ABSTRACT
Some two and a half thousand years ago Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War.1 In dealing with ‘Terrain’ in his Tenth Chapter Sun Tzu recommended that if possible one should occupy the high ground. Space provides a new aspect to that principle. Unimpeded access to outer space and unrestricted freedom to use outer space and celestial bodies provides a tempting opportunity for a technologically advanced country to seize control of outer space and deny freedom of use to other countries that stand in its way.2 A country in possession of unique advanced space technology and with the will and means to use it for military purposes might achieve dominance over non-space-faring countries. This chapter therefore considers whether and to what extent military control of outer space is lawful under the peacekeeping legal regime of the United Nations, as well as under space law treaties and general international law.3 We are aware of the parallel doctrinal debate as to the ‘Just War’ but will not pursue that topic here.4 Again the military aspects of outer space interact with matters that we consider in other chapters of this book. One
1 Sun Tsu, The Art of War. There are a number of translations in various editions. The Giles translation is available at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org.
