Regulation of space activities during 1958-1963 period

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REGULATION OF SPACE ACTIVITIES DURING 1958-1963 PERIOD

Marinich V.K.,

Ph.D. candidate in Law (the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine)

Myklush M.I.,

CEO, Law Firm “FOX" of Maryna Myklush"

Yara O.S.,

Doctor of Law, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor of the Department of Administrative and Financial Law, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine



Marinich V.K., Myklush M.I., Yara O.S.

Regulation of space activities during 1958-1963 period

Stagnation in the development of the process of regulation of relations in outer space and on celestial bodies as well as a large number of gaps and contradictions in this area along with impressive technical progress in the field of space activities and the expansion of its subject composition have led to the need to reconsider existing approaches to regulating such relations.

This article is the beginning of an extensive study of the process and results of the regulation of space activities from 1958 to the present day.

The purpose of this study is a deep analysis of international documents adopted for the entire period of space activities, as well as an attempt to highlight the basic principles, concepts, models, and rules of space activities.

The results of this study will make it possible to understand the issues that remain unresolved and the gaps in the field of space law and also set new tasks for the development of space law and suggest ways to solve them.

This article includes a review and analysis of international documents adopted at the first stage of the development of space activities (1958-1963), and also the goals and conditions for their adoption. As a result of this analysis, the article presents a list and description of the tasks that were formed by the international community at this stage along with the difficulties that arose at the stage of their formation and implementation. In addition, a new vision of the concepts that arose at this stage in connection with the need to regulate space activities is proposed.

In the future, the results of this analysis will allow us to continue the study of space relationships to determine and describe the essence of the legal systems that regulate or may regulate space activities, as well as to identify (define, classify, and formulate) spatial-territorial jurisdictions and subject-object composition of participants in space activities.

Key words: space law, space activity, jurisdiction, subjects, objects, outer space.

Марініч В.К., Миклуш М.І., Яра О.С.

Регулювання космічної діяльності в 1958-1963 рр.

Стагнація у розвитку процесу регулювання відносин у космічному просторі та на небесних тілах, а також велика кількість прогалин та протиріч у цій галузі, поряд із значним технічним прогресом у галузі космічної діяльності та розширенням її суб'єктного складу, призвели до необхідності заново переглянути існуючі підходи до регулювання таких відносин.

Ця стаття є початком великого дослідження процесу та результатів регулювання космічної діяльності за період, починаючи з 1958 року і до сьогодні.

Метою даного дослідження є глибокий аналіз міжнародних документів, прийнятих за весь період провадження космічної діяльності, а також спроба виділити основні принципи, концепції, моделі та правила космічної діяльності.

Результати даного дослідження дозволять зрозуміти те, які питання залишилися неврегульованими та які існують прогалини в галузі космічного права, а також поставити нові завдання щодо розвитку космічного права та запропонувати шляхи їх вирішення.

Безпосередньо у цій статті викладається огляд та аналіз міжнародних документів, прийнятих на першому етапі розвитку космічної діяльності (1958-1963 роки), а також цілі та умови їх прийняття. Як результат цього аналізу, у статті викладено перелік та опис завдань, які були сформовані міжнародним співтовариством на даному етапі, а також труднощі, що виникли на етапі їхнього формування та реалізації. Крім цього, пропонується нове бачення концепцій, що виникли на цьому етапі у зв'язку з необхідністю регулювання космічної діяльності.

В подальшому, результати даного аналізу дозволять продовжити дослідження космічних взаємовідносин, з метою визначення та опису суті правових систем, які регулюють або можуть регулювати космічну діяльність, а також, з метою виділення (визначення, класифікації та формулювання) просторово-територіальних юрисдикцій та суб'єктно-об'єктного складу учасників космічної діяльності.

Ключові слова: космічне право, космічна діяльність, юрисдикція, суб'єкти, об'єкти, космічний простір.

space activities rules international documents



1. Introduction

1.1. Problem Statement. The regulation of relations in outer space and on celestial bodies is one of the most important tasks of space activity since the space future of all mankind depends on this process.

Although the international community made the first official attempts in this direction back in 1958, this process remains incomplete. A lot of debate on this topic has given rise to many theories about the further development of space relationships. To date, mankind has not come close to a single position. Moreover, high-tech states continue the long-begun space race, which has every chance of leading to a global space confrontation in the future.

And if the process of regulating space activities does not move to a new, qualitatively higher level, then such a confrontation threatens all mankind with an orbital satellite war, which can develop into a large-scale space war. At the same time, such a war could lead to the destruction of all mankind. This is understandable to most people, regardless of the academic degree.

