Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of 

States

in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, 

including

the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies

 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 of 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 cooperation 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, install 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 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 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 nongovernmental 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 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 to 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 betaken 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 intergovernmental organizations.

 Any practical questions arising in connection with activities carried on by 

international intergovernmental 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 anytime.

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 twentyseventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven.