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Visit of Europe's spaceport in Kourou - HCoC

Visit of Europe’s spaceport in Kourou

18 & 21 May 2011

On 18-21 May 2011, as part of the European Union’s decision to support HCoC, the FRS organised a visit to Europe’s spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana), in close cooperation with the European Space Agency, the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), Arianespace, the Soyouz programme, the French Chairmanship of the HCoC and the French authorities in French Guiana.

This activity was a concrete way to implement transparency measures as provided for in the Code:

Subscribing States « consider, on a voluntary basis (including on the degree of access permitted), inviting international observers to their land (test-) launch sites » (article 4 ii)

Representatives from Mexico, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the United Arab Emirates and the United States took part in this 3-day visit. The agenda consisted in a series of presentations on the HCoC and on sites visits, including the Telemetry station and the Jupiter control room. On that occasion, participants attended the launch of Ariane V flight 202.

Research Papers

Opening HCoC to cruise missiles: A proposal to overcome political hurdles

The issue of extending the scope of the Hague Code of Conduct to cruise missiles is regularly raised in academic and political discussions about the Code. Some non-subscribing States justify their refusal to join the instrument because of this exclusion, perceived as a major flaw. Indeed, cruise missiles have characteristics that can make them very effective in carrying weapons of mass destruction. It is therefore clearly of interest to consider extending the HCoC scope to these weapons.

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Issue Briefs

The HCoC and Space

The New Space trend – an ongoing innovative transformation of the space sector – has led to a rise of investment in small launch systems. While an increasing number of nations are gaining access to space, the number of private sector entities investing in this domain is also rising. Meanwhile, small space launch vehicles and ballistic missiles rely on increasingly similar technologies.

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