In this respect, it is impossible to overestimate the relevance of any new research in the field of regulation of space activities.

At the same time, even a superficial glance is enough to understand that today the process of regulating relations in outer space and on celestial bodies resembles frozen volcanic lava. This lava previously flowed in different directions, bypassing uncomfortable areas, and is now frozen in different places, resembling a "patchwork" and "leaky" blanket with a lot of patches.

The reason for this is, first of all, that the process of regulation of space activities is still a young process that has not enjoined a solid skeleton for its development. Unlike modern types of law, such as civil and commercial law, which have developed over thousands of years based on ancient Roman law and extensive human experience, the regulation of space relationships took place manually and most often ex post facto (after certain events took place in space). At the same time, the adopted international documents were most often based not on specific experience, but only on the assumptions of representatives of various states.

In this regard, in the process of development of space activity, all new and new theories were created and more and more new documents on its regulation were adopted, which often contradicted each other and overlapped each other. The reason for this was also that at the initial stage, no one understood what and how to regulate. No one knew either the alleged subject composition of participants in space activities, their jurisdictions, or the circumstances that need to be regulated. In this connection, there were many scientific and diplomatic disputes even on the topic of whether all adopted international documents on space activities can be considered Space Law or only a part of such documents apply to this law. At the same time, when adopting new documents in this area, the participants in international relations did not correct previous mistakes and did not make explanations on this topic, but simply created new additional provisions that had to be guided by, taking into account the existing provisions. In the end, this led to a large number of contradictions, misunderstandings, and violations of the rules of space activities.

To understand the current situation and figure out how to move on, it is necessary to conduct a deep analysis of the entire process of legal regulation of space activities, step by step, from the very beginning of its appearance, from 1958 to the present day.

1.2. The status of the issue. At the same time, it should be noted that today many scientists, diplomats, and honored lawyers have studied the evolution of the process of regulating space activities.

For example, Marcia S. Smith perfectly described the history of the process of regulation of space activities during the first 25 years of its development in the book "The first quarter-century of Spaceflight". At the same time, Ogunbanwo O. Ogunsola in the book "International law and outer space activities" outlined the events and discussions that took place in the international diplomatic community during the emergence of the process of regulating space activities. In turn, Dr. Asamoah O. Y. analyzed and described the history of the emergence of two major international documents adopted at the initial stage of the development of space activities, which he calls "two declarations of legal principles"[2, p. 129].

Also, in many works, considerable attention was paid to both international cooperations in the development of space activities and the military confrontation of states in space. Thus, on this occasion, Kenneth S. Pedersen described in his article "The changing face of international space cooperation" the position of the United States regarding international cooperation, which was formed at the very initial stage of the development of space activities. At the same time, Everett C. Dolman outlined in his book "Astropolitik: classical geopolitics in the Space Age" the main reasons for the militarization of space by states, and primarily by the United States, despite the constant desire of other states for peaceful space exploration. Also, Albert K. Lai analyzed and described in his book "The Cold War, the Space Race, and the Law of Outer Space" the situation with the military confrontation among space states and the reasons that led to this. In turn, Jonathan F. Galloway in his article "Game theory and the law and policy of outer space" modeled the causes and principles of confrontation of top states, which did not allow and may never allow states to come to real international cooperation in space.

However, despite the global confrontation of super-states in space, many scientists continue to try to solve the problems of international cooperation. Thus, in the article "The Role of bilateral and multilateral agreements in international space cooperation" Zhao Yun describes the current problems of international cooperation in space activities that arose at the initial stage of space activities and continue to exist to this day as well as possible options and prospects for their solution. Jack M. Beard, in his book "Soft law's failure on the horizon: the international code of conduct for outer space activities", also described the main problems that have arisen and continue to appear in the process of the formation of Space Law.

In addition to the above works that were used in this study, there are also many other scientific discussions and works related to the development of the process of regulation of space activities.

However, it should be noted that most of them include deep analysis only of global international documents on the regulation of space activities, such as international treaties or UN conventions. At the same time, other international documents, such as Resolutions and Declarations adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (the UN GA or the UN General Assembly) were subjected to only superficial analysis concerning their insignificance. In turn, it was precisely this position that led to the emergence of a "patchwork" and "leaky" quilt, which today consists of the so-called Space Law, where most of the processes have remained unsettled or are irresponsibly violated.

