Moon Treaty

The Moon Treaty, formally the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies and also called the Moon Agreement, is a United Nations space law instrument. The Legal Subcommittee considered and elaborated it from 1972 to 1979, and the General Assembly adopted it in 1979 in resolution 34/68. It entered into force in July 1984, after Austria became the fifth country to ratify it in June 1984. It reaffirms and elaborates provisions of the Outer Space Treaty as applied to the Moon and other celestial bodies: they are to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes, their environments are not to be disrupted, and the United Nations is to be informed of the location and purpose of any station established on them. It also provides that the Moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind, and that an international regime should govern their exploitation when that becomes feasible.