Outer Space
Noting that the existing agreements on arms control and disarmament relevant to outer space, including the bilateral ones, and the existing legal regimes concerning the use of outer space play a positive role in exploration of outer space and in regulating outer space activities, and should be strictly complied with; although they are unable to effectively prevent the placement of weapons and an arms race in outer space,
Outer Space
Recalling the resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations "Prevention of an arms race in outer space", where, inter alia, a conviction was expressed in the need for examination of further measures in the search for effective and verifiable bilateral and multilateral agreements in order to prevent an arms race in outer space,
b) the term "outer space object" means any device, designed for functioning in outer space, being launched into an orbit around any celestial body, or being in the orbit around any celestial body, or on any celestial body except the Earth, or leaving the orbit around any celestial body towards this celestial body, or moving from any celestial body towards another celestial body, or placed in outer space by any other means;
c) the term "weapons in outer space" means any device placed in outer space, based on any physical principle, specially produced or converted to eliminate, damage or disrupt normal function of objects in outer space, on the Earth or in its air, as well as to eliminate population, components of biosphere critical to human existence or inflict damage to them;
d) a weapon will be considered as "placed" in outer space if it orbits the Earth at least once, or follows a section of such an orbit before leaving this orbit, or is stationed on a permanent basis somewhere in outer space;
e) the "use of force" or "threat of force" mean any hostile actions against outer space objects including, inter alia, those aimed at their destruction, damage, temporarily or permanently injuring normal functioning, deliberate alteration of the parameters of their orbit, or the threat of these actions.
States Parties undertake not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying any kind of weapons, not to install such weapons on celestial bodies, and not to station such weapons in outer space in any other manner; not to resort to the threat or use of force against outer space objects; not to assist or encourage other states, groups of states or international organizations to participate in activities prohibited by the Treaty.
Nothing in this Treaty can be interpreted as impeding the rights of the States Parties to explore and use outer space for peaceful purposes in accordance with international law, which include but are not limited to the Charter of the United Nations and the Outer Space Treaty.
With a view to facilitate assurance of compliance with the Treaty provisions and to promote transparency and confidence-building in outer space activities, the States Parties shall practice on a voluntary basis, unless agreed otherwise, agreed confidence-building measures.
The Outer Space is an initiative of the Downtown Denver Partnership as part of the Upper Downtown Plan. We have transformed an empty lot at 16th and Welton into a shared space, celebrating our urban outdoors, and providing a place to mingle, grab takeout dinner or lunch, sip your morning coffee, enjoy fresh air during a busy work day, and more. See a list of local food and coffee shops below.
We have liftoff! In this alphabet game, your kid can explore an awesome outer space scene and find uppercase letters with Officer Ice Cream's X-ray camera. Anytime a child looks at letters, she's improving her letter recognition skills, which help build reading and spelling skills later on. Use this game to give your child some more exposure to letters.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans the stationing of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in outer space, prohibits military activities on celestial bodies, and details legally binding rules governing the peaceful exploration and use of space.
The treaty forbids countries from deploying "nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction" in outer space. The term "weapons of mass destruction" is not defined, but it is commonly understood to include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. The treaty, however, does not prohibit the launching of ballistic missiles, which could be armed with WMD warheads, through space. The treaty repeatedly emphasizes that space is to be used for peaceful purposes, leading some analysts to conclude that the treaty could broadly be interpreted as prohibiting all types of weapons systems, not just WMD, in outer space.
Talks on preserving outer space for peaceful purposes began in the late 1950s at the United Nations. The United States and its Western allies submitted proposals in 1957 on reserving space exclusively for "peaceful and scientific purposes," but the Soviet Union rejected these efforts because it was preparing to launch the world's first satellite and test its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
In 1963, the UN General Assembly approved two resolutions on outer space that subsequently became the basis for the Outer Space Treaty. UN Resolution 1884 called on countries to refrain from stationing WMD in outer space. UN Resolution 1962 set out legal principles on outer space exploration, which stipulated that all countries have the right to freely explore and use space.
The United States and Soviet Union submitted separate draft outer space treaties to the UN General Assembly in June 1966. A mutually agreed treaty text was worked out over the next six months, and the UN General Assembly gave its approval of the treaty on December 19, 1966. The treaty opened for signature in Washington, Moscow, and London on January 27, 1967 and entered into force October 10, 1967.
Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 76/231, the open-ended working group on reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours convened its organizational session on 7 and 9 February 2022 at the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office at Geneva. The first session was held from 9 to 13 May 2022. The second session was held from 12 to 16 September 2022. The third session will be held from 30 January to 3 February 2023. The fourth session will be held from 7 to 11 August 2023.
Prior to establishing the open-ended working group, the General Assembly, in its resolution 75/36, requested the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on the further development and implementation of norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours and on the reduction of the risks of misunderstanding and miscalculations with respect to outer space. The report of the Secretary-General and the views submitted by Member States are available on the website of the Office for Disarmament Affairs.
The third session of the Open-ended working group on reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours is scheduled to take place from 30 January to 3 February 2023 in the Tempus Building at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
Intergovernmental organizations and other entities having received a standing invitation to participate as observers in the work of the General Assembly, as well as organizations and bodies of the United Nations should sent an official letter to oewg-spacethreats@un.org informing of their participation and listing the full names and titles of the members of the delegation.
Other international organizations, commercial actors and civil society will be able to attend the public plenary meetings of the group as observers. An official request should be addressed to oewg-spacethreats@un.org requesting participation, indicating an ECOSOC consultative status, if any, and listing the full names and titles of the representatives who will attend. A mission statement or summary of work of the organization is also to be provided. Pursuant to the established practice, the Chair will subsequently provide the OEWG with a list of observers and the entities with consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for information and a list of all other relevant organizations and commercial actors for consideration on a no-objection basis at the beginning of the session. Such entities may provide written contributions on matters under consideration by the group, which will be made available at no cost to the Organization.
On Oct. 24, 1946, soldiers and scientists at White Sands Missile Range launched a V-2 missile carrying a 35-millimeter motion picture camera which took the first shots of Earth from space. These images were taken at an altitude of 65 miles, just above the accepted beginning of outer space. The film survived the crash landing because it was encased in a steel cassette.
This achievement did not mark the first time the curvature of the Earth had been observed. In 1935, the Explorer II balloon reached an altitude of 13.7 miles and observed the spherical horizon. Eleven years later, the V-2 missile provided the first shots of the Earth against the black vastness of space.
Following WWII, the U.S. Army fired dozens of confiscated V-2 German missiles to improve American missile defense. During this time, researchers outfitted some of the missiles with scientific instruments for atmospheric studies. Between 1946 and 1950, more than 1,000 images were returned from space, some taken at altitudes as high as 100 miles.
Clyde Holliday, the designer of the camera which snapped the first photo from space, also analyzed many of these images upon their return to Earth. While there was much to learn about geology and meteorology from the photos, there was also much to learn about imagery itself.
Soon, space telescopes like the James Webb Telescope will take photographs that peer back in time to the very beginnings of the universe. Today, 73 years after that V-2 rocket soared into the air, we look back at the history of space photography and forward into an undiscovered country of exploration. 041b061a72