OUTER SPACE TREATY
[Full Text]
Treaty on principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies.
Opened for signature at Moscow, London, and Washington on 27 January 1967
THE STATES PARTIES. TO THIS TREATY,
INSPIRED by the great prospects opening
up before mankind as a result of man's entry into outer space,
RECOGNIZING the common interest of
all mankind in the progress of the exploration and use of outer space
for peaceful purposes,
BELIEVING that the exploration and
use of outer space should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples
irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development,
DESIRING to contribute to broad international
co-operation in the scientific as well as the legal aspects of the exploration
and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, BELIEVING
that such co-operation will contribute to the development of mutual understanding
and to the strengthening of friendly relations between States and peoples,
RECALLING resolution 1962 (XVIII),
entitled "Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of
States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space", which was adopted unanimously
by the United Nations General Assembly on 13 December 1963, RECALLING
resolution 1884 (XVIII), calling upon States to refrain from placing in
orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other
kinds of weapons of mass destruction or from installing such weapons on
celestial bodies, which was adopted unanimously by the United Nations
General Assembly on 17 October 1963, TAKING
account of United Nations General Assembly resolution 110 (II) of 3 November
1947, which condemned propaganda designed or likely to provoke or encourage
any threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression, and
considering that the aforementioned resolution is applicable to outer
space,
CONVINCED that a Treaty on Principles
Governing the Activities States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space,
including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, will further the Purposes
and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
HAVE AGREED ON THE FOLLOWING:
Article I
The exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial
bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all
countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development,
and shall be the province of all mankind. Outer space, including the moon
and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all
States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and
in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to
all areas of celestial bodies. There shall be freedom of scientific investigation
in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and States
shall facilitate and encourage international co-operation in such investigation.
Article II
Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject
to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or
occupation, or by any other means.
Article III
States Parties to the Treaty shall carry on activities in the exploration
and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies,
in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United
Nations, in the interest of maintaining international peace and security
and promoting international co- operation and understanding.
Article IV
States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the
earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons
of mass destruction, instal such weapons on celestial bodies, or station
such weapons in outer space in any other manner. The moon and other celestial
bodies shall be used by all States Parties to the Treaty exclusively for
peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, installations
and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct
of military maneuvers on celestial bodies shall be forbidden. The use
of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful
purposes shall not be prohibited. The use of any equipment or facility
necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies
shall also not be prohibited.
Article V
States Parties to the Treaty shall regard astronauts as envoys of mankind
in outer space and shall render to them all possible assistance in the
event of accident, distress, or emergency landing on the territory of
another State Party or on the high seas. When astronauts make such a landing,
they shall be safely and promptly returned to the State of registry of
their space vehicle. In carrying on activities in outer space and on celestial
bodies, the astronauts of one State Party shall render all possible assistance
to the astronauts of other States Parties. States Parties to the Treaty
shall immediately inform the other States Parties to the Treaty or the
Secretary-General of the United Nations of any phenomena they discover
in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, which could
constitute a danger to the life or health of astronauts.
Article VI
States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for
national activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial
bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies
or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities
are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present
Treaty. The activities of non- governmental entities in outer space, including
the moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing
supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty. When activities
are carried on in outer space, including the moon and other celestial
bodies, by an international organization, responsibility for compliance
with this Treaty shall be borne both by the international organization
and by the States Parties to the Treaty participating in such organization.
Article VII
Each State Party to the Treaty that launches or procures the launching
of an object into outer space, including the moon and other celestial
bodies, and each State Party from whose territory or facility an object
is launched, is internationally liable for damage to another State Party
to the Treaty or to its natural or juridical persons by such object or
its component parts on the Earth, in air space or in outer space, including
the moon and other celestial bodies.
Article VIII
A State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into
outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such
object, and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space or on a celestial
body. Ownership of objects launched into outer space, including objects
landed or constructed on a celestial body, and of their component parts,
is not affected by their presence in outer space or on a celestial body
or by their return to the Earth. Such objects or component parts found
beyond the limits of the State Party of the Treaty on whose registry they
are carried shall be returned to that State Party, which shall, upon request,
furnish identifying data prior to their return.
