![]() As of February this year, 112 countries are parties to the OST, while another 23 have signed the treaty but have not completed ratification. The OST came into force on 10 October 1967. Militarisation of space beyond military reconnaissance/surveillance platforms has hithertofore been proscribed by various international statutes like resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly and UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNOOSA) and the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space ( Outer Space Treaty-OST), including the Moon and other celestial bodies, which, in particular, prohibits the placement of nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction in outer space or on celestial bodies. What Are the Censures Against CLS Militarisation ? ![]() LLO is approximately 100 Km above the Lunar Surface. This includes a set of earth-centered orbital locations in low earth orbit, geosynchronous earth orbit, highly elliptical and high earth orbits, earth-moon liberation or “Lagrange” points …. ‘The Cis-Lunar domain is defined as that area of deep space under the gravitational influence of the earth-moon system. L1 is always in front of the Moon and L2 is always behind the Moon, each by ’. ‘Cis-Lunar Space is the area around the Earth extending out to just beyond the Moon’s orbit and including all of the five ‘Lagrange’ Points (L1 to L5), that are stable in position in reference to the Earth and Moon as they rotate about each other. (Orbits- LEO: Low-Earth, MEO: Medium-Earth, HEO: High-Earth, GEO-Geo-Synchronous Equatorial, LLO-Low-Lunar) What Essentially is The ‘Territory’ of CLS? That having been said, this hithertofore largely ‘unexploited’ territory, is ripe for exploitation for peaceful but, more worryingly, for military use! The CLS is a large swathe of space, free of gravitational influence and therefore deployment in this region would obviate the high-intensity logistics and propulsion requirements of excessive fuel/ equipment for landing/re-entry/sustained deployment. ![]() This leaves a tremendously large swathe of space between these satellite platforms and the orbit of our natural satellite-the Moon, referred to as Cis-Lunar Space (CLS). ![]() In any case, the maximum altitude of all such platforms above the earth is restricted to about 35,000 Km. The permissible altitudes of these platforms and operations have hithertofore been restricted by the need for adequate resolution (surveillance/ reconnaissance-low altitude) to the need for larger swathes for communication, meteorology and navigation, among others (geo-stationary satellites-high altitude). Mankind, has, till very recently, looked at the spheroidal area of near-earth space as an altitude-band for satellites with military and civil applications as well as near-earth space exploration by manned/ unmanned vectors. “ There is no battle arena that favours mobility, strategic brilliance and lethality more than Space!” – By the Author ![]()
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