Young Song

3/19/15
ARTICLE 1/ WEEK 1
McKenna MUN
1st DISEC
Weaponization of Space
Portugal
Weaponization of Space
Minimum of 2, and maximum of 5, talking points dedicated to statistics and
specialized facts about the article

Space weaponization does not come merely from the inputting of actual weapons
into space, but rather even global communication technology such as space
based GPS, which can be used both for missile defense as well as missile
targeting, can be considered a form of weaponization. If GPS can be used as
both a weapon, defense, and common day use, how can its use even be
regulated?
This issue is something that applies to all countries indirectly, but only a select
few directly. The true numbers come down to this, about half the countries in the
world have some kind of satellite deployed, from there you have to subtract
countries who are not advanced enough militarily or technologically to actually
weaponize any sort of satellite they may have. You then have to subtract any
countries who are inherently peaceful and have exemplified this thus far. Youd
end up with only about 20 countries, mainly from the European and North
American blocs with the true ability to weaponize their satellites.

Minimum of 2 talking points that are dedicated towards analysis of the article

The Outer Space Treaty, has two core points, "the common interest of all
mankind in the progress of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful
purposes" and "The exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and
other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all
countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and
shall be the province of all mankind." This essentially states that space
weaponization, if not somehow equal for all those who signed this treaty, is a
violation of the treaty.
There are five main points necessary for a treaty to be functional and useful,
Ban the testing, production, deployment or use of weapons in space;
Ban the testing, production, deployment or use of earth-based weapons which
operate into space;
Require the notification of all planned space activities;

Establish monitoring and verification procedures;

Include procedures for resolving conflicts regarding military use of space and
enforcement mechanisms for violations of the treaty.
o In other words, setting up restrictions in points 1 and 2, setting up
transparency in 3 and 4, and have a response planned in 5. These five
points seem to be key in a modern treaty that would outline a modern day
Space Treaty.
Minimum of 3 points that would be dedicated to solutions to the topic related to
the matters brought up in the article.

The first major thing that seems to be an issue is the problem of categorization of
what can be constituted as weaponization. If a satellite guides a missile to a
target location, is it considered a weapon or not? If the satellite is essential to the
missiles accuracy, then could it not basically be shooting out of the satellite in the
first place for all intents and purposes? The committee must start with the
definition of true weaponization. Portugals stance on this, as a more developed
country who actually uses GPS, would be that it is not weaponization if the otherworld application is much more relevant.
How do you stop countries such as the United States from weaponizing their
satellites, especially considering their international political power in comparison?
This is going to be a committee issue of the gathering of small countries against
the powerful ones, so Portugal would probably be on the side of the smaller
countries as we have 1 or 2 spacecrafts deployed at this point in time.
There is a lack of transparency in what is still orbiting the Earth from the space
race until now, and countries will most likely resist from sharing this kind of
information. Incentives need to be offered in order for us as a whole to be able to
ensure our own safety.
Cite the Article
"Key Issues: Space Weapons: The Basics: Weaponization of Space." Key
Issues: Space Weapons: The Basics: Weaponization of Space. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/space-weapons/basics/introductionweaponization-space.htm>.