4 ms·

Let me add one: What is the current international agreements or regulations (if any) on airspace (space space?) above a country's sea and land footprint? Anyb

Let me add one: What is the current international agreements or regulations (if any) on airspace (space space?) above a country's sea and land footprint? Anybody can fly over without clearance? As airspace is regulated, what's the boundary of these regulations? Thx!

Onavo 2y ago
The boundary follows the nautical border, beyond that is the air defense identification zone which is where the military warn planes to identify themselves before they reach the border. Generally speaking military planes (if we ignore geopolitics and focus purely on aviation) is only in technical violation if they cross the actual boundary, which when the vehicle becomes covered by the laws of the country which airspace they are in and thus can suffer kinetic countermeasures even in peacetime. The air defence zone is based more on politics rather than international/treaty legality which is why air forces constantly fly their vehicles up to the edge of adversary states to test response times. Don't try that as a civilian. On a side note, ignore sensationalized media reporting about air forces violating air spaces. This is something every air force worth their salt does. It's only a real enforceable violation if they are past the border and in aviation altitudes (see my explanation below about spy planes) e.g. the balloon incident which was genuinely weird. Above the Karman line it's no longer considered aviation and is generally governed more by international treaties and geopolitics (that are distinct and separate from civilian/general aviation regulations). Generally you can do whatever the fuck you want in space so long as you are not putting up kinetic weapons, creating lots of debris, or interfering with the trajectories of other countries' satellites. It's very much a wild west and the further you go the wilder it gets. That's why there's a concerted effort to replace the Outer Space Treaty (see the policy side of the Artemis Project for example) when it comes to space colonization (current laws aren't compatible with colonization, exercise for the reader to find out why). Generally speaking when you get high enough, the number of countries that has the capabilities to deny you airspace access can be counted on two hands, mostly the Security Council states and similarly advanced countries. There's a fuzzy area around the Karman line where it's generally too high for most conventional missiles to reach which is where the interesting spy plane missions get flown (and partially why countries like to build the space shuttle style space skimming vehicles). Laws only apply when you can enforce it, and anything space related gets expensive real fast. Even North Korea doesn't shake the boat too much when it comes to putting things into space.

Onavo 2y ago

The boundary follows the nautical border, beyond that is the air defense identification zone which is where the military warn planes to identify themselves before they reach the border. Generally speaking military planes (if we ignore geopolitics and focus purely on aviation) is only in technical violation if they cross the actual boundary, which when the vehicle becomes covered by the laws of the country which airspace they are in and thus can suffer kinetic countermeasures even in peacetime. The air defence zone is based more on politics rather than international/treaty legality which is why air forces constantly fly their vehicles up to the edge of adversary states to test response times. Don't try that as a civilian. On a side note, ignore sensationalized media reporting about air forces violating air spaces. This is something every air force worth their salt does. It's only a real enforceable violation if they are past the border and in aviation altitudes (see my explanation below about spy planes) e.g. the balloon incident which was genuinely weird. Above the Karman line it's no longer considered aviation and is generally governed more by international treaties and geopolitics (that are distinct and separate from civilian/general aviation regulations). Generally you can do whatever the fuck you want in space so long as you are not putting up kinetic weapons, creating lots of debris, or interfering with the trajectories of other countries' satellites. It's very much a wild west and the further you go the wilder it gets. That's why there's a concerted effort to replace the Outer Space Treaty (see the policy side of the Artemis Project for example) when it comes to space colonization (current laws aren't compatible with colonization, exercise for the reader to find out why). Generally speaking when you get high enough, the number of countries that has the capabilities to deny you airspace access can be counted on two hands, mostly the Security Council states and similarly advanced countries. There's a fuzzy area around the Karman line where it's generally too high for most conventional missiles to reach which is where the interesting spy plane missions get flown (and partially why countries like to build the space shuttle style space skimming vehicles). Laws only apply when you can enforce it, and anything space related gets expensive real fast. Even North Korea doesn't shake the boat too much when it comes to putting things into space.