United NationsOffice for Outer Space Affairs

United Nations Treaties and Principles on Outer Space: Travaux Préparatoires

Overview

The present web pages contain a collection of official records of negotiations for the United Nations Treaties and Principles on Outer Space.

Each Treaty and set of principles has an individual web page containing a collection of corresponding documentation. The documentation is organized by series symbol, and within each series, it is listed chronologically.

In addition, for each Treaty and set of principles, a spreadsheet version of the list of sources is available at the top of the page, enabling the user to sort the documents by date or by document symbol.

The collections consist of various types of documents that bear different symbols:

How to Use the Tool

Many documents are reproduced in the reports of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its Legal Subcommittee. In these instances the spreadsheet indicates which documents are reproduced and in which report.

The hyperlink on the page dedicated to an individual Treaty or set of principles brings the user to the reports, each of which contains internal bookmarks that direct the user to the location of the relevant documents within the report.

Disclaimer

This collection of documents is a work in progress. For those documents that are not yet available on the website, the hyperlink to the PDF will not be active.

As of August 2012, documents relevant to the following United Nations Treaties and Principles on Outer Space are available online:

• Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies;
• Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts, and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space;
• Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects;
• Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies; and the
• Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.

Currently, the Office for Outer Space Affairs is making only English language versions of these documents available. Due to technical reasons, some documents may have missing pages or have sections that are illegible. As work progresses, the Office will endeavor to improve the quality of the scanned documents.

Treaties

• Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty)
• Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts, and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space (Rescue Agreement)
• Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects (Liability Convention)
• Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space (Registration Convention)
• Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Moon Agreement)

Principles

• Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space
• Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcasting
• Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Outer Space
• Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space
• Declaration on International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for the Benefit and in the Interests of All States, Taking into Particular Account the Needs of Developing Countries