About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of the Outer Space Treaty and the militarization of space with guest Michael Byers.

Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty, signed at the height of the Cold War in 1967, declares that space \"shall be the province of all [hu]mankind.\" That remarkable consensus, with its benefits to science and communication, has held for more than half a century— until now. In this conversation, host Barry Stevens talks with Michael Byers— Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at UBC and co-author of Who Owns Outer Space? — about how, behind breathless media coverage of rockets landing by themselves and astronauts circling the moon, Donald Trump\'s reframing of space as a \"warfighting domain\" and his Golden Dome fantasy are eroding fifty years of restraint and triggering an arms race. With Pentagon-backed companies like Musk\'s SpaceX, the commons of space is being crowded, enclosed, monetized, and militarized. But as Byers insists, \"it is not too late.\"

People in this episode

Host: Barry Stevens

Guest: Michael Byers

Topics covered

• Outer Space Treaty
• space militarization
• international law
• arms race
• global politics
• commercial space exploration

Keywords

• Outer Space Treaty
• space exploration
• militarization
• arms race
• international law
• Michael Byers
• Barry Stevens
• SpaceX
• Donald Trump

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SpaceX, UBC, Pentagon

Books & works: Who Owns Outer Space?

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