UN delegates divided over how to curb space weapons

Delegates to the UN General Assembly’s disarmament committee agreed on Wednesday, 21 October, that outer space should remain peaceful, but differed over how to prevent an arms race there. Some called for a legally binding, verifiable agreement; others argued that voluntary rules on behaviour would reduce risks sooner. The discussion produced no immediate agreement on a way forward.

The distinction matters because the 1967 Outer Space Treaty bars objects carrying nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction from Earth orbit, but does not impose a general ban on every kind of weapon there.

Ghana’s representative said transparency and confidence-building measures could complement binding obligations, but not replace them. The UK representative argued that a ban on placing weapons in space would be difficult to verify: objects are distant, move quickly and can conceal payloads. He favoured non-binding norms and guidelines instead. The positions were not neatly divided into two camps. In its statement to the committee, the Holy See backed both progress towards binding measures and steps to build transparency and trust.

The debate also brought accusations about current space activity. According to the UN’s account, the US representative accused Russia and China of developing and operating space weapons. He singled out the Russian military satellite COSMOS 2612, saying it had deliberately moved dangerously close to a commercial satellite and that its behaviour appeared consistent with a weapons operation.

Satellite tracker Marco Langbroek estimated from orbital data that COSMOS 2612 was roughly 1–2 kilometres from the commercial satellite ICEYE-X36 at 18:15 UTC on 17 October. He said a closer approach may have followed early on 18 October, but uncertainties in the data made the minimum distance difficult to establish. He saw no indication in ICEYE-X36’s orbital data that it had been struck or disturbed. By 10:30 UTC on 21 October, he estimated the satellites were about 480 kilometres apart. The tracking supports an account of a close approach, not a finding that COSMOS 2612 was a weapon.

Carlos Mario Foradori, chair of an existing UN working group on preventing an arms race in space, told the committee that states had discussed protecting civilian satellite services and the safe operation of objects near one another. He acknowledged continuing differences, while arguing that the lack of immediate agreement did not mean the talks had made no progress.