Missile and
space: Fewer missiles, greater security
The proliferation of
Ballistic Missiles, potential delivery vehicles for weapons of mass destruction, poses a
destabilizing threat to security and peace throughout the world. It jeopardizes
multilateral action aimed at promoting disarmament since the end of the Cold War.
France’s action aims to
prevent ballistic missile proliferation. It also seeks to preserve the use of space for
peaceful purposes and thus to counter any arms race in outer space.
Fewer missiles, greater
security: France’s joint cooperation programs and partnerships are intended to
encourage access to space for the largest possible number of States.
Nevertheless, France is well
aware that the dual civilian and military character of space launch vehicle technology
presents a risk of proliferation. Therefore, it contributes actively to the implementation
of the Missile Technology Control Regime, MTCR.
France is working towards the
evolution of the MTCR, which it helped define within the G7 and for which it is a
permanent point of contact between partners. It also contributed to the elaboration and
evolution of the MTCR’s technology.
France considers that it is
necessary to arrive at a more broadly based agreement on non-proliferation of missiles.
Therefore it supports the implementation of a multilateral system for notification of the
testing of missiles and space vehicles launches.
Transparency and the
prevention of an arms race in space: In recent years, France has put forward a number of
initiatives designed to encourage transparency and prevent arms race in space.
-in 1991, at the conference
on Disarmament, France proposed measures aimed at strengthening the 1967 Treaty and
relating to prior notification of the firing not only of space launch vehicles, but also
of ballistic missiles with a range of 300 Kms or more:
--in 1992, France suggested
that launching states should give systematic notification of all launches of any system,
satellite or other space vehicles or missile using ballistic trajectories. This proposal
included the provision that the launching States would make such prior notification to an
international center placed under the aegis of the United Nations.
--in 1993, France reiterated
its proposals in Geneva at the Conference on Disarmament, subsequently playing an active
role in the work of the ad hoc committee on the prevention of an arms race in space.
Proposal for an International
Notification Regime: In order to strengthen the security, transparency and predictability
of space related activities, and in particular to prevent an arms race in space and the
proliferation of missiles, France is pursuing its efforts aimed at instituting an
international regime for the notification of ballistic missile and space vehicle launches.
The French proposal goes
further than the 1975 Convention on the registration of objects launched into outer space,
which does not apply to ballistic missiles, and international obligations to provide
information on the launching of missiles. The core of the French proposal is the
obligation to give advance notice, for example, one month before the planned date, with
conformation 24 hours prior to the deadline thus announced, of the launching of ballistic
missiles with a range of 300kms or more, or of space launchers, by sending a series of
details, time and location of firing, re-entry areas, to an international center which
could take the form of a division within the Department for Disarmament Affairs of the
Secretariat of the United |Nations.
The obligation to give prior
notice of the launching of ballistic missiles and rockets constitute a response to two
imperative for security in the immediate sense: banning of sea and air traffic in launch
and re-entry areas, and ensuring that crisis are not sparked of any misinterpretation of
such launches.
Instituting a multilateral
regime for prior notification applying both to rocket launches and the launching of
ballistic missiles would not, under any circumstances, equate to the acknowledgement of a
right to develop long-range ballistic missiles. Conversely, the monitoring and
verification activities entailed by such a regime would help to detect tests of suspect
systems, thus contributing to prevention of the proliferation of ballistic missiles
(French proposal put forward during the MTCR Plenary at Nooedwijk on 11-15 October 1999.)
Space without weapons
France, a responsible
Space-Capable Power
France, in conjunction with
its partners in the European Union, has mastered the technologies associated with
satellite and space launch vehicles. It has consistently attached great importance to the
necessity of putting confidence-building measures in place, with the aim of guaranteeing
and prohibiting the use of space for aggressive purposes.
Observance of International
Agreements
France was one of the first
States to sign the Treaty on principles governing the Activities of States in the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies on 27
January 1967. France is also a party to the 1972 Convention on International Liability for
Damage caused by Space Objects. These texts define the international liability of States
carrying out space launches.
On 14 January 1975, France
also signed the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space. This
Convention, which came into force on 15 September 1976, supplements the 1967 Convention.
It defines the rules governing the registration of space objects, which makes it possible
to trace a given object to the State which has registered it and to establish a complete
list of all the various space objects.
Space without offensive
Weapons
France considers that one of
the international community’s priorities should be to preserve the use of outer space
for peaceful purposes. In this regard, the presence of weapons in space, whatever the
technology employed, must be totally prohibited. A universal and internationally
verifiable treaty be desirable to achieve this goal.
France considers that any
satellite or space object in orbit around the earth or any other celestial body which has
at least one active function capable, by direct action, of destroying, seriously damaging
or internationally interfering with the operation of any device located on earth or above
the earth within the atmosphere or in outer space should be regarded as a weapon in space.
The principal of the
non-militarization of space does not however prevent recourse by any nation to the ways
and means necessary to defend its national security in accordance with its right to
legitimate self-defense as recognized by the United Nations Charter, always provided that
its actions remain compatible with International treaties and conventions. Thus, France
considers that the deployment and operation of satellites dedicated to communications,
navigation, sensing, and earth observation are legitimate for all nations regardless of
their use of satellites, provided the conventions in force are observed.
France favors cooperation for
peaceful purposes founded on the use of space-related techniques for example in the fields
of telecommunications, remote sensing and satellite navigation, of all which have major
importance for all humanity in such areas as scientific research, economics, development,
or security. |
