conflicts in Orbit in the 21st Century?
A 1967 treaty written for two spacefaring states now governs mega-constellations, ASAT tests, and commercial Moon ambitions — the gap between the law and the hardware is where the next orbital crisis starts.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty's language does not adequately address the three emerging conflict drivers — orbital space debris, the weaponization of space, and asteroid and Moon mining — leaving gaps that could lead to conflict in orbit.
Why it matters
A 1967 treaty written for two spacefaring states now governs mega-constellations, ASAT tests, and commercial Moon ambitions — the gap between the law and the hardware is where the next orbital crisis starts.
Use when: Treaties decay when the technology they were written for is replaced — a framework built for a duopoly can't govern dozens of actors plus private industry.