Eduard Abashiya, a lecturer at the Department of Psychology of the Dnipro Institute of the Private Joint-Stock Company "Higher Educational Institution 'MAUP'," a lawyer, and psychologist at the Amur-Nyzhnodniprovskyi District Department of the State Institution "Probation Center" in the Dnipropetrovsk region, reports the following. On January 27, 1967, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed an international treaty on the principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space.

Negotiations to preserve outer space for peaceful purposes began in the late 1950s at the United Nations. In 1963, the UN General Assembly adopted two resolutions on space, which later became the foundation of the Outer Space Treaty.

UN Resolution 1884 called on countries to refrain from placing weapons of mass destruction in outer space. UN Resolution 1962 established legal principles for the exploration of outer space, ensuring that all countries have the right to freely explore and use space.

In June 1966, the United States and the Soviet Union submitted separate draft treaties on space to the UN General Assembly. A mutually agreed text was developed over the following six months, and on December 19, 1966, the UN General Assembly approved the treaty. The treaty was opened for signature in Washington, Moscow, and London on January 27, 1967, and entered into force on October 10, 1967.

Treaty Provisions

The treaty prohibits countries from placing “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in outer space. The term "weapons of mass destruction" is not defined but is generally understood to include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. However, the treaty does not prohibit the launching of ballistic missiles capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction through space.

Key Provisions of the Treaty:

• Article II
  Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, use, occupation, or any other means.
• Article III
  States Parties to the Treaty shall conduct the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Charter, 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, testing of any type of weapons, and conduct of military maneuvers on celestial bodies are prohibited. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes is not prohibited. Nor is the use of any equipment or facilities necessary for peaceful exploration of the Moon and other celestial bodies.
• Article V
  States Parties to the Treaty regard astronauts as envoys of mankind in outer space and shall render 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 spacecraft.
  In carrying out activities in outer space and on celestial bodies, astronauts of one State Party shall render all possible assistance to astronauts of other States Parties.
  States Parties to the Treaty shall immediately inform 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 pose a danger to the life or health of astronauts.
• 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 airspace, or in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies.
• 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 proposed visit to enable appropriate consultations to be held and maximum precautions to be taken to ensure safety and to avoid interference with normal operations at the facility to be visited.