Satellite Warfare a Challenge for the International Community
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
. AmiRs * ^ LIBR^ UNIDIR j . United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Geneva Satellite warfare A challenge for the international community Report by the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) prepared under the direction o f Pierre Lellouche With the collaboration of: Yves Boyer, Eva Kulesza and Jerdme Paolini UNITED NATIONS New York, 1987 NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. UNIDIR/87/4 UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. GV.E.87.0.1 ISBN 92-9045-018-5 01900P iroiTED NATIONS ^ Department for DisAjLiiAicENr apfairs REFSREifCE LIBRAHX ^ PREFACE The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) which has been in existence since October 1, 1980, was estabhshed by the General Assembly as an autonomous institution within the framework of the United Nations to carry out indepen- dent research on disarmament and related international security issues. The work of the Institute, which is based on the provisions of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, aims at: Providing the International community with more diversified and complete data on prob- lems relating to international security, the armaments race and disarmament in all fields, particularly in the nuclear field, so as to facilitate progress, through nego- tiations, towards greater security for all States, and towards the economic and social development of all peoples; Promoting informed participation by all States in disarmament efforts; Assisting on-going negotiations on disarmament and continuing efforts to ensure greater international security at a progressively lower level of armaments, particularly nuclear armaments, by means of objective and factual studies and analyses; Carrying out more in-depth, forward looking and long-term research on disarmament so as to provide a general insight to the problems involved and stimulating new in- itiatives for new negotiations. Paragraph 80 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, addressing the subject of the prevention of an arms race in outer space, calls for new measures to be implemented and appropriate international negotiations to be undertaken in conformity with the spirit of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Ac- tivities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. In that context UNIDIR is glad to publish this study undertaken by the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) under the direction of Pierre Lellouche, with the collaboration of Yves Boyer, Eva Kulesza and Jerome Paolini, assisted by a special working group of leading French experts on outer space. Starting from the premise that outer space is being utilized by the two great space Powers primarily for military purposes, the authors contend that the further development of ASAT weapons would introduce “a major element of uncertainty into the strategic equation” between them. Avoidance of this new danger is the stated objective of the study. In order to achieve their purpose, the authors explore the nature of the ASAT threat to international security, taking into account the likely interaction between those weapons and the possible introduction of anti-missile space defences. Giving full weight to the problems posed by the vast array of possibilities for causing damage to objects in space, the study concentrates on a search for means to ensure the safety of satellites. Many con- crete proposals are advanced within the context of a recommendation to establish an in- ternational space agency. The issues dealt with here are among those of the greatest significance for the security of all States and the subject matter has been approached with due regard to its in- disputable importance. Although UNIDIR takes no position on the views and conclusions expressed by the authors of its studies, it does assume responsibility for determining whether a work merits publication and hence commends this study to the attention of its readers. Jayantha D hanapala Director, UNIDIR CONTENTS Page Forew ord................................................................................................................................. vii List of participants in the AS AT Working Group of IFRI.................................................. ix Introduction: T he challenge space for the international community....................... 1 Chapter I. T he anti-satellite threat........................................................................................ 7 1. The vulnerability of satellites.............................................................................. 7 2. Anti-satellite measures and their effectiveness............................................... 11 3. ASAT countermeasures....................................................................................... 13 II. Comparative study of the American and Soviet ASAT systems.................. 15 1. Two different technical concepts...................................................................... 15 2. Comparative military usefulness of the two systems..................................... 17 III. ASAT WEAPONS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW............................................................... 20 1. Definition of ASAT weapons............................................................................. 20 2. General features of the law applicable............................................................. 20 3. The problems of legal regulation of ASAT weapons..................................... 23 IV. Recommendations....................................................................................................... 25 1. Legal principles..................................................................................................... 25 2. Confidence-building measures........................................................................... 26 3. An international space agency........................................................................... 28 ANNEXES I. Comparison between the American and Soviet ASAT weapons....................... 31 II. Outline of proposals for coping with anti-satellite weapon systems.................. 37 III. Verification of an ASAT agreem ent....................................................................... 39 Select bibliography.............................................................................................................. 41 V FOREWORD Thirty years after the launching of the first Sputnik It is precisely an analysis of this threat and of ways satellite, the exploration of space has become a and means of removing it that constitutes the subject challenge of major importance for the international of the present report, prepared by IFRI for the United community as a whole. Civil applications such as Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. As we telecommunications, meteorology, television and shall see, the ASAT problem is extraordinarily difficult remote Earth sensing are by now part and parcel of to circumscribe, because of the enormous diversity of everyday life for a large proportion of mankind, and the types of possible interference against space platforms number of nations with space ambitions is constantly (ranging from “ soft” aggression, unobtrusive and not growing, both among the developed regions (Europe easy to detect, designed to cause gradual damage to the and Japan) and also in the developing parts of the world electronic devices on the target satellites, through (India and China in particular). “killer satellites” , to interceptors loaded on board planes or on other satellites). Similarly, ways and means But whether we like it or not, this civil and industrial of halting the proliferation of ASAT systems, and par dimension of space represents only a minor aspect of the ticularly of controlling their effects on space installa matter in terms both of financial investment and of the tions belonging to third Powers, are equally difficult to placement of space objects. The truth is that space has define, if we bear in mind the inadequacy of the legal become first and foremost a theatre for tough military regime existing today in space matters, and the dif competition between the two super-Powers. In these ficulties, particularly in regard to verification, inherent two countries, military space budgets are far and away in the space environment. greater than the investments earmarked for the civil sec tor, and more than three-quarters of the launchings car In carrying out this highly technical study, the IFRI ried out today are for military purposes. research team was fortunate enough to have at its disposal, in the context of a working group convened Since one wrong move leads to another, the growing specially for the purpose throughout 1986, the expertise importance of space systems as part of the military of the leading French experts on space. A list of machinery of the two great Powers—for functions as members of this group is given in this volume. The list is basic as reconnaissance, military communications, early deliberately not exhaustive, but I would nevertheless warning systems or electronic data—has made these like here to thank each of the persons,