In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that, in general, scientists considered the process of regulation of space law only from the point of view of states or international organizations, bypassing the point of view of such participants in space activities as people, non-governmental, and commercial organizations. This has led to the fact that such studies have become one-sided and have missed other important elements of the process of regulation of space activities.

In this regard, it is necessary to conduct a new study of this process, based on a deep analysis of all international documents adopted in this area, and taking into account all possible points of view.

This article is only the first part of the study.

1.3. The article is aimed at presenting the results of the analysis of the following international documents adopted during the period from 1958 to 1963:

- the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 1148 (XII) "Regulation, limitation and balanced reduction of all armed forces and all armaments; conclusion of an international convention (treaty) on the reduction of armaments and the prohibition of atomic, hydrogen and other weapons of mass destruction", adopted by the UN GA during its 12th session at the 716th plenary meeting, 14 Nov. 1957 (the UN GA Resolution 1148)[7];

- the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 1348 (XIII) "Question of the peacefull use of outer space", adopted by the UN GA during its 13th session at the 792nd plenary meeting, 13 Dec. 1958 (the UN GA Resolution 1348)[8];

- the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 1472 (XIV) "International co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space", adopted by the UN GA during its 14th session at the 856th plenary meeting, 12 Dec. 1959 (the UN GA Resolution 1472)[9];

- the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 1721 (XVI) "International co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space", adopted by the UN GA during its 16th session, 20 Dec. 1961 (the UN GA Resolution 1721)[13];

- the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 1802 (XVII) "International co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space", adopted by the UN GA during its 17th session at the 1192nd plenary meeting, 14 Dec. 1962 (the UN GA Resolution 1802)[14];

- Treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the Atmosphere, in outer space and under water (No. 6964), signed at Moscow (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United States of America and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), on 5 August 1963 (the Treaty № 6964)[20];

- the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 1884 (XVIII) "Question of general and complete disarmament", adopted by the UN GA during its 18th session at the 1244th plenary meeting, 17 Oct. 1963 (the UN GA Resolution 1884)[10];

- the Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, adopted by the UN GA during its 18th session at the 1280th plenary meeting, 13 Dec. 1963, No. 1962 (XVIII) (the Declaration of Legal Principles)[11];

- the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 1963 (XVIII) "International Co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space", adopted by the UN GA during its 18th session at the 1280th plenary meeting, 13 Dec. 1963 (the UN GA Resolution 1963)[12].

While analyzing the above documents, as well as using dialectical, logical, and systemic research methods, it is possible to determine the tasks that were formed by the international community at this stage in the field of regulation of space activities, and the concepts of relationships that began to appear against the backdrop of the space confrontation that existed at that time.

Moreover, this analysis will pave the way for further research to identify (define, classify, and formulate) the basic principles, models, and rules of space activities, spatial-territorial jurisdictions as well as the subject-object composition of participants in space activities.

In addition, the results of this study make it possible to understand the issues that remained unresolved in the field of space activities at this stage, and also acknowledge new tasks the international community had to solve and identify possible solutions.

2. The basic material. The main aspects of the process of regulating space activities during the 1958-1963 period.

2.1. The UN GA Resolution 1148. The first step in regulating space activities can be the adoption of the UN GA Resolution 1148, in which the United Nations General Assembly invited States to make efforts to ensure "that the sending of objects through outer space shall be exclusively for peaceful and scientific purposes" (item "f" of paragraph 1)[7].

This official international document for the first time highlighted information directly related to actual space activities.

In this case, it is significant that the first space- related initiative of the General Assembly proposed that States limit their activities in this area to peaceful and scientific purposes.

2.2. The UN GA Resolution 1348. The next step in the regulation of space activities was the adoption of one of the most important resolutions of that period, namely, the UN GA Resolution 1348.

It should be noted that even though space activity was a fairly new type of activity at that time, the provisions of this resolution contain many important proposals made by the UN General Assembly already at this initial stage of its development.

For example, the UN General Assembly suggested all States according to which "outer space should be used for peaceful purposes only" (preamble, items "a" and "b" of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2)[8].

The absence of a mention of "celestial bodies" in this sentence means that the UN allowed states to conduct military operations on "celestial bodies" at this stage or did not assume the rapid technological progress of mankind and its ability to get to "celestial bodies" shortly (for example, such as Moon, Mars, asteroids, etc.). This is because in those days the very idea that someone could land on another planet sounded like science fiction[19, p. 39].

However, despite such an omission, all the same, one may say that at that point the UN General Assembly laid the foundation for the formulation and lobbying of the idea of peaceful exploration and use of the Universe.

