Guest column: 'Envoys of mankind' deserve benefits of Astronaut Rescue Treaty

“Envoys of mankind” were the essential words used to describe humans in space by international law adopted more than 40 years ago. Humans from around the world are now going to space in larger number as the “envoys of mankind,” a legal moniker adopted in the Outer Space Treaty and the Rescue of Astronauts regime by members of the United Nations.

The importance of this international law is growing every day as commercial space launch capability expands to place more and more non-government envoys of mankind into space in this decade.

It is probable, if not likely, that there will be a commercial Apollo-13-like mishap on orbit with a micrometeorite piercing the hull, an electrical shutdown, onboard fire, or some other event that causes the call for help to go forth to others in space.

This new ocean of space is to be sailed with ships of many nations. It is almost certain that the Chinese, Russians, Indians and Americans will be sailing the ocean of space in the years ahead.

American entrepreneurs will be launching humans to orbit to privately owned space stations as well as to the international space station in this decade. One nation or corporate entity, if not all, will face its own human space crisis.

Several members of Congress appear not to be willing to obligate, or to receive, assistance from Chinese-made space vehicles or their human crews despite the international law.

Rep. Frank Wolf questions cooperation with the Chinese in space, citing human rights violations or military technology transfer concerns.

The congressman has legitimate concerns with the Chinese. The question is whether this is the correct venue to seek to enforce it; space may not be the proper venue when it comes to astronaut rescue.

Sino-American relations are not perfect, but most analysts have characterized U.S.-China foreign policy as complex and multi-faceted.

The People’s Republic of China and the United States are neither allies nor enemies.

The American military establishment doesn’t view China as an enemy, but as a competitor in some areas and a partner in others. The United States must decide if China is a competitor or partner in space affairs.

In either case, international law obligates both nations to cooperate when the lives of “envoys of mankind” are at stake.

In this decade, American commercial space launch firms plan to place more humans in space than cumulatively all nations have over the past 50 years.

It would be an error not to have a bona fide protocol to provide one another assistance in space if the situation demands.

Like Nixon, it may be that Congressman Wolf is the more appropriate person to open this door to the future in Chinese-American space relations and to suggest some space détente rescue pact among American, Chinese, Indian and Russian space agencies.

Cooperation does not have to be difficult; human spacefaring nations need cooperation on ship-to-ship communication protocols, docking ports, oxygen and water hose sizes, and the like to save the lives of those opting to spaceflight in the decades ahead.

The United States need not transfer the designs of our booster rockets, the next spacecraft design or compromise national security technology transfer concerns to accomplish a mutual rescue-in-space plan.

The United States need not wait for the siren call of a Titanic-like space mishap to determine if we have measured up to the spirit of international space law. We need not determine the ethnicity of envoys of humanity to determine if they are worthy of a space rescue.

No matter who’s involved —Chinese, Indian, Russian, American NASA astronauts or private American space tourists — Americans need to lead in the development of protocol and etiquette in providing assistance in space emergencies.

There will be another mishap in space by Americans. Equally, there will be life-threatening problems in space for the Chinese, Russians and Indians.

We need not adopt domestic policy that demeans the international law to save the lives of fellow envoys of humankind; quite the contrary, America needs men like Congressman Wolf leading the way, ensuring domestic codification of the international astronaut rescue agreement for 21st century spaceflight.

Wolf is in a good position to start up one of the more important diplomatic protocols for in-space multinational space rescue plans as a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Rather than simply bashing the NASA administrator for his recent visit to China to review their space launch hardware and assets, the congressman could seek to fund a NASA and FAA study for American participation in the development of a multinational space rescue plan in the next fiscal year’s federal budget.

Jack Kennedy of Wise is an advocate with the Space Frontier Foundation. Contact him at Jack@JackKennedy.net.