AwaitingLaunch_1397728623369

CoC is that it is voluntary in nature. The past experiences with voluntary
disclosures, for instancein fields like missile disarmament, particularly The
Hague Code of Conduct(HCoC), are not very encouraging. It has been
found that such ideas are acceptable to many states in principle but are
mostly not taken seriously thereafter.
The idea behind using CoC as an 'expression' for space security is noble but
the issue is, 'how effective would it be?' What is important is that the efforts
should continue to improve the existing draft of CoC to further advance
TCBMs. The CoC could be viewed by many as a useful foundation and a
constructive starting point, but it is important to remember that similar
initiatives (in some form or other) were offered earlier too, without much
success. Fortunately, CoC has succeeded in bringing together important
stakeholders to debate this issue. In general, beyond the CoC, various spacefaring
states are also found to be keen to develop mechanisms for
cooperation. In January 2014, ministers and high-level officials from
important stakeholder states have met together in the United States. The
formation of International Space Exploration Forum (ISEF) could be
viewed as a positive step in support of global cooperation. The need of the
hour is to quickly channel the interest generated from GGE, CoC and ISEF
debates to finalise the CoC draft and immediately start the next process of
formulating an international legally binding treaty mechanism.
80 | Awaiting Launch: Perspectives on the Draft ICoC for Outer Space Activities