In addition to this initiative, Resolution 1348 offered other ideas to States. For example, it was proposed to implement "the exploitation of outer space for the benefit of mankind" (preamble)[8]. In fact, in this way, the UN General Assembly began to develop a new idea - the idea of a useful Universe, with a special emphasis on the benefit of humanity. According to this idea, all subjects engaged in space activities should have initially acted only in the interests and for the benefit of humanity, and all other reasons and principles should be secondary and applied only to this idea.

Also, this resolution marked the beginning of the process of organizing cooperation in space activities.

Thus, in the preamble of the Resolution, the UN General Assembly pointed out "the great importance of international co-operation in the study and utilization of outer space for peaceful purposes" and "that such co-operation will promote mutual understanding and the strengthening of friendly relations among people", and therefore "the development of programmes of international and scientific co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space should be vigorously pursued"[8].

However, the most interesting and important proposal that the UN General Assembly made as part of this process was the proposal "to avoid the extension of present national rivalries into this new field" (preamble)[8]. Although this proposal for the non-competition of states is a difficult idea to implement, its accomplishment would allow international cooperation to reach a new global level.

Further to support this idea the UN General Assembly decided to establish "an ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space" (paragraph 1)[8]. In fact, with this decision, the UN began the process of forming international bodies and organizations for the regulation of space activities.

To perform cooperation in space activities the UN General Assembly has set several important tasks for the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS), namely, the "continuation permanently of the outer space research" (subitem "i" of item "b" of paragraph 1)[8], "organization of the mutual exchange and dissemination of information on outer space research" (subitem "ii" of item "b" of paragraph 1)[8], "co-ordination of national research programmes for the study of outer space" (subitem "iii" of item "b" of paragraph 1)[8].

Also, the UN General Assembly pointed out the need to establish "the nature of legal problems" (item "d" of paragraph 1)[8] and, thus, actually set another task for the creation and development of space law.

It could therefore be said that at the initial stage of the implementation of space activities, the UN General Assembly managed to declare two main initiatives (on a peaceful Universe and a useful Universe) as well as formulate and push the implementation of the idea of cooperation in space activities.

However, the most important aspect of this resolution was that the international community, represented by the UN General Assembly, by announcing the basic principles and objectives of space activities, actually determined the legal status of "outer space" as a separate object of space activities and international cooperation and as a separate all-encompassing spatial and territorial unit that does not fall under the jurisdiction of any state on Earth.

In addition, taking into account the reference of the text of this resolution to the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the UN Charter[3], it can be considered that the UN General Assembly has established the status of a subject of space activities for all Member States of the United Nations and directly for the UN, represented by its new body "The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space". Thus, it can be considered that this resolution also determined the initial subject composition of participants in space activities.

At the same time, at this stage, the UN General Assembly did not consider people and extraterrestrial intelligent beings, private companies, and nongovernmental organizations as subjects of space activities.

2.3. The UN GA Resolution 1472. A year later, on December 12, 1959, the General Assembly adopted a new resolution - the UN GA Resolution 1472.

An important element of this resolution was the establishment of specific tasks for the "Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space" to coordinate space activities. Thus, the UN continued the formation and implementation of the idea of cooperation in space activities.

However, this Resolution became famous not for its tasks, but for the fact that during its discussion within the Legal Subcommittee, the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States strongly opposed the position of "the exploitation of outer space only for the benefit of mankind"[19, p. 41].

The desire of space states to strengthen their hegemony in the world was expressed in the formation of a new goal for their space activities - for the benefit of States.

As a result, the first controversial provision on the regulation of space activities appeared in official documents, according to which "the exploration and use of outer space should be only for the betterment of mankind and to the benefit of States" (preamble) [9].

The conflicting nature of this provision was obvious even at this stage since it was clear to everyone that most of the goals and actions that are usually carried out for the benefit of certain States very rarely coincide with the good of all mankind.

Nevertheless, with these provisions, the UN General Assembly changed and expanded the original image of the useful Universe, according to the early formulation of which all subjects engaged in space activities should have acted only in the interests and for the benefit of humanity.

Thus, the foundation was laid for future lobbying for the benefit of States in matters of space activities. At the same time, this detail appeared in the context of a general proposal on the use of outer space only for the benefit of mankind and therefore initially did not confuse a wide range of legal experts.

