Publications

Data Sheet:

Authors: María Cristina Rosas and Luis Ismael López Salas.

Foreword: Francisco Javier Mendieta Jiménez.

Presentation: Gloria Koenigsberger.

Publisher: Center for Analysis and Research on Peace, Security and Development Olof Palme / Mexican Space Agency (AEM) / Australian National University /National Autonomous University of Mexico. 

ISBN: 978-978-997601-1.

Publication Date: August 2019.

Space security is a topic rarely addressed in the security studies conducted in Mexico. Originally thought of during the Cold War from the arms race and the possibility that the great powers of the time would deploy weapons of mass destruction in outer space, space security for a long time had a restricted connotation, state-centric and militaristic.

Nowadays, space security is a concept in constant evolution, which includes not only anthropogenic flagella that are generated from Earth, but also those that originate in outer space and that can cause severe damage to the big blue planet. In the first case, there is possibility of using kinetic weapons, lasers and, in general, the military activity of the States; space junk; the mining of asteroids and other celestial bodies such as the Moon; the growing commercial activities driven by private sector –which include funeral, space tourism and hostelry; the saturation of space orbits in the presence of more and more satellites; and the emergence of new space power such as the People’s Republic of China, India, among others. Regarding the threats or risks that occur in outer space, an that could have important impacts on international and national security, we can detect solar storms and asteroids.

Space security also faces challenges such as the possibility of destroying or disabling space infrastructure through cyberattacks. The relationship between outer space and cyberspace is interdependent, since many activities in space depend on cyberspace, while an especially important proportion of cyberspace can only function through space activities. Another issue is the regulatory and legal framework on outer space, which for several decades has tended to voluntarism, which adds to the fact that the existing legally binding treaties –with few exceptions– have been scarcely ratified.

 More than 60 years have passed since Sputnik-1 orbited the Earth, and ten decades since man reached the Moon; although now public and private activities in space are increasingly frequent, mainly because access to it has been democratized: there is no need to be a tech superpower to break beyond Earth’s atmosphere. While that’s good news, unfortunately, the regulations that guarantee the sustainability of human activities in space are outdated. That is why this book invites everyone to think about the importance of space security on Mexico’s priority agenda.

Contents:

Presentation.

Foreword.

Introduction.

Chapter 1: International Security in the 21st Century.

Chapter 2: Space Security - Similarities, Concepts and Historical Comparisons.

Chapter 3: The International Outer Space Regime - Institutions, Mechanisms and Practices of Space Security Policy.

Chapter 4: Current Trends in Space Security.

Chapter 5: Mexico and Space Security.

Bibliography.