Between force and space diplomacy: the Russian Nudol missile invites itself to the negotiating table
Abstract
This article was written jointly by Laetitia Cesari Zarkan, Ph.D. student in Space Law, researcher at UNIDIR, associate researcher at IESD; Valentin Degrange, Ph.D. student in Space Law, a researcher at IESD and Hugo Peter, Ph.D. student in Space Law, A.T.E.R in political science at the Faculty of Law of the University Jean Moulin – Lyon III.
Since November 15, 2021, and the firing of the Russian Nudol missile which caused the destruction of an old Russian spy satellite, Cosmos 1408, dating from the Soviet era, the debate has mainly revolved around the debris created by the impact, which is now spreading in an alarming manner. These thousands of pieces, some of which are tiny and difficult to detect, are all potentially destructive to space assets and astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), located not far from the impact site.
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