AwaitingLaunch_1397728623369

companies operate commercial satellite systems, both in the
Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) (mostly telecommunications) and
in Low Earth Orbits (LEO) (telecoms and earth observation). There
are today about 1000 operational satellites, of which half are
operating from the GEO ring, rest operate mostly either on the LEO
orbits or the Medium Earth Orbits (MEO) orbits used by GPS and
other global navigation satellite constellations.
Increased crowding in LEO as well as in the region around the geostationary
ring creates new challenges, among which managing the orbital and radio
spectrum resources is becoming a real issue that will probably require more
stringent rules and enforcement mechanisms by the ITU. In addition, the
proliferation of space debris on and around certain orbits is a major concern,
which calls for additional international mechanisms to limit debris creation
and mitigate the negative impact of the present population, thereby ensuring
a sustainable use of outer space.
Concerning the risk of outer space becoming a battlefield, one can note the
positive fact that deployment of weapons in outer space has apparently not
taken place so far. A less positive fact is that ground-based weapons can be
used - and have been used - against spacecraft in LEO. If such weapons were
activatedduring a conflict, it is clear that additional debris cloud resulting
from such actions would jeopardize for a long time the secure use of near-
Earth outerspace.
In a nutshell, the safety, sustainability and security of outer space activities
are fragile, particularly if one takes a long-term view. Responsible use of
outer space by all actors is essential to preserve outer space as a safe and
secure environment.
Initiatives in the UN context
The issue of sustainability of space activities has already been addressed by
many sectors of the space community, for example the Inter-Agency Space
Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) which focused on the proliferation
of space debris, by the International Academy of Astronautics which
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published a report on space traffic management in 2006 and by the
International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS),
which published a report called “An ICAO for Space?” in 2007.
82 | Awaiting Launch: Perspectives on the Draft ICoC for Outer Space Activities