Crowded Orbits: Conflict and Cooperation in Space
James Clay Moltz
Abstract
This book examines the competing themes of space competition and cooperation while providing readers with an understanding of the basics of space technology, diplomacy, commerce, science, and military applications. In this way, it offers a primer on space policy from an international perspective. It shows how, since the end of the Cold War, space has become increasingly crowded, with new countries, companies, and even private citizens operating satellites and becoming spacefarers. It argues that the recent expansion of human space activity poses new challenges to existing treaties and other go ... More
This book examines the competing themes of space competition and cooperation while providing readers with an understanding of the basics of space technology, diplomacy, commerce, science, and military applications. In this way, it offers a primer on space policy from an international perspective. It shows how, since the end of the Cold War, space has become increasingly crowded, with new countries, companies, and even private citizens operating satellites and becoming spacefarers. It argues that the recent expansion of human space activity poses new challenges to existing treaties and other governance tools for space, increasing the likelihood of conflict over a diminishing pool of beneficial locations and resources close to Earth. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience in international space policy debates, the book examines possible avenues for cooperation among the growing pool of space actors. It considers their shared interests in space traffic management, orbital debris control, the division of the radio frequency spectrum and the prevention of military conflict. It concludes with policy recommendations for enhanced international collaboration in space situational awareness, scientific exploration, and restraining harmful military activities.
Keywords:
space competition,
space cooperation,
space technology,
space diplomacy,
space commerce,
space science,
military applications,
Cold War,
international space policy
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780231159128 |
Published to Columbia Scholarship Online: November 2015 |
DOI:10.7312/columbia/9780231159128.001.0001 |