Editing Space Race (section)

=== Outer space treaties ===

[[File:Starfish5.JPG|thumb|The debris fireball of [[Starfish Prime]] in space seen from [[Honolulu]]]]

The US and USSR began discussions on the peaceful uses of space as early as 1958, presenting issues for debate to the United Nations,<ref name="inesap">{{cite web|url=http://www.inesap.org/bulletin17/bul17art22.htm |publisher=International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation |date=March 5, 1999|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080318143550/http://www.inesap.org/bulletin17/bul17art22.htm |archive-date=March 18, 2008| title=Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and International Law|first1=Hans-Joachim |last1=Heintze}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=r2IfMEpPUIsC&dq=un+resolution+1148&pg=PA289 Google books] ''Nuclear Weapons and Contemporary International Law'' N. Singh, E. WcWhinney (p. 289)</ref><ref>[http://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/747/92/IMG/NR074792.pdf?OpenElement UN website] UN Resolution 1348 (XIII). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117022148/http://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/747/92/IMG/NR074792.pdf?OpenElement |date=November 17, 2015 }}</ref> which created a [[United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space|Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space]] in 1959.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/COPUOS/copuos.html | title = United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space | publisher = United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs}}</ref>

On May 10, 1962, Vice President Johnson addressed the Second National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space revealing that the United States and the USSR both supported a resolution passed by the Political Committee of the UN General Assembly in December 1962, which not only urged member nations to "extend the rules of international law to outer space," but to also cooperate in its exploration. Following the passing of this resolution, Kennedy commenced his communications proposing a cooperative American and Soviet space program.<ref>[http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKNSF-308-006.aspx Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files. Subjects. Space activities: US/USSR cooperation, 1961–96]</ref>

In 1963, the [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty]] was signed by more than 100 signatories, including both the United States and the Soviet Union. This treaty followed the US test of a nuclear bomb detonated in outer space the year earlier called [[Starfish Prime]].

The UN ultimately created a ''[[Outer Space Treaty|Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies]]'', which was signed by the United States, the USSR, and the [[United Kingdom]] on January 27, 1967, and came into force the following October 10.<ref>[http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/outer_space/signature/asc Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies: Status of the Treaty] (UNODA)</ref>

{{Wikisource|Outer Space Treaty of 1967}}
This treaty:
* bars party States from placing [[weapons of mass destruction]] in Earth orbit, on the Moon, or any other celestial body;
* exclusively limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes, and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications;
* declares that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and shall be free for exploration and use by all the States;
* explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet, claiming that they are the [[common heritage of mankind]], "not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means". However, the State that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object;
* holds any State liable for damages caused by their space object;
* declares that "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", and "States Parties shall bear international responsibility for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities"; and
* "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."

The treaty remains in force, signed by 107 member states. – {{As of|July 2017}}