Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
(Kerrest,
2001
). This interpretation makes reference to a different and enlarged concept
of humanity, which in the law of the sea is vested in the International Seabed Authority
(ISBA).
Respect for the environment in regard to space activities is addressed by the OST
through Article III, which stipulates their conformity with international law and thus also
with international environmental law, and through Article IX, which formulates only very
general principles concerning cooperation, mutual assistance, non-harmful interference,
non-contamination, and consultation.
It is important to point out that the integrity of the space environment is not the core
concern of space law, since the concerns of the space community have always been Earth-
oriented. Such anthropocentric orientation has been declining in recent years but persists
in some matters (i.e. the case of the Safety Framework for Nuclear Power Applications in
Outer Space, adopted in 2009).
ItisnoteworthythatalthoughtheOSTwasconcludedin1967,ArticleIXoftheTreaty
is fully in line with later developments in international environmental law. In particular,
Principle 21 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration on Human Environment, the cornerstone
of international environmental law, and Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration on Environment
and Development establish that states have a duty to avoid the contamination of areas bey-
ond national jurisdiction, among which lie outer space and the Moon and other celestial
bodies. The duty of preventing trans-boundary environmental damage has become a cus-
tomary rule of international law. At the time of the Cold War, this principle was essentially
connected with military activities in outer space. In particular, nuclear explosions and tests
in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater were already prohibited by the 1963 Non
Proliferation Test Ban Treaty (Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere,
in Outer Space and Under Water, concluded in Moscow on 5 August 1963 and entered into
force on 10 October 1963 - 480 UNTS 43).
In carrying out space activities, by means of the applicability of international law,
states should take into consideration the corresponding interests and rights of other states
and avoid interference or measures which might threaten the activities of others. This con-
