Existing and prospective international legal restrictions on the military use of outer space.

Abstract

The thesis seeks to ascertain the extent of international legal (primarily treaty) constraints on the military use of outer space. These are to be found for the most part in the multilateral 1963 Partial Test Ban and 1967 Outer Space Treaties and in the bilateral U.S.-Soviet 1972 ABM Treaty. The thesis assesses the compatibility of all feasible near- and mid-term military uses of outer space with these treaties. Alternative interpretations of various provisions are assessed. The thesis contains an especially long and detailed analysis of one particular interpretation dispute under the ABM Treaty--that which concerns the treaty's effect on the development and testing of mobile ABM systems and components based on exotic technologies such as laser and particle beams. Prior to, and in the course of, assessing the evidence bearing upon this issue, the thesis examines the international law that governs the interpretation of treaties generally and the ABM Treaty in particular. The applicability of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and of the jurisprudence of the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Court of Justice to the interpretation of the ABM Treaty is considered. The thesis concludes by assessing the desirability and feasibility of several proposed improvements to the international legal regime governing the military use of outer space.