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Orion Drive > The Story of Orion > Legality
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When Project Orion was first being considered in the 1950s, there were no legal restrictions in international law regarding exploding nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. Today however there are two main treaties that need to be considered, when contemplating the legality (in international law) of the system - both of which potentially limit the use of nuclear explosions, even for peaceful purposes, such as launching Orion.
Another issue that needs to be considered is whether nuclear explosions are necessary in order to develop Project Orion in the first place. In the 1960s, the scientists involved in the project wanted to utilize underground nuclear tests to develop some Orion components. Today however, this is probably unnecessary since the state of the art of computer simulation technologies has greatly advanced since that time.
- The Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests In The Atmosphere, In Outer Space And Under Water
[This treaty is often referred as the Partial Test Ban Treaty ("PTBT") or Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ("NTBT")]
This treaty was signed by the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the USSR on August 5th 1963, and came into effect on October 10th 1963. It has subsequently been joined by over 100 other countries. As the name implies, the treaty prohibits "any nuclear weapon test explosion, or any other nuclear explosion", in the atmosphere, in space or at sea - that is to say, anywhere except underground.
The underground exception is of course sufficent for any nuclear tests that might be requiired to develop Orion components. The key question then is the matter of nuclear explosions in the atmosphere or in space.
At the time of the Treaty's signing, advocates of Orion, including the US Air Force, hoped an exception would be included in the treaty for peaceful nuclear explosions and/or space travel. The Treaty as currently in force, clearly presents a problem for using Project Orion - both the option of a ground-based launch, or building the system in space (so there would be no fallout), are prohibited.
It turns out however that the problem however is not insurmountable. The Treaty itself includes a procedure for amendment (Article II), by majority vote, provided all three original signatories agree to the amendment. Additionally, the Treaty potentially allows for a party to withdraw, provided it gives 3 months notice to all the other parties (Article IV).
- The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans all nuclear explosions, whether for military or civilian purposes, in all environments. This treaty would therefore present a serious problem (unless renegotiated) for launching Orion, and for any test explosions that might be necessary during development.
At the time of writing however, the United States has signed this treaty but not ratified it, and the treaty itself states that it will not come into force until 180 days after it has been ratified by every single one of forty-four required states listed in Annex 2 of the treaty (including the United States among many others).
As the treaty is not yet in force, and has not been ratified by the United States it currently presents no obstacle to Project Orion. Furthermore, if the US wishes to retain the option of developing Orion in future, it can do so by simply not ratifying the CTBT.
The author of this article is not a lawyer, and this article is not intended as legal advice!
- If you are a sovereign state and are contemplating developing
a nuclear space travel system,
you should seek competent legal
advice on all relevant legal issues, before deciding whether to proceed.
- If you are not a sovereign state, but are nevertheless contemplating developing a nuclear space travel system, then, you should seek competent legal advice on all relevant legal issues before deciding whether to proceed. In this case, it may also be the case that you could benefit other types of professional advice too!