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                                                       A/RES/40/87

                                                       12 December 1985

                                                       113th plenary meeting

 

                  Prevention of an arms race in outer space

 

     The General Assembly,

 

     Inspired by the great prospects opening up before mankind as a result of

man's entry into outer space,

 

     Recognizing the common interest of all mankind in the exploration and use

of outer space for peaceful purposes,

 

     Reaffirming that the exploration and use of outer space, including the

Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in

the interest of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or

scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind,

 

     Reaffirming further the will of all States that the exploration and use

of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be for

peaceful purposes,

 

     Recalling that the States parties to the Treaty on Principles Governing

the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including

the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,  have undertaken, in article III, to

carry on activities in the exploration and use of outer space, including the

Moon and other celestial bodies, in accordance with international law and the

Charter of the United Nations, in the interest of maintaining international

peace and security and promoting international co-operation and understanding,

 

     Reaffirming, in particular, article IV of the above-mentioned Treaty,

which stipulates that States parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in

orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds

of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies or

station such weapons in outer space in any other manner,

 

     Reaffirming also paragraph 80 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special

Session of the General Assembly,  the first special session devoted to

disarmament, in which it is stated that, in order to prevent an arms race in

outer space, further measures should be taken and appropriate international

negotiations held in accordance with the spirit of the Treaty,

 

     Recalling its resolutions 36/97 C and 36/99 of 9 December 1981, as well

as resolutions 37/83 of 9 December 1982, 37/99 D of 13 December 1982, 38/70 of

15 December 1983 and 39/59 of 12 December 1984,

 

     Gravely concerned at the danger posed to all mankind by an arms race in

outer space and in particular by the impending threat of exacerbating the

current state of insecurity by developments that could further undermine

international peace and security, retard the pursuit of general and complete

disarmament, and risk creating obstacles to the development of international

co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space,

 

     Mindful of the widespread interest expressed by Member States in the

course of the negotiations on and following the adoption of the

above-mentioned Treaty in ensuring that the exploration and use of outer space

should be for peaceful purposes, and taking note of proposals submitted to the

General Assembly at its tenth special session and at its regular sessions and

to the Conference on Disarmament,

 

     Noting the grave concern expressed by the Second United Nations

Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space over the

extension of an arms race into outer space and the recommendations made to the

competent organs of the United Nations, in particular, the General Assembly,

and also to the Committee on Disarmament,

 

     Convinced that further measures are needed for the prevention of an arms

race in outer space,

 

     Recognizing that, in the context of multilateral negotiations for

preventing an arms race in outer space, bilateral negotiations between the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America could

make a significant contribution to such an objective, in accordance with

paragraph 27 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session,

 

     Noting with satisfaction that bilateral negotiations between the Union of

Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America have begun in

1985, on a complex of questions concerning space and nuclear arms, both

strategic and intermediate-range, and in their interrelationship, with the

declared objective of working out effective agreements aimed, inter alia, at

preventing an arms race in outer space,

 

     Anxious that concrete results should emerge from these negotiations as

soon as possible, as was urged in resolution 39/59,

 

     Taking note of the section of the report of the Conference on Disarmament

relating to this question,

 

     Welcoming the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on the prevention of

an arms race in outer space during the 1985 session of the Conference on

Disarmament, in the exercise of the negotiating responsibilities of this sole

multilateral negotiating body on disarmament, to examine, as a first step at

this stage, issues relevant to the prevention of an arms race in outer space,

 

     Mindful that consensus had not yet been reached in the Conference on

Disarmament on concrete proposals for re-establishing the ad hoc committee on

this question during the 1986 session of the Conference on Disarmament,

 

     1.   Recalls the obligation of all States to refrain from the threat or

use of force in their space activities;

 

     2.   Reaffirms that general and complete disarmament under effective

international control warrants that outer space shall be used exclusively for

peaceful purposes and that it shall not become an arena for an arms race;

 

     3.   Emphasizes that further measures with appropriate and effective

provisions for verification to prevent an arms race in outer space should be

adopted by the international community;

 

     4.   Calls upon all States, in particular those with major space

capabilities, to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of

outer space and to take immediate measures to prevent an arms race in outer

space in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and

promoting international co-operation and understanding;

 

     5.   Requests the Secretary-General to invite Member States to submit

their views on the possibility of enhancing international co-operation in the

field of preventing an arms race in outer space and the peaceful uses of outer

space, including the desirability of establishing relevant machinery for that

purpose, and to submit a report to the General Assembly at its forty-first

session; 

 

     6.   Reiterates that the Conference on Disarmament, as the single

multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, has the primary role in the

negotiation of a multilateral agreement or agreements, as appropriate, on the

prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects;

 

     7.   Requests the Conference on Disarmament to consider as a matter of

priority the question of preventing an arms race in outer space;

 

     8.   Also requests the Conference on Disarmament to intensify its

consideration of the question of the prevention of an arms race in outer space

in all its aspects, taking into account all relevant proposals including those

presented in the ad hoc committee on the prevention of an arms race in outer

space at its 1985 session and at the fortieth session of the General Assembly;

 

     9.   Further requests the Conference on Disarmament to re-establish an

ad hoc committee with an adequate mandate at the beginning of its session in

1986, with a view to undertaking negotiations for the conclusion of an

agreement or agreements, as appropriate, to prevent an arms race in outer

space in all its aspects;

 

     10.  Urges the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States

of America to pursue intensively their bilateral negotiations in a

constructive spirit aimed at reaching early agreement for preventing an arms

race in outer space, and to advise the Conference on Disarmament periodically

of the progress of their bilateral sessions so as to facilitate its work;

 

     11.  Calls upon all States especially those with major space

capabilities, to refrain, in their activities relating to outer space, from

actions contrary to the observance of the relevant existing treaties or to the

objective of preventing an arms race in outer space;

 

     12.  Invites Member States to transmit to the Secretary-General, not

later than l April 1986, their views on the scope and content of the study

being undertaken by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

on disarmament problems relating to outer space and the consequences of

extending the arms race into outer space, and requests the Secretary-General

to convey the views of the Member States to the Advisory Board on Disarmament

Studies for consideration in order to enable it, in its capacity of Board of

Trustees of the Institute, to give the Institute such possible guidance with

respect to the elaboration of its study as it may derive from those views;

 

     13.  Requests the Conference on Disarmament to report on its

consideration of this subject to the General Assembly at its forty-first

session; 

 

     14.  Requests the Secretary-General to transmit to the Conference on

Disarmament all documents relating to the consideration of this subject by the

General Assembly at its fortieth session;

 

     15.  Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-first

session the item entitled "Prevention of an arms race in outer space".

 



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