Support for UN Governance of Space Explains NASA Development Agenda

Moon

Global Governance Watch

by Jim Kelly

Since 1979, the United Nations has been encouraging nations to ratify an international treaty that places the UN at the center of the governance of outer space. The so- called “Moon Agreement” requires that all activities on the moon and other celestial bodies be carried out in accordance with international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations. The Agreement also provides that the exploration and use of outer space “shall be the province of all mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development.” Recent actions taken by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama indicate that it has decided to support the UN in its quest to govern outer space for the collective good of humanity. This explains the recent statement of NASA Administrator Charles Bolden that “NASA is not only a space exploration agency, but also an earth improvement agency.”

Since being adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 5, 1979, only thirteen nations have ratified the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the “Moon Agreement”). Thus far, the United States has not ratified the Moon Agreement. No doubt, the unenthusiastic reception received by the Moon Agreement is attributable to the remarkable UN power grab and collectivist provisions contained in it, including the following:

1. The provisions of the Agreement apply to the moon and all to other celestial bodies within the solar system, other than the earth. (Article 1)

2. All activities on the moon, including its exploration and use, must be carried out in accordance with international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations. (Article 2)

3. All States Parties to the Agreement must agree to use the moon exclusively for peaceful purposes. (Article 3)

4. States Parties are prohibited from placing in orbit around the moon objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction or from placing or using such weapons on or in the moon. (Article 3)

5. The Agreement prohibits all States Parties from establishing military bases, installations and fortifications on the moon; or from testing of any type of weapons and conducting military maneuvers on the moon. (Article 3)

6. The Agreement provides that the exploration and use of the moon is the province of all mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development. It requires States Parties to pay due regard to the interests of present and future generations as well as to the need to promote higher standards of living and conditions of economic and social progress in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. (Article 4).

7. States Parties must report to other States Parties and to the Secretary-General of the United Nations those areas of the moon having special scientific interest in order that consideration may be given to the designation of such areas as international scientific preserves for which special protective arrangements are to be agreed upon in consultation with the competent bodies of the United Nations. (Article 7)

8. The Agreement provides that the moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind; that the moon is not subject to national appropriation by any claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means; and that neither the surface nor the subsurface of the moon, nor any part thereof or national resources in place, shall become property of any State, international intergovernmental or non-governmental organization, national organization or non-governmental entity or of any natural person. (Article 11)

9. States Parties to the Agreement must adhere to an international regime to govern the exploitation of the natural resources of the moon. (Article 11)

10. The main purposes of the international regime shall include an equitable sharing by all States Parties in the benefits derived from those natural resources, whereby the interests and needs of the developing countries, as well as the efforts of those countries which have contributed either directly or indirectly to the exploration of the moon, shall be given special consideration. (Article 11)

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