Page 57 - All About Space 68 - 2017 UK

Dr Kubo Mačák
INTERVIEW BIO
Dr Kubo Mačák
Dr Mačák is an international
lawyer and senior lecturer in law
at the University of Exeter. He
is working with an international
group of experts on a legal space
war manual called MILAMOS –
the Manual on International Law
Applicable to Military Uses of
Outer Space. It aims to clarify
how the military may make
use of outer space during both
peacetime and armed conflict,
and it will cover incidents such as
the firing of lasers, the hacking of
satellites and the responsibility
for clearing any debris caused by
armed conflict in space. Dr Mačák
graduated with a degree in law
from Charles University in Prague
and he completed his doctoral
thesis, entitled Internationalised
Armed Conflicts in International
Law at the University of Oxford.
“ I came across a paper from 1962 in which
the US acknowledged that they were using
space for military purposes”
Some civilian-owned satellites
contain transponders which are
used by the military and the
space war manual will seek to
address their use in conflict
How did the Manual on International Law mind, the crucial problem we're facing does not
Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space (or concern the time that has passed since then. Rather,
MILAMOS) come about? it lies in the near absence of acknowledgment in
The project started in 2015 but its very origins go law that space affairs then and later would be used
back a little bit further. It was conceived by Wing for military purposes. We are more than capable of
Commander Duncan Blake who is now an active interpreting laws that have existed for a while which
reserve in the Royal Australian Air Force and the you clearly see with, for example, the European
deputy editor-in-chief of the manual. He came up Convention on Human Rights. It was drafted in
with the concept in his Master’s thesis, which he 1950 but it is seen today as a “living instrument”
finished in 2014 at McGill University in Canada, and and the Strasbourg court interprets its provisions
he has worked hard to bring the project to reality, on a daily basis. The same goes for the Geneva
managing to convince people that it was the right Conventions of 1949, which are meant to regulate
time for a project of this kind. The wheels started the conduct of hostilities and protect the victims of
turning in 2015 and invitations to experts around armed conflict. Almost seven decades have passed
the world began being sent soon after. The project since the rules were adopted but they are still very
officially launched in May 2016. much implemented by the militaries around the
world every day. But we don't have rules that would
When did you get involved? expressly regulate military conduct in outer space.
I joined in the summer that year and I became
part of a group of experts focusing on international Was space war a possibility when the existing
humanitarian law, or the law of armed conflict. My treaties were created?
university, the University of Exeter, has since joined Well, not so long ago I came across a recently
the founding institutions and now the MILAMOS declassified confidential position paper from 1962
project is led jointly by McGill University, the in which the US acknowledged that they were
University of Adelaide and the University of Exeter. using space for military purposes. They also said
the Soviets were doing the same thing; it has been
The existing space law treaties were drafted in the clear from the start there was a heavy military
1960s and 1970s. Have they become outdated? involvement in the use of space assets but there is
I wouldn't say that the treaties have become a lack of clarity as to rules which would regulate
outdated. It is true that they are a testament to the this kind of conduct. Not only are the current rules
era in which they were adopted. However, to my of space law mainly focused on the peacetime
exploration of outer space, but in addition the body
of law that regulates the conduct of hostilities
practically doesn't mention outer space at all. It is
therefore debatable whether those laws extend to
outer space. If they do, we then get to the matter of
how precisely they could be applied. It means we
have this mismatch, which we're looking to address
in the project.
To what degree is space war a threat to the world
and has it increased?
That's a good question but I think we need to
distinguish two things. One is the growing threat
of conflict in outer space which, as a concerned
citizen I hope will never happen for obvious reasons.
The other is the adequacy of the law that we have
should such a conflict break out. As a lawyer, I feel in
a better position to look at the second question: that
is, to what extent is the law adequate and what are
the type of situations we are looking at? At the same
time, we see that the potential for a grave impact on
civilians does exist. If satellites that we rely on are
disabled or destroyed, for instance, our quality of life
and even survival may be in peril. We are dependent
on satellites in many areas of life, from weather
forecast to navigation to global finance and so on.
Have we seen any specific evidence?
You could say that a threshold moment in the
community was the anti-satellite missile test in 2007
during which China destroyed a Chinese weather
satellite using a kinetic kill vehicle. It showed the
military capabilities are there and that a conflict in
outer space is within the realm of conceivable. We
thus need to understand what rules and constraints
apply to behaviour in outer space.
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