THE WATCH STAFF
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has published an Overarching Space Policy that outlines how the alliance will act in the orbital domain — including its response to attacks on member assets.
The document released January 17, 2022, expands on a 2019 classified NATO space policy and a communique released in 2021 that said an attack against one member in space will be considered an attack against all, according to Axios news. There are 30 NATO states, including 1949 founding members Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and United States.
The new policy reinforces the NATO pledge and says any such action could provoke a military response.
“We consider that attacks to, from or within space present a clear challenge to the security of the Alliance, the impact of which could threaten national and Euro-Atlantic prosperity, security and stability, and could be as harmful to modern societies as a conventional attack. Such attacks could lead to the invocation of Article 5,” the Overarching Space Policy states. “A decision as to when such attacks would lead to the invocation of Article 5 would be taken by the North Atlantic Council [NATO’s principal political decision-making body] on a case-by-case basis.”
(Pictured: The NATO flag is hoisted by an astronaut figure in this photo from the 2020 Space Day summit in the United Kingdom at the Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC). The HQ ARRC views space as an emerging frontier in security.)
Article 5 states that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all members.
The policy reflects the increased military and commercial importance of space as strategic competitors Russia and the People’s Republic of China, as well as other nations, increase their activity in space. It includes a core set of principles, the most important being the recognition that space is vital for deterrence and defense, and free access to it is essential, according to a January 19 story by the Janes defense news website.
The document also outlines the potential threats in space, noting that “potential adversaries are developing, testing and operationalizing sophisticated counter-space technologies that could threaten allies’ access to and freedom to operate in space,” according to the Janes report. It mentions threats that range from the jamming of communications or GPS satellites to “anti-satellite missiles, on-orbit anti-satellite systems, and laser and electromagnetic capabilities,” according to Janes.
Still, NATO has yet to define what constitutes an attack, such as how it would respond to warfare that temporarily disables satellites without permanently damaging them, according to Kaitlyn Johnson, a space policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, according to Axios.
“They’re restating that there’s a connection to Article 5 and Article 6 [which defines NATO’s geographic scope], but reading that and interpreting it, we as the public don’t know how serious this is, or where are these redlines,” Johnson told Axios. “I think the alliance is intentionally being vague about this to leave its options open.”
IMAGE CREDIT: SGT. PAUL SHAW/BRITISH ARMY
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