2.4. The UN GA Resolution 1721. Provided in terms of scientific achievements the year 1961 was marked by the first successful human flight into space (April 12, 1961), then from the point of view of regulating space activities its achievements were associated with the appearance of the UN GA Resolution 1721 (December 20, 1961).

With this resolution, the UN General Assembly significantly accelerated the formation of international bodies and organizations on the regulation of space activities to implement the idea of cooperation.

First of all, the list of the UN authorized bodies and organizations participating in space activities was expanded by including "The World Meteorological Organization", "The International Telecommunication Union", "The Economic Council", "The Social Council", "The Special Fund", "The Expanded Program of Technical Assistance" (paragraph 2 of the article "C") [13].

In addition, within the framework of the cooperation initiative, the UN General Assembly proposed to participate in space activities of "nongovernmental organizations" (paragraph 5 of the article "D")[13] and, thus, defined them as separate subjects of space activities. Moreover, it was proposed to participate in the space activities of a specific non-governmental organization, namely, "The International Council of Scientific Unions" (transformed first in 1998 into "The International Council for Science", and subsequently, after the merger in 2018 with "The International Social Science Council" into "The International Science Council").

Also, this resolution designated new objects of space activity, which taking into account previous similar objects could already be at least conditionally divided according to the principles of origin and condition into the following types: natural objects, man-made objects, technical phenomena, and natural phenomena.

The man-made objects of space activity mentioned in the resolution include "satellite" (preamble of article "D")[13] and "objects launched into outer space" (paragraph 1 of the article "B") [13].

In turn, "satellite communication" (preamble of article "D")[13] can be attributed to technical phenomena.

Natural objects of space activity include "Outer space", which has been repeatedly described in previous resolutions as well as a new spatial- territorial unit, the "Celestial body" (items "a" and "b" of paragraph 1 of article "A")[13].

In addition, pointing to the need for space research related to the study of weather and climate on Earth, the UN General Assembly identified "natural phenomena" (changes occurring in the nature of the planet Earth as well as any phenomena in the Universe outside the Earth) as another object of space activity (item "a" of paragraph 1 of the article "C")[13].

At the same time, the UN General Assembly proposed one of the basic rules of space activity - the rule for registering "objects launched into outer space" in the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (paragraphs 1 and 2 of the article "B") [13]. This provision established the basis of the international order of space activities and fixed the legal link between the "object" and the launching States, and also established the moral responsibility of the State launching the "object" into outer space to the rest of the international community. At the same time, at this stage, the rule of registration of space launches concerned only States and did not regulate the space activities of private companies, individuals, and non-governmental organizations.

It should be noted that all of the above innovations of the UN General Assembly had a very great impact on the further development of space activities.

However, from a legal point of view, the most important element of this Resolution was the recommendation according to which "International law, including the Charter of the United Nations, applies to outer space and celestial bodies" (item "a" of paragraph 1 of article "A")[13].

Thus, the UN General Assembly for the first time opened up about the regulation of relations among participants in space activities and jurisdiction, inviting States to regulate their relations in outer space and on celestial bodies based on existing international law.

However, despite many positive aspects, this Resolution also proposed several new and very controversial provisions for space activities.

For example, the UN General Assembly proposed that "communication by means of satellites should be available to the nations of the world ... on a global and non-discriminatory basis" (preamble of article "D")[13].

This proposal is fully consistent with the initiative to create a useful Universe. However, unfortunately, the resolution does not contain an explanation of the term "availability" and the method of its implementation, which allowed each State to interpret it at its discretion.

Nevertheless, to support this idea, the UN General Assembly set its bodies another serious task "to make allocations of radio frequency bands for outer space activities" (paragraph 1 of article "D")[13], which later played an important role in the development of telecommunications.

However, the most controversial and contradictory is the provision of this Resolution, which states that "Outer space and celestial bodies are free for exploration and use by all States in conformity with international law and are not subject to national appropriation" (item "b" of paragraph 1 of article "A")[13].

In essence, this provision contains three different legal assumptions, each of which describes a separate type of participation in space activities.

The first one is "outer space and celestial bodies are free for exploration by all States in conformity with international law"[13] which describes the idea of free exploration of the Universe.

The second formulation says that "outer space and celestial bodies are free for use by all States in conformity with international law"[13] and describes a new initiative that assumes that states can use the Universe.

The third assumption, according to which "outer space and celestial bodies are not subject to national appropriation"[13], describes the Universe as a free territory that can never belong to the States.

Even though all these three formulations are contained in one sentence, it is easy to notice that the second and third formulations of this provision contradict each other and are mutually exclusive.

