International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

A/RES/67/113View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 51 International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, published in 2013.

What else is in this group?

78 documents · 1960–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/76	International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space	4,167	–
2024	A/RES/79/87	International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space	4,172	–
2023	A/RES/78/72	International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space	3,907	–
2022	A/RES/77/121	International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space	3,657	–
2021	A/RES/76/76	International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space	3,618	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Election of Officers Observer Status Outer Space Space Debris Space Exploration

What’s in this document?

31 operative paragraphs

Endorses the report of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on the work of its fifty-fifth session;Error: Reference source not found

Agrees that the Committee, at its fifty-sixth session, should consider the substantive items recommended at its fifty-fifth session,⁸ taking into account the concerns of all countries, in particular those of developing countries;

⁸Ibid., para. 345.

Notes that, at its fifty-first session, the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee continued its work,⁹ as mandated by the General Assembly in its resolution 66/71;

⁹Ibid., chap. II.D; and A/AC.105/1003.

Agrees that the Legal Subcommittee, at its fifty-second session, should consider the substantive items and reconvene the working groups recommended by the Committee,¹⁰ taking into account the concerns of all countries, in particular those of developing countries;

¹⁰Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/67/20), paras. 254–258.

Urges States that have not yet become parties to the international treaties governing the uses of outer space¹¹ to give consideration to ratifying or acceding to those treaties in accordance with their national law, as well as incorporating them into their national legislation;

¹¹Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 610, No. 8843); Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space (United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 672, No. 9574); Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects (United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 961, No. 13810); Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space (United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1023, No. 15020); and Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1363, No. 23002).

Notes that, at its forty-ninth session, the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee continued its work,¹² as mandated by the General Assembly in its resolution 66/71;

¹²Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/67/20), chap. II.C; and A/AC.105/1001.

Agrees that the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, at its fiftieth session, should consider the substantive items and reconvene the working groups recommended by the Committee,¹³ taking into account the concerns of all countries, in particular those of developing countries;

¹³Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/67/20), paras. 190–195.

Notes with appreciation that some States are already implementing space debris mitigation measures on a voluntary basis, through national mechanisms and consistent with the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee and with the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space,¹⁴ endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 62/217;

¹⁴Ibid., Sixty-second Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/62/20), paras. 117 and 118, and annex.

Invites other States to implement, through relevant national mechanisms, the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space;

Considers that it is essential that States pay more attention to the problem of collisions of space objects, including those with nuclear power sources, with space debris, and other aspects of space debris, calls for the continuation of national research on this question, for the development of improved technology for the monitoring of space debris and for the compilation and dissemination of data on space debris, also considers that, to the extent possible, information thereon should be provided to the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, and agrees that international cooperation is needed to expand appropriate and affordable strategies to minimize the impact of space debris on future space missions;

Urges all States, in particular those with major space capabilities, to contribute actively to the goal of preventing an arms race in outer space as an essential condition for the promotion of international cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes;

Endorses the United Nations Programme on Space Applications for 2013, as proposed to the Committee by the Expert on Space Applications and endorsed by the Committee;¹⁵

¹⁵Ibid., Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/67/20), para. 89; and A/AC.105/1011, sects. II and III, and annex III.

Urges all Member States to continue to contribute to the Trust Fund for the United Nations Programme on Space Applications in order to enhance the capacity of the Office for Outer Space Affairs of the Secretariat to provide technical and legal advisory services in its priority thematic areas;

Notes with satisfaction the progress made within the framework of the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER), and encourages Member States, on a voluntary basis, to provide the programme with the necessary additional resources to ensure that greater support may be provided to Member States by UN-SPIDER and its regional support offices;

Notes with appreciation the continuous progress made by the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems towards achieving compatibility and interoperability among global and regional space-based positioning, navigation and timing systems and in the promotion of the use of global navigation satellite systems and their integration into national infrastructure, particularly in developing countries, and also notes with appreciation that the International Committee held its seventh meeting in Beijing from 5 to 9 November 2012;

Also notes with appreciation that the African regional centres for space science and technology education in the French and English languages, located in Morocco and Nigeria, respectively, as well as the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific, located in India, and the Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, with campuses located in Brazil and Mexico, affiliated to the United Nations, have continued their education programmes in 2012, and agrees that the regional centres should continue to report to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on their activities;

Welcomes in that regard the establishment, in 2012, of the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education for Western Asia, affiliated to the United Nations, and located in Jordan;

