# Does anyone firing a rocket into space need to inform all world governments of it (i.e. not a nuke)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561 "2020-06-12T20:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/1 "2020-06-12T20:30:48Z")
Title kinda says it all. When SpaceX or Blue Origin or Soyuz to the ISS or a whole bunch of others plan for a launch… Do they need to phone every government on the planet (or at least the nuclear powers) to let them know that this is a scheduled launch, not a nuke, ignore your early warning systems for that spot at that time? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/2 "2020-06-12T21:15:16Z")
There are no nuclear missiles at Cape Kennedy as far as anyone knows, so why would a launch from there into space be considered hostile? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/3 "2020-06-12T21:20:09Z")
There is an international agreement called the [Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Code_of_Conduct_against_Ballistic_Missile_Proliferation) of 2002 which requires pre-launch notification (unfortunately, the link provided in the Wiki article goes to a website in Japanese; a better online version of the text can be found [here](https://www.hcoc.at/?tab=what_is_hcoc&page=text_of_the_hcoc)): > [@](#): > > The subscribing states […] 4. Resolve to implement the following: […] iii) With respect to their Ballistic Missile and Space Launch Vehicle programmes to: a) exchange pre-launch notifications on their Ballistic Missile and Space Launch Vehicle launches and test flights. These notifications should include such information as the generic class of the Ballistic Missile or Space Launch Vehicle, the planned launch notification window, the launch area and the planned direction; This obligation is on the state, not the company - as in most of international space law, launches are, even when they are done by private companies, deemed to be actions by a government (which authorised the private launch and which assumes strict liability for damages caused by the space vehicle). ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/4 "2020-06-12T21:26:56Z")
To complement my previous post: Even prior to that multilateral Hague Code of Conduct, there was bilateral U.S.-Russian cooperation providing for pre-launch notifications; [here](https://2009-2017.state.gov/t/avc/trty/187152.htm) is a 2000 memorandum of understanding between the two countries requiring such notifications - and providing some informatio on how, in practice, they would be made: They established a joint data exchange centre which would serve as the central hub for receiving and forwarding notifications based on “an agreed Internet-based technology incorporating, to the maximum extent feasible, commercially available equipment and software”. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/5 "2020-06-12T22:05:12Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > There are no nuclear missiles at Cape Kennedy as far as anyone knows, so why would a launch from there into space be considered hostile? [Mobile launchers are a thing.](https://www.google.com/search?q=mobile+nuclear+missile+launcher&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS868US868&sxsrf=ALeKk0198zPJkOlP0p8AkBvVG6vW4nK0JQ:1591999460654&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDqM6SpP3pAhWuTjABHXKuAjEQ_AUoAXoECBMQAw&biw=2560&bih=1329) They can be launched from anywhere they can drive to (and sail to if you include subs). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/6 "2020-06-12T23:25:23Z")
And even before 2000, the spacefaring nations still preferred to notify each other, just with a less-formalized framework. This is not the sort of thing anyone wants misunderstandings about. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/7 "2020-06-12T23:47:42Z")
In the US at least, the FAA also publishes a NOTAM (notice to airmen) before scheduled launches. ---
**Author:** ![cannon\_gray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannon_gray/32/6030_2.png) [@cannon\_gray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannon_gray)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/8 "2021-01-11T09:28:07Z")
ISS is a product of collaboration between countries so when they launch spacecraft to ISS I guess it is necessary to inform the collaborators about the launch. But if they decide on other space missions (which do not influence the Earth of course) there is a need to announce about it. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-firing-a-rocket-into-space-need-to-inform-all-world-governments-of-it-i-e-not-a-nuke/855561/9 "2021-01-11T18:20:35Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Mobile launchers are a thing. At the moment I think they’re only a Russian thing: [American Mobile Nuclear Missile Launchers Is a Really Bad Idea](https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/american-mobile-nuclear-missile-launchers-really-bad-idea-22579) [Air Force Seeks Mobile ICBM Option](https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2016-03/news/air-force-seeks-mobile-icbm-option)