Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 4.4
The fi ve major global space tre aties
Treaty
Date
Ratifi cations
Signatures
Outer Space Treaty
1967
98
26
Astronaut Rescue Agreement
1968
92
26
Liability Convention
1972
89
25
Registration Convention
1975
60
6
Moon Agreement
1979
15
4
met for the fi rst time, and was transformed into the Outer Space Affairs Division of
that department in 1968. In 1992 the division was transformed into UNOOSA
within the Department for Political Affairs. In 1993 the offi ce was relocated to the
UN Offi ce in Vienna, supporting the Scientifi c and Technical Subcommittee and the
Legal Subcommittee. Questions relating to the militarisation of outer space are dealt
by the Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva.
The need to create legal norms acceptable to all interested states, led the
Committee to adopt consensus as a major procedural principle governing space
rule-making negotiations. Consensus is an important factor in space lawmaking and
is considered to be a major achievement of UNCOPUOS and through it the
Committee has developed fi ve sets of legal principles governing space-related activ-
ities - shown in Table 4.4 .
The framework for international space law was ratifi ed in the United Nations, at
the height of the Cold War in 1967, and laid down in the Treaty on Principles
Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space,
Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies - commonly known as the Outer
Space Treaty (or OST). The OST was considered by the Legal Subcommittee in
1966 and agreement was reached in the General Assembly in the same year as
Resolution 2222 (XXI) (United Nations Offi ce for Outer Space Affairs 1966 ). The
treaty was opened for signature by the three depository governments (the Russian
Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States) in January 1967 and entered
into force in October 1967.
The treaty enshrines the principle that space is a global commons to be used for
peaceful purposes for the benefi t of all humankind, and its concepts and some of its
provisions were modelled on the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Both treaties were
attempts to prevent 'a new form of colonial competition' and the possible damage
that self-seeking exploitation might cause - but these ideals are not without practi-
cal diffi culties (e.g. the 'tragedy of the commons'). The OST provides the basic
framework for international space law, including in particular, the following
principles:
• The exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefi t and in
the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind (Article I).
• Outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all states (Article I).
• Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by
means of use or occupation or by any other means (Article II).
• International law and the UN Charter extend to the exploration and use of outer
 
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