The treaty on the Moon is not revolutionary but it embodies the legal rule for future activities of man on the Moon as opposed to the Space Treaty of 1967 which was too general. The new text is conservative but still allows some room for the developing States as in the law of the sea. The Moon is declared the 'Common Heritage of Mankind' but the regime of exploitation of its resources is still blurred with imprecise guidelines still needing to be developed. The two superpowers cannot as in the past, ignore the rest of the world in the conquest of space and the fact that the U.N. is the depositary for ratifications, and not the two superpowers as in previous treaties, is the first sign of wider participation in the creation of Space Law.
Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
1981
35 pages
Report
No indication
English
Education, Law, & Humanities , Space Technology , Astronomy & Astrophysics , Extraterrestrial resources , Lunar exploration , Meteoroids , Moon , Outer space treaty , Space law , Environment protection , Meteorites , Natural satellites , Orbits , Rescue operations , Solar system , Foreign technology , Translation