The United States, under former President Donald Trump, proposed an ambitious project called the “Golden Dome” missile shield — a futuristic defence system designed to protect American territory from missile and space-based threats. The concept involves deploying satellites armed with interceptors capable of destroying incoming missiles using either kinetic (impact-based) or directed-energy (laser-based) weapons. The aim is to make the U.S. nearly invulnerable to long-range missile attacks.
However, this proposal has raised serious concerns about global peace, space security, and international cooperation — particularly for countries like India that advocate for the peaceful use of outer space.
The Outer Space Treaty (OST), signed by most nations including the U.S. and India, prohibits the placement of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in orbit or on celestial bodies such as the Moon. However, Trump’s “Golden Dome” project sidesteps this restriction by using conventional interceptors and lasers, which are not explicitly classified as WMDs. This creates a legal grey area that existing treaties do not adequately cover, raising questions about the interpretation and scope of international space law.
If the United States deploys a large-scale missile defence shield in space, strategic rivals such as China and Russia could respond by developing and deploying their own countermeasures or offensive space weapons. This scenario could trigger a new arms race in space, transforming it from a peaceful frontier into a potential battleground.
The OST encourages the peaceful exploration and use of outer space. Testing or deploying weapons in orbit undermines this principle and risks escalating tensions among spacefaring nations. For India — a nation that consistently supports demilitarised, rule-based cooperation in space — the Golden Dome proposal poses both a diplomatic dilemma and a strategic challenge.
India has long advocated for the peaceful use of outer space and actively supports international frameworks like PAROS (Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space). Yet, growing global tensions and advancements in military space technology could pressure India to reassess its position, investing more in counter-space capabilities and defensive technologies to safeguard national interests.
Deploying space-based weapons such as those envisioned under the Golden Dome project could lead to satellite damage or the generation of space debris, which endangers not only adversary assets but also neutral and friendly satellites.
Moral and ethical concerns also arise — should outer space, considered a global commons, be used as a platform for weapon deployment? This question remains central to the future of international space governance.
The Golden Dome missile shield project exposes major legal and ethical gaps in current space treaties and risks igniting a space arms race. For India, it presents a delicate balance between maintaining its peaceful space diplomacy and ensuring national security. As more countries pursue advanced military applications in space, the global community must urgently work toward clearer regulations, transparency, and cooperative frameworks to prevent conflict in the final frontier.
Kutos : AI Assistant!
