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Certain provisions of these treaties may not be applicable as between belligerents duringinternational armed conflict. 15314.10.2.2 Application of General International Law to Activities and Use of OuterSpace. The Outer Space Treaty reaffirms the duty of States Parties to comply with existinginternational law in carrying out activities in outer space. Article III of the Outer Space Treatyprovides that “States Parties to the Treaty shall carry on activities in the exploration and use ofouter space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, in accordance with international law,including the Charter of the United Nations, in the interest of maintaining international peace andsecurity and promoting international cooperation and understanding.” 154Although existing international law, such as the Charter of the United Nations, generallyapplies to States Parties’ activities in outer space, international law that prescribes certainconditions for national claims of sovereignty does not apply to outer space because outer space isnot subject to national appropriation. 155Certain treaties apply only in certain geographical locations (such as a State’s ownterritory), and thus might not create obligations applicable to a State’s activities in outer space.However, law of war treaties and the customary law of war are understood to regulate theconduct of hostilities, regardless of where they are conducted, which would include the conductof hostilities in outer space. In this way, the application of the law of war to activities in outer152 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, Nov. 12, 1974, 1023 UNTS 15.153 Department of Defense, Office of the General Counsel, An Assessment of International Legal Issues inInformation Operations (2nd ed., Nov. 1999), reprinted in 76 U.S. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE INTERNATIONAL LAWSTUDIES 459, 494 (2002) (“During an international armed conflict between the two nations concerned, however, thelaw of armed conflict would apply unless it was trumped by the principle of noninterference with space systems.Resolution of this issue depends largely on whether the four space treaties will be considered to apply during anarmed conflict. None of them has any specific provision that indicates whether the parties intended that theagreement apply in wartime. There appears to be a strong argument that the principle of noninterference establishedby these agreements is inconsistent with a state of hostilities, at least where the systems concerned are of such highmilitary value that there is a strong military imperative for the adversary to be free to interfere with them, even to theextent of destroying the satellites in the system. As indicated in the discussion of treaty law in the introduction tothis paper, the outcome of this debate may depend on the circumstances in which it first arises in practice.”).154 OUTER SPACE TREATY art. III. See also Staff Report prepared for the use of the Committee on Aeronautical andSpace Sciences, United States Senate, Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration andUse of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies: Analysis and Background Data, 24 (Mar.1967) (“This article makes clear that those nations which ratify the treaty will observe international law—and thisincludes the Charter of the United Nations—in order to promote international cooperation and peace. Thus thatbody of law, which has developed on the Earth in order to bring about harmonious relations between nations andsettle disputes without resort to violence, would become applicable to outer space, the Moon, and other celestialbodies.”).155 Staff Report prepared for the use of the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, United States Senate,Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including theMoon and Other Celestial Bodies: Analysis and Background Data, 24 (Mar. 1967) (“An exception would beinternational law which provides certain conditions for national claims of sovereignty, this exception having beenset forth in Article II.”); OUTER SPACE TREATY art. II (“Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies,is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any othermeans.”).924