@jessicawestphd
Exploring peace, security, and space tech with a critical eye and a human touch. Research: Grey Zones of Space Governance https://bit.ly/4jaj0Zo ; Hidden Harms in Outer Space https://bit.ly/3DTnBPJ Reach out to connect and collaborate 🚀 ⭐ 🌍 🛰
A nuclear detonation in space would not involve a conventional blast.
EMP, radiation, + artificial radiation belts could cause immediate satellite failures and longer-term orbital degradation, disabling civilian and military systems alike.
Background info here:
www.cigionline.org/static/docum...
Concerns that a nuclear weapon could be orbited have circulated for nearly 2 years. They resurfaced this week in comments by Canada’s 3 Canadian Space Division commander.
The Outer Space Treaty prohibits placing nuclear weapons in orbit; a core pillar of space security.
www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
This resonates far beyond Greenland.
For Canada, Arctic security and NORAD modernization depend on consent, cooperation, and trust. Treating allied territory as leverage undermines the foundation North American defence actually rests on.
Ah. So true.
I'm so glad that it resonates.
And it's not definitely not easy or straightforward. But I do believe that some approaches to security can wind up making us less safe in the long run. We have a window of opportunity to get this right.
Might not make me the most popular person, but a focus on stability - which is needed across the operating environment - is a must.
We rely on space every day, often without realizing it. But orbit is becoming more dangerous and Canada is being pushed to respond.
In this Maclean’s article, I unpack what the shifting security landscape means for us and why an arms-race approach would backfire.
macleans.ca/politics/can...
Travelling from D.C. to New York for UN discussions on space security, the same point is coming up across industry, norms work, and diplomacy: governance is a capability.
Reflections in my new Substack:
🔗https://onfragileorbits.substack.com/p/governance-is-a-capability-and-canada?r=2iqo6v
Accusations have been loud at the UN’s #FirstCommittee discussion on #SpaceSecurity. But the quiet story is cooperation, as states maintain parallel progress on both legal and behavioural tracks.
Voting is today. Catch up here: reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
Russia also pointed to Golden Dome during the second week of dedicated #SpaceSecurity discussion.
Details here: reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
Nukes, interceptors, and a peace coalition: outer space diplomacy is heating up at the UN.
My summary of day one of the dedicated space security debate. Full version at the link. More to come this week.
reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
Looking forward to key takeaways on this one.
Proud to see @ploughsharesca.bsky.social intern Kianna Low-A-Che deliver the joint civil society statement on #SpaceSecurity at #UNGA #FirstCommittee
A call to turn principles into practice to keep space peaceful for all. Big thanks to those who crafted.
reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
At #UNGA #FirstCommittee, #Italy proposed a legally binding ban on destructive #ASAT tests, turning restraint into law and bridging legal + normative divides in #SpaceSecurity.
Also calls for equity and inclusivity in governing space for all humankind. 🌍🚀
reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
I needed this today. Thank you.
A lot of my work on space security leans toward the gloomy side 😅 — so this conversation with Dr. Esther Brimmer for CIGI felt like a breath of fresh air.
We talked about why space is a human domain and new governance opportunities (and challenges of course!).
🎧 www.cigionline.org/pp/space-is-...
🛰️ #SpaceSecurity is a big focus at the #UN #FirstCommittee.
During Week 1:
💣 Nuclear and tech entanglement is reshaping deterrence.
🚀 Restraint in the space arms race is slipping—“nearing the point of no return.”
More via Reaching Critical Will (p. 23) 👇
reachingcriticalwill.org/images/docum...
They keep declaring the death of NGOs. But we’re not gone, we’re adapting.
Civil society is still here, still shaping, still necessary.
I dig into what this means for diplomacy in my latest piece for the Ploughshares Monitor: ploughshares.ca/absent-voice...
From Geneva to Brussels, the warnings are clear: unpredictability, arms racing, and risks that reach far beyond orbit.
📰 New on On Fragile Orbits: onfragileorbits.substack.com/p/were-not-i...
It was pointless 20 years ago. Now it's absurd 😅
🚀 #GoldenDome: what’s it about?
Tomorrow I’ll be online with Sam Wilson + International Student/Young Pugwash to talk through the nuts, bolts, dilemmas & dollars.
Plenty of discussion time. Bring your questions and maybe a calculator.
Register: britishpugwash.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?...
I like this news.
🚀 The countdown is on for #ArtemisII.
Jeremy Hansen jokes about training for space death. Beneath the humour is truth: human spaceflight IS life & death.
Astronauts are explorers and pioneers of human health, a part of the human story in space worth appreciating.
🔗 www.cbc.ca/news/science...
Space no longer feels like the era of “peaceful uses.”
At UNIDIR’s #OS25 we tackled lunar risks, commercial pressures, youth voices, and unpredictability in orbit.
I’m still holding onto optimism. Diplomacy can move us forward.
🎙️ @spacewatch.bsky.social
spacewatch.global/2025/09/spac...
Excellent new piece out by @jessicawestphd.bsky.social on #spacesecurity
The UN open-ended working group on the prevention of an arms race in outer space is continuing with a two-track structure focusing on legally binding obligations & voluntary measures, a compromise keeping all at the table, write @vsamsondc.bsky.social & @jessicawestphd.bsky.social for CIGI 9/10
We are quite the crew.
Constraint is survival.
Convergence is progress.
That is the message in my new CIGI piece with @vsamsondc.bsky.social reflecting on the #PAROS #OEWG. Convergence needs is also a theme at #OS25 Day Two, touching on cislunar to strategic and commercial space.
🔗 www.cigionline.org/articles/spa...