Emphasizes that regional and interregional cooperation in the field of space activities is essential to strengthen the peaceful uses of outer space, assist States in the development of their space capabilities and contribute to the achievement of the goals of the United Nations Millennium Declaration,Error: Reference source not found and to that end requests relevant regional organizations to offer the assistance necessary so that countries can carry out the recommendations of regional conferences;

Recognizes, in that regard, the important role played by conferences and other mechanisms in strengthening regional and international cooperation among States, such as the African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development, the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization and the Space Conference of the Americas;

Requests the Committee to continue to consider, as a matter of priority, ways and means of maintaining outer space for peaceful purposes and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session, and agrees that during its consideration of the matter the Committee could continue to consider ways to promote regional and interregional cooperation and the role that space technology could play in the implementation of recommendations of the World Summit on Sustainable Development;

Reiterates that space science and technology and their applications make important contributions to economic, social and cultural development and welfare, as indicated in the resolution entitled “The Space Millennium: Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development”, adopted on 30 July 1999 by the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III),¹⁶ and General Assembly resolution 59/2, and recalls that a number of the recommendations set out in the plan of action of the Committee on the implementation of the recommendations of the Conference¹⁷ have been implemented and that satisfactory progress is being made in implementing the outstanding recommendations through national and regional activities;

¹⁶Report of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Vienna, 19–30 July 1999 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.00.I.3), chap. I, resolution 1.

¹⁷See A/59/174, sect. VI.B.

Emphasizes the need to increase the benefits of space technology and its applications and to contribute to an orderly growth of space activities favourable to sustained economic growth and sustainable development in all countries, including mitigation of the consequences of disasters, in particular in developing countries;

Notes with appreciation that the Group on Earth Observations made a contribution to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development by addressing issues related to the use of space-derived geospatial data for sustainable development;

Reiterates that the benefits of space technology and its applications should continue to be brought to the attention, in particular, of the major United Nations conferences and summits for economic, social and cultural development and related fields and that the use of space technology should be promoted in efforts towards achieving the objectives of those conferences and summits and implementing the Millennium Declaration;

Welcomes the increased efforts to strengthen further the Inter-Agency Meeting on Outer Space Activities, and urges entities of the United Nations system, particularly those participating in the Inter-Agency Meeting, to continue to examine, in cooperation with the Committee, how space science and technology and their applications could contribute to implementing the Millennium Declaration on the development agenda, particularly in the areas relating to, inter alia, food security and increasing opportunities for education;

Requests the entities of the United Nations system, other international organizations and the Secretary-General to continue and, where appropriate, to enhance their cooperation with the Committee and to provide it with reports on the issues dealt with in the work of the Committee and its subsidiary bodies;

Notes that, in accordance with the agreement reached by the Committee at its forty-sixth session on the measures relating to the future composition of the bureaux of the Committee and its subsidiary bodies,¹⁸ on the basis of the measures relating to the working methods of the Committee and its subsidiary bodies,¹⁹ the African States, the Eastern European States and the Western European and other States nominated their candidates for the offices of Chair of the Committee, Chair of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and Chair of the Legal Subcommittee, respectively, for the period 2014–2015;²⁰

¹⁸Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/58/20), annex II, paras. 4–9.

¹⁹Ibid., Fifty-second Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/52/20), annex I; and ibid., Fifty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/58/20), annex II, appendix III.

²⁰Ibid., Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 20 (A/67/20), paras. 328, 330 and 331.

Urges the Asia-Pacific States and the Latin American and Caribbean States to nominate their candidates for the offices of Second Vice-Chair/Rapporteur of the Committee and First Vice-Chair of the Committee, respectively, for the period 2014–2015 before the next session of the Committee;

Agrees that, upon the nomination of the candidates of the Asia-Pacific States and the Latin American and Caribbean States, the Committee and its subsidiary bodies, at their respective sessions in 2014, should elect their officers nominated for the period 2014–2015;

Endorses the decision of the Committee to grant permanent observer status to the Ibero-American Institute of Aeronautic and Space Law and Commercial Aviation²¹ and the Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics;²²

²¹Ibid., paras. 333 and 334.

²²Ibid., paras. 335 and 336.

Encourages the regional groups to promote participation in the work of the Committee and its subsidiary bodies by the States members of the Committee that are also members of the respective regional groups.

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