On the one hand, the third formulation restricts States in their ability to appropriate outer space and celestial bodies.

On the other hand, the second formulation, taking into account the availability of opportunities for States to carry out space activities for their benefit (the UN GA Resolution 1472), actually gives States the right to freely use Outer space and celestial bodies for their benefit. In turn, free use for their benefit means that States can use outer space and celestial bodies, which they do not even formally own and have no right to own.

That is, already at this stage there are legal conflicts in the field of regulation of space activities as follows: "are not subject to national appropriation" and "free for use" as well as "the betterment of mankind" and "the benefit of States".

2.5. The UN GA Resolution 1802. The next resolution, which concerned space activities, was the UN GA Resolution 1802.

This time, the UN General Assembly once again drew increased attention to the need for the legal regulation of relations among States in Outer space based on international law.

First of all, the main tasks related to space activities and subject to priority solution were identified (paragraph 1 of the article "I"), namely: "improvement of basic legal principles governing the activities of States in the exploration and use of outer space", establishment of "liability for space vehicle accidents", coordination of conditions providing "assistance to return of astronauts and space vehicles'll4].

From the above tasks, it becomes clear that the UN General Assembly continued to promote its idea of allowing States to freely use Outer space. At the same time, such actions have created an even greater imbalance in favor of States and to the detriment of "the betterment of mankind".

Nevertheless, this resolution also contains many positive aspects.

For example, the UN General Assembly outlined the need to establish responsibility for space activities, for starters, the "liability for space vehicle accidents" (paragraph 1 of the article "I")[14].

Also, the UN General Assembly again drew attention to the need for events that could expand cooperation in space activities. First of all, attention was called to the need to support and strengthen cooperation among States on the implementation of international programs described in the report of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (paragraphs 1 and 3 of article "П")[14], including in the field of "atmospheric science research" (paragraph 2 of article "Ш")[14].

Additionally, the UN General Assembly once again brought up the subject of creating accessible satellite communication on a global scale for "the expansion ... and facilitating contact among the people of the world" (paragraph 2 of article "IV") [14]. However, this time again the Resolution did not specify the conditions for the availability of such a communication.

In turn, considering initiatives for cooperation in space activities and the creation of a useful Universe for "the betterment of mankind", it turned out to be a very interesting and promising idea to create a network of new man-made objects of space activity on the Earth's geomagnetic equator to launch sounding rockets under the leadership of the United Nations - "rocket launching facilities" (paragraphs 4-7 of article "II"). According to the UN General Assembly, the implementation of this task would contribute to scientific progress and international cooperation in the field of space exploration as well as a benefit "by providing opportunity for valuable practical training for interested users" (paragraph 4 of article "II")[14].

In this case, it is interesting that voicing this idea the UN General Assembly did not limit the prospect of using "rocket launching facilities" and outer space only by States and only for the benefit of States, but offered participation in space activities to any interested entities (that is, self-sufficient individuals). It should be noted that, first of all, this is the merit of the United States delegate, who insisted on such a perspective when discussing this resolution[2, p. 149].

In addition, separately, it is necessary to draw attention to the fact that this resolution includes information on a new subject of space activities, which the UN General Assembly called the "astronaut" (paragraph 1 of the article "I")[14].

At the same time, this resolution did not address issues related to the exploration and use of "celestial bodies", and did not address issues related to the regulation of relations with non-State participants of space activities, but focused only on the regulation of relations among States in "Outer space".

2.6. Treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the Atmosphere, in outer space and under water. In 1962 one of the most terrible events in the history of space exploration took place - the nuclear test in near-Earth orbit. A 1.4 megaton nuclear test (USA) 400 km above Earth created such large EMP emissions that it disabled seven satellites in low earth orbit[17, p. 418]. These actions almost led to the destruction of the Earth's orbital space and irreparable damage to the Earth.

The consequences of this test for some time cooled the military ardor of competing states.

As a result, this led to the fact that on August 5, 1963, the three most powerful nuclear states of that time (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) signed Treaty No. 6964. Subsequently, this treaty was also signed by many other states.

Treaty No. 6964 is the first international (interstate) treaty directly related to outer space.

The main aspect of this Treaty is the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 1, according to which "Each of the Parties to this Treaty undertakes to prohibit, to prevent, and not to carry out any nuclear weapon test explosion, or any other nuclear explosion, at any place under its jurisdiction or control: (a) in the atmosphere; beyond its limits, including outer space; or under water, including territorial waters or high seas; or (b) in any other environment if such explosion causes radioactive debris to be present outside the territorial limits of the State under whose jurisdiction or control such explosion is conducted ..."[20].

