Legal Management of the Concept of Risk in Reversible Operations Against Space Assets

In recent years, the spectrum of risks to space infrastructures has broadened considerably, both in terms of heterogeneity and severity. Today, the security of space systems is constantly threatened not only by environmental instability, due to the proliferation of debris and natural phenomena, but also by the contestation of outer space through new operations capable of remotely incapacitating a satellite without the need to necessarily physically destroy it. These operations, mostly reversible and conducted through non-kinetic physical, cyber and electronic means, currently exploit gaps in international space law and pose a threat to the resilience of modern societies. This chapter will analyse how to fill this gap not only by using the existing tools of international space law, but also by integrating technical research on critical infrastructures and critical infrastructure protection in an original way to assess the type of risk posed by these operations. Finally, a series of risk assessment methodologies will be proposed when conducting malicious reversible operations in space in order to prevent space actors from having, or exploiting, a different conception of risk, fostering misinterpretations and ultimately threatening international peace and security.