Russia, China Propose Ban on Space Weapons

Warning that the militarization of space could produce "unpredictable consequences" for global security, Russia and China presented a draft treaty of their space disarmament proposal at the UN-sponsored annual Geneva Disarmament Conference on February 12.

Initially put forward in 2002, the Sino-Russian proposal has been making the rounds of world capitals

The document, which bans the use of force and threats of force against spacecraft in orbit, is designed to rectify shortcomings in international space laws, encourage the further use of space, ensure the security of space property and reinforce global security and arms control.

Lavrov said that the draft, distributed last June, has received a positive reaction from most of the partners, who are ready to work on the issue.

He said Russia hoped to persuade the United States of the need to prevent the deployment of weapons in space.

The United States criticized the Russian-Chinese initiative, especially following China’s anti-satellite missile tests last year, which we blogged about here.

In that test, China shot down an aging weather satellite in low orbit. We blogged a video simulation of the anti-satellite test

For its part, China recently denied that the test represents participation in an outer space arms race.