Also, according to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 1 of this Treaty, the participating States undertook as follows "Each of the Parties to this Treaty undertakes furthermore to refrain from causing, encouraging, or in any way participating in, the carrying out of any nuclear weapon test explosion, or any other nuclear explosion, anywhere which would take place in any of the environments described, or have the effect referred to, in paragraph 1 of this Article"[20].

In fact, by concluding this Treaty, the participating States committed themselves not to carry out "any nuclear weapon test explosion in outer space". Thus, they took the first important step to confirm one of the most basic initiatives of space activity - the initiative to create a peaceful Universe.

However, despite the many positive aspects of this Agreement, there are still "minor" omissions in it. For example, it does not explicitly specify "celestial bodies" for some unknown reason. Perhaps the participating States did not look so far into the future and did not consider the distant prospects of space activities, or they specifically left a loophole (a backway) for the future for the possibility of nuclear tests far beyond the Earth, or perhaps they planned to continue nuclear tests on Earth, which can also be attributed to "celestial bodies".

However, in any case, such an "omission" is a drawback of this Treaty, prompting nuclear-weapon States to look for ways to use this loophole for their benefit in the arms race.

2.7. The UN GA Resolution 1884. Supporting Treaty No. 6964, on October 17, 1963, the General Assembly adopted a very important resolution in the field of disarmament - the UN GA Resolution 1884.

Frightened by the consequences of the nuclear test, the UN General Assembly once again declared "that the exploration and use of outer space should be only for the betterment of mankind" (preamble)

[9] . That is, the UN has again recalled that the good of all mankind is much more important than the benefit of certain states and all space activities should be directed only in the interests of all mankind.

Moreover, this Resolution proposed: "a) To refrain from placing in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, installing such weapons on celestial bodies, or stationing such weapons in outer space in any other manner; b) To refrain from causing, encouraging or in any way participating in the conduct of the upcoming activities" (items "a" and "b" of paragraph 2)[10].

In fact, for the first time in history, it was proposed within the framework of the initiative to create a peaceful Universe to begin the process of disarmament of States by prohibiting the placement of nuclear weapons in outer space and on celestial bodies.

2.8. The UN GA Resolution 1963. On December 13, 1963, the UN General Assembly adopted another resolution on International Co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space - the UN GA Resolution 1963.

For the most part, this resolution confirms the previously announced principles.

However, in addition to them, the UN General Assembly announced that in space activities it is necessary "to continue and to extend co-operative arrangements so that all Member States can benefit from the peaceful exploration and use of outer space" (paragraph 8 of article "II")[12].

That is purposeful lobbying of the interests of states has begun to the detriment of "the betterment of mankind". At the same time, this wording also contains notes of political blackmail in the context of the fact that only the UN member States can benefit from the exploration and use of outer space, which does not belong to anyone. After such a statement, states that have not become members of the UN will want to join the UN, and the UN member states will be afraid to withdraw from it, even if they disagree with the general UN policy.

Moreover, this lobbying is beginning to acquire a selective character, since the UN General Assembly announced in this resolution the existence of "benefit which all Member States would enjoy by participation in international programmes of cooperation in this field"(preamble)[12].

In other words, only those States that participate in international space programs will receive benefits. That is, those states that have money and technical capabilities will receive these advantages. Accordingly, poor and underdeveloped States that are unable to participate in space activities are automatically excluded from this list of States that can receive benefits.

Thus, the initiative on a useful Universe is purposefully shifting in favor of the UN member States that participate in international space programs. What kind of "the benefit of mankind" can we even talk about in this case?

2.9. The Declaration of Legal Principles. However, the most important event that took place on December 13, 1963, was the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the first strategic document on the regulation of space activities - the Declaration of Legal Principles.

This Declaration replaced direct negotiations and agreements that previously took place only among space superpowers[5, p. 16]. Many even refer to this Declaration as the "magna carta of the international law of outer space"[5, p. 14]. Although this Declaration had a great impact on the subsequent development of space activities, this is still an exaggeration.

2.9.1. Perhaps the most important provisions of this Declaration are the provisions affirming "the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes" (preamble)[11] as well as "... the exploration and use of outer space in interest of maintaining international peace and security and promoting international co-operation and understanding" (paragraph 4)[11] along with the prohibition of propaganda of war in space activities (reference in the preamble to the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 110, adopted by the UN GA during its 2nd session at the 108th plenary meeting, 3 Nov. 1947[1].

