.jpg)
Joseph loves Astronomy and they have been talking about the Outer Space Treaty, the multilateral treaty that forms the basis of international space law, that entered into force on a day like today in 1967.
The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, is a multilateral treaty that forms the basis of international space law.
Negotiated and drafted under the auspices of the United Nations, it was opened for signature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on 27 January 1967, entering into force on 10 October 1967. As of May 2025, 117 countries are parties to the treaty -including all major spacefaring nations- and another 22 are signatories.
Key provisions of the treaty include prohibiting nuclear weapons in space; limiting the use of the Moon and all other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes; establishing that space shall be freely explored and used by all nations; and precluding any country from claiming sovereignty over outer space or any celestial body. Although it forbids establishing military bases, testing weapons and conducting military maneuvers on celestial bodies, the treaty does not expressly ban all military activities in space, nor the establishment of military space forces or the placement of conventional weapons in space.
The OST also declares that space is an area for free use and exploration by all and shall be the province of all mankind. Drawing heavily from the Antarctic Treaty of 1961, the Outer Space Treaty likewise focuses on regulating certain activities and preventing unrestricted competition that were thought might lead to conflict at that time. Consequently, it is largely silent or ambiguous on newly developed space activities such as lunar and asteroid mining.
OST was at the heart of a network of inter-state treaties and strategic power negotiations to achieve the best available conditions for nuclear weapons world security.
OST was the most important link in the chain of international legal arrangements for space from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s. The OST was followed by to four additional agreements, with varied levels of accession: the safe return of fallen astronauts (1967); liability for damages caused by spacecraft (1972); the registration of space vehicles (1976); and rules for activities on the Moon (1979).
As the first and most foundational legal instrument of space law, the Outer Space Treaty and its broader principles of promoting the civil and peaceful use of space continue to underpin multilateral initiatives in space, such as the International Space Station and the Artemis Program.
The Outer Space Treaty was spurred by the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in the 1950s, which could reach targets through outer space. The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, in October 1957, followed by a subsequent arms race with the United States, hastened proposals to prohibit the use of outer space for military purposes.
On 17 October 1963, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution prohibiting the introduction of weapons of mass destruction in outer space. Various proposals for an arms control treaty governing outer space were debated during a General Assembly session in December 1966, culminating in the drafting and adoption of the Outer Space Treaty the following January.
The Outer Space Treaty represents the basic legal framework of international space law. According to the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), the core principles of the treaty are:
-The exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind;
-Outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all states;
-Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means;
-States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner;
-The Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes; prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications
-Astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind;
-States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities;
-States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and
-States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.
Among its principles, it bars states party to the treaty from placing weapons of mass destruction in Earth orbit, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or otherwise stationing them in outer space. It specifically limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes, and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications (Article IV). However, the treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit, and thus some highly destructive attack tactics, such as kinetic bombardment, are still potentially allowable.
In addition, the treaty explicitly allows the use of military personnel and resources to support peaceful uses of space, mirroring a common practice permitted by the Antarctic Treaty regarding that continent. The treaty also states that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and that space shall be free for exploration and use by all the states.
Article II of the treaty explicitly forbids any government from appropriating a celestial body such as the Moon or a planet, whether by declaration, use, occupation, or any other means. However, the state that launches a space object, such as a satellite or space station, retains jurisdiction and control over that object; by extension, a state is also liable for damages caused by its space object.
As the first international legal instrument concerning space, the Outer Space Treaty is considered the cornerstone of space law. It was also the first major achievement of the United Nations in this area of law, following the adoption of the first U.N. General Assembly resolution on space in 1958, and the first meeting of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) the subsequent year.
Within roughly a decade of the treaty's entry into force, several other treaties were brokered by the U.N. to further develop the legal framework for activities in space:
-Rescue Agreement (1968)
-Space Liability Convention (1972)
-Registration Convention (1976)
-Moon Treaty (1979)
With the exception of the Moon Treaty, to which only 18 nations are party, all other treaties on space law have been ratified by most major space-faring nations (namely those capable of orbital spaceflight).
COPUOS coordinates these treaties and other questions of space jurisdiction, aided by the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs.
More information: UNOOSA
Space is big.
You just won't believe how vastly,
hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
I mean, you may think it's a long way down
the road to the chemist's,
but that's just peanuts to space.
Douglas Adams
No comments:
Post a Comment