The Ethical Use of Outer Space - Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability - page 128

• 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
(Article IV.1).
• The Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful pur-
poses (Article IV.2).
• Astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind (Article V).
• States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by
governmental or non-governmental entities (Article VI).
• States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects (Article VII).
• States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies (Article
VIII).
The other major agreements shown in Table 4.1 expand on relevant sections of
the OST. The UNOOSA 1968 Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts provides that
states shall take all possible steps to rescue and assist astronauts in distress and
promptly return them to the launching state and that states shall, upon request, pro-
vide assistance to launching states in recovering space objects that return to Earth
outside the territory of the launching state. The UNOOSA 1972 Convention on
International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects provides a detailed
regime for the liability of states for damage caused by space objects on the surface
of the Earth, to aircraft in fl ight and in outer space. The UNOOSA 1975 Convention
on the Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space specifi es the requirement
for the registration of space objects - a registry of launches has been maintained by
the secretariat since 1962, in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 1721
(XVI) (United Nations Offi ce for Outer Space Affairs 1961 ). The 1979 Agreement
Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (also
known as the Moon Treaty) reaffi rms a number of OST principles but also declares
the Moon to be the 'common heritage of mankind' and calls for the creation of an
international regime to govern the exploitation of the natural resources of the Moon.
In addition to these multilateral treaties dealing specifi cally with space and space
activities, the international community has agreed a number of other conventions
relevant to space activities (see Table 4.5 ). In particular, the 1963 Partial Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty bans nuclear explosions in outer space; the 1977 Convention on the
Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modifi cation
Techniques bans the use of certain environmental modifi cation techniques aimed at
changing the dynamics, composition or structure of outer space. Further, the 1932
International Telecommunications Convention contains provisions relating to space
communications. In particular Article 45 of the Convention aims to prevent harmful
interference with the services or communications of its members, while Article 33,
note 20, provides that all countries should have equal access to radio frequencies
and the geostationary satellite orbit, 'taking into account the special needs of the
developing countries'.
As well as discussing and developing treaties and agreements, every year
UNCOPUOS invites member states to submit reports on national research on space
debris, the safety of space objects with nuclear power sources on board and any