These provisions significantly supplemented the description and expanded the understanding of the peaceful Universe initiative as well as finally approved the main strategy of cooperation in space activities.

At the same time, it is easy to notice that the UN General Assembly, while announcing peaceful principles of space activities, is getting used to figuring out only outer space and not mentioning celestial bodies as separate spatial and territorial units.

2.9.2. The following important provisions of this Declaration underline "the common interest of all mankind in the progress of the exploration and use of outer space" (preamble) as well as that "the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for the betterment of mankind ..." (preamble), and that "the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried on for the benefit and in the interests of all mankind" (paragraph 1)[11].

Thus, the UN General Assembly and the States that signed the Declaration confirmed the initiative to create a useful Universe with a special focus on "the benefit of mankind".

However, at the same time, the Declaration also contains provisions according to which "the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for ... the benefit of States irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development" (preamble)[11], and also "Outer space and celestial bodies are free for ... use by all States on a basis of equality and by international law" (paragraph 2)[11].

This means that the Declaration contains both essentially opposite provisions and goals: "not subject to national appropriation ... by means of use" (paragraph 3) and "free for use" (paragraph 2) as well as "the benefit and in the interests of all mankind" (paragraph 1) and "the benefit of States" (preamble).

Hence, it can be concluded that at this stage the conflict between legal and moral principles of space activities has already begun to acquire an official and international character.

At the same time, while continuing to lobby their interests, the states once again signed a document on the use of outer space and celestial bodies for their benefit and, accordingly, to the detriment of the benefit of mankind.

Hiding behind attractive and loud slogans about the impossibility of States appropriating "outer space" and "celestial bodies", actually with the help of this Declaration, the UN made the first attempt at their legal colonization.

2.9.3. Equally important are the provisions of the Declaration, which state that "Outer space and celestial bodies are not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means" (paragraph 3)[11] as well as that "Outer space and celestial bodies are free for exploration ... by all States on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law"(paragraph 2)[11].

Thus, the UN General Assembly and the States that signed the Declaration retained the initiative on a free Universe (although the previous initiative "free for use by all States" contradicts this initiative).

At the same time, the Declaration of Legal Principles attributed "occupation" and "use" to the list of actions that can be regarded as "appropriation" of outer space and celestial bodies.

However, at the same time, the Declaration of Legal Principles left a lot of questions on this topic.

Firstly, remains unclear whether this provision applies to the planet Earth, which from a geophysical point of view is also a celestial body.

Secondly, it lines indistinct what the phrase "outer space and celestial bodies are not subject to national appropriation ... by means of use" means. What exactly does the use of outer space and celestial bodies process mean? This becomes especially incomprehensible in the context of the statements of the UN General Assembly in previous Resolutions (1721, 1802, and 1963) on the free use of outer space and celestial bodies by States as well as in the context of similar statements in the Declaration of Legal Principles. After all, it is clear to everyone that by launching a space vehicle into space and to celestial bodies, de facto states are already using outer space and these celestial bodies.

In addition, the document does not contain any provisions regulating the activities of private and non-governmental entities of space activities (even those who participate in the creation of a space vehicle on Earth). This means that the above- described prohibition on the appropriation of outer space and celestial bodies did not apply to private and non-governmental organizations.

Also, it should be noted that this Declaration could not directly consolidate the right of free access to outer space and celestial bodies for everyone, but allowed only States to act this way.

Moreover, through this Declaration, States have tried to significantly limit the capabilities of nongovernmental organizations, pointing out that "The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the State concerned" (paragraph 5) [10].

That is an attempt was made to put all space activities under state control and turn nongovernmental organizations into pro-government organizations.

2.9.4. At the same time, the positive aspect of this Declaration is that the UN General Assembly continued to promote the idea of cooperation among States in space activities. Once again, the proposal was voiced that "In the exploration and use of outer space, States shall be guided by the principle of cooperation and mutual assistance and shall conduct all their activities in outer space with due regard for the corresponding interests of other States" (paragraph 6)[11].

In essence, this provision was created for only one purpose - to organize global international cooperation in this area.

2.9.5. In addition, in continuation of the idea of cooperation, the Declaration laid the foundations for the organization of mutual assistance among the subjects of space activities provided "States shall regard astronauts as envoys of mankind in outer space, and shall render to them all possible assistance in the event of accident, distress, or emergency landing on the territory of a foreign State or on the high seas" (paragraph 9)[11].

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