This Day in the Law
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January 27

Outer Space Treaty Open For Signatures (1967)


On January 27, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty was opened for signature in Washington D.C., London, and Moscow (of which the United States, Britain and the USSR signed). As of January 2008, 98 states ratified the Treaty and 27 states have signed the Outer Space Treaty.

One of the main purposes of the Outer Space Treaty is to promote the exploration and use of outer space for the benefit of all countries and mankind. The Outer Space Treaty also bans nuclear weapons in space, promotes the free exploration of space, promotes the use of space for peaceful purposes, and calls to avoid the harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.

Further, according to the Outer Space Treaty, no country can legally claim any land, planets, or celestial objects in space. This essentially means that if humans ever do permanently live outside of Earth no one can actually own any celestial land – according to the Treaty. Think about that for a second.

So, if humans did move to Mars or another planet in a different galaxy, the Outer Space Treaty would essentially ban humans from claiming another planet as their property. This type of law sure sounds different than how our property laws work on Earth!

Sure, humans may never permanently leave Earth or we may be far from doing so. However, there are many individuals who believe humans will eventually permanently leave Earth (including the world-renowned scientist Stephan Hawking). Who knows, maybe the Outer Space Treaty will someday act as the foundation for a constitution on outer space law…