Article IX
In the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other
celestial bodies, States Parties to the Treaty shall be guided by the
principle of co-operation and mutual assistance and shall conduct all
their activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial
bodies, with due regard to the corresponding interests of all other States
Parties to the Treaty. States Parties to the Treaty shall pursue studies
of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and conduct
exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also
adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction
of extraterrestrial matter and, where necessary, shall adopt appropriate
measures for this purpose. If a State Party to the Treaty has reason to
believe that an activity or experiment planned by it or its nationals
in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, would cause
potentially harmful interference with activities of other States Parties
in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the moon
and other celestial bodies, it shall undertake appropriate international
consultations before proceeding with any such activity or experiment.
A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity
or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including
the moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference
with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including
the moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning
the activity or experiment.
Article X
In order to promote international co-operation in the exploration and
use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, in
conformity with the purposes of this Treaty, the States Parties to the
Treaty shall consider on a basis of equality any requests by other States
Parties to the Treaty to be afforded an opportunity to observe the flight
of space objects launched by those States. The nature of such an opportunity
for observation and the conditions under which it could be afforded shall
be determined by agreement between the States concerned.
Article XI
In order to promote international co-operation in the peaceful exploration
and use of outer space, States Parties to the Treaty conducting activities
in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, agree to
inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations as well as the public
and the international scientific community, to the greatest extent feasible
and practicable, of the nature, conduct, locations and results of such
activities. On receiving the said information, the Secretary-General of
the United Nations should be prepared to disseminate it immediately and
effectively. Article XII All stations, installations, equipment and space
vehicles on the moon and other celestial bodies shall be open to representatives
of other States Parties to the Treaty on a basis of reciprocity. Such
representatives shall give reasonable advance notice of a projected visit,
in order that appropriate consultations may be held and that maximum precautions
may be taken to assure safety and to avoid interference with normal operations
in the facility to be visited.
Article XIII
The provisions of this Treaty shall apply to the activities of States
Parties to the Treaty in the exploration and use of outer space, including
the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried
on by a single State Party to the Treaty or jointly with other States,
including cases where they are carried on within the framework of international
inter-governmental organizations. Any practical questions arising in connexion
with activities carried on by international inter-governmental organizations
in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other
celestial bodies, shall be resolved by the States Parties to the Treaty
either with the appropriate international organization or with one or
more States members of that international organization, which are Parties
to this Treaty.
Article XIV
1. This Treaty shall be open to all States for signature. Any State which
does not sign this Treaty before its entry into force in accordance with
paragraph 3 of this Article may accede to it at any time. 2. This Treaty
shall be subject to ratification by signatory States. Instruments of ratification
and instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Governments of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America, which are
hereby designated the Depositary Governments. 3. This Treaty shall enter
into force upon the deposit of instruments of ratification by five Governments
including the Governments designated as Depositary Governments under this
Treaty. 4. For States whose instruments of ratification or accession are
deposited subsequent to the entry into force of this Treaty, it shall
enter into force on the date of the deposit of their instruments of ratification
or accession. 5. The Depositary Governments shall promptly inform all
signatory and acceding States of the date of each signature, the date
of deposit of each instrument of ratification of and accession to this
Treaty, the date of its entry into force and other notices. >6. This Treaty
shall be registered by the Depositary Governments pursuant to Article
102 of the Charter of the United Nations.
Article XV
Any State Party to the Treaty may propose amendments to this Treaty. Amendments
shall enter into force for each State Party to the Treaty accepting the
amendments upon their acceptance by a majority of the States Parties to
the Treaty and thereafter for each remaining State Party to the Treaty
on the date of acceptance by it.
Article XVI
Any State Party to the Treaty may give notice of its withdrawal from the
Treaty one year after its entry into force by written notification to
the Depositary Governments. Such withdrawal shall take effect one year
from the date of receipt of this notification.
Article XVII
This Treaty, of which the English, Russian, French, Spanish and Chinese
texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the
Depositary Governments. Duly certified copies of this Treaty shall be
transmitted by the Depositary Governments to the Governments of the signatory
and acceding States.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorized, have signed this Treaty.
DONE in triplicate, at the cities of London, Moscow and Washington, the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven.
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