Moon Treaty - Content

Content

The treaty would apply to the Moon and to other celestial bodies within the Solar System, other than the Earth, including orbits around or other trajectories to or around them.

The treaty makes a declaration that the Moon should be used for the benefit of all states and all peoples of the international community. It also expresses a desire to prevent the Moon from becoming a source of international conflict. To those ends the treaty does the following:

  • Bans any military use of celestial bodies, including weapon testing or as military bases.
  • Bans all exploration and uses of celestial bodies without the approval or benefit of other states under the common heritage of mankind principle (article 11).
  • Requires that the Secretary-General must be notified of all celestial activities (and discoveries developed thanks to those activities).
  • Declares all states have an equal right to conduct research on celestial bodies.
  • Declares that for any samples obtained during research activities, the state that obtained them must consider making part of it available to all countries/scientific communities for research.
  • Bans altering the environment of celestial bodies and requires that states must take measures to prevent accidental contamination.
  • Bans any state from claiming sovereignty over any territory of celestial bodies.
  • Bans any ownership of any extraterrestrial property by any organization or person, unless that organization is international and governmental.
  • Requires all resource extraction and allocation be made by an international regime.

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