A United Nations list of every object launched into space, conceived during the cold war as a way to avoid paranoia and conflict, has been unavailable for months due to an unexplained IT problem.
鈥淭his is not OK,鈥� says at Durham University, UK. 鈥淓specially at a time of rising tensions in space, [with] accusations about bad behaviour flying back and forth between various space powers.鈥�
The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) oversees the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), a place where 104 nations 鈥� many of whom have tense relationships with each other or are even in active conflict 鈥� can discuss and resolve technical, political or safety problems regarding space travel.
One part of UNOOSA鈥檚 job is to maintain a public list of every satellite launch around the world. This idea was and later expanded by the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space in 1974 as a way to promote transparency around the space race, as countries were designing spacecraft with surveillance and military applications. The result is that countries must provide a name for each launched object, a date and place of launch, details on its orbit and the device鈥檚 general function.
But the has been unavailable for months, with the UN鈥檚 website saying only that it is due to 鈥渕andatory changes made to the UNOOSA website鈥檚 IT infrastructure鈥�. UNOOSA didn鈥檛 respond to questions about the nature of the problem or how long it was expected to last.
McDowell says that the database has been unavailable for at least several months. The most recent updates to the list mentioned on the website 鈥� the last sign of it functioning 鈥� were made on 23 February.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a security transparency regime that was agreed that has been working for 50 years, more or less. But it鈥檚 useless if the documents go to the UN and then no one can see them,鈥� says McDowell. 鈥淩ight now, we don鈥檛 know what the Russian satellites are and what they鈥檙e called. We don鈥檛 know what the US satellites are and what they鈥檙e called. The secret ones 鈥� they only get included in the UN filings.鈥�
McDowell says that even secretive military or surveillance satellites were previously listed on the UN website, although their purpose would often be vague, such as 鈥減erforming functions for the ministry of defence鈥�, or disingenuous, such as 鈥渃arrying out research and spacecraft techniques and technology鈥� 鈥� but the mere fact that they were listed promoted at least some degree of transparency.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to have at least an official reference [so] you can say, 鈥榳ell, you know, the Russians say they did this, the USA [say] they did this鈥�. It served us well for years and we need to get back to it,鈥� says McDowell.
at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, says the outage will 鈥渘ot only pose threats to international peace and security, but also hinder effective implementation of the UN treaties on outer space, particularly in cases of accidents caused by space objects and debris鈥�.
The database is a very straightforward and basic list, but states taking part and publicly sharing information makes the world a slightly more predictable and safe place, says at Northumbria University in the UK.
鈥淭he international space-law regime is really permissive. You can do pretty much whatever you want up there,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd in exchange, we ask you to tell us what you鈥檙e doing. It鈥檚 more a symbolic statement.鈥�
Cheney says the issue is a glimpse at the wider problem of the UN鈥檚 financial crisis, largely caused by the US withdrawing part of its previous funding. Another impact of that on space regulation was that UNOOSA鈥檚 this year was two days shorter than usual to cut costs, says Cheney 鈥� another measure that puts strain on international relations.
鈥淵ou get conversations between the Chinese and the Americans that only happen in Vienna because it鈥檚 done under the guise of the UN, and if it was a more formalised state-to-state meeting, it would be more complicated and a bigger deal,鈥� he says.
