§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 13 February 1997 (WA 30) in which he stated that the European Space Agency (ESA) Convention "states that its activities shall be for exclusively peaceful purposes", whether the ESA could not, therefore, take part in the development of surveillance satellites like those deployed by the United States and Russia, and whether, therefore, these latter breach Article 1 of the Space Treaty; and, if not, why should the ESA not take part in the development of surveillance satellites like those deployed by the United States and Russia, and currently being developed by Israel. [HL1723]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Gilbert)The deployment of US and Russian surveillance satellites is a matter for those nations. Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty sets out the right of all states to explore and use outer space in accordance with international law. It requires such exploration and use to be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries, mandates free access to all areas of celestial bodies and freedom of scientific investigation, and requires states to encourage and facilitate international 125WA co-operation in such scientific investigation. Nothing in Article 1 confines such use to non-military activities. If European Space Agency nations believe it would be appropriate for ESA to participate in the development of surveillance satellites, within the constraints of ESA's convention, there would appear to be no barrier to ESA conducting a dialogue with relevant nations concerning possible participation in their programmes.