Space denied Militarization of space as a key to understanding the changes that are taking place now on the security front

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the militarization of outer space in the second post-world war period. Firstly, it provides a walkthrough of the origin of the treaty that established what was called “santuarization” (Outer Space Treaty, 1967), stressing the role of satellite recognition as a stabilizing element of the Cold War. Then, it goes on with a review of the evolution of doctrines and practices of the United States in outer space until the end of the Cold War, military interventions of the 1990s, and the events following the attack on the Twin Towers. It also emphasizes the centrality of space in the modern view of the conflict in which U.S. armed forces have been involved and discusses how this change has jeopardized one of the fundamental principles of the Outer Space Treaty: the nature of space as res communis omnium.