Recently initiatives that capitalise on the public’s interest in space and astronomy have proliferated, some putting a price tag on naming space objects and their features, such as Mars craters. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) would like to emphasise that such initiatives go against the spirit of free and equal access to space, as well as against internationally recognised standards. Hence no purchased names can ever be used on official maps and globes. The IAU encourages the public to become involved in the naming process of space objects and their features by following the officially recognised (and free) methods. See: Concerns and Considerations with the Naming of Mars Craters
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The Outer Space Treaty of 1967
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
Activitiesof States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including
the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, will further the Purposes and
Principles ofthe 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.
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, install such weapons on
celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other
manner.
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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 manoeuvres
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
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 a
nd 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 Chinese, English, French, Russian
and Spanish 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 authorised, 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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See Also:
