Further Practical Measures for the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space

A/RES/78/238View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 97cFurther practical measures for the prevention of an arms race in outer space, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

2 versions · 2023–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/21

2024A/RES/79/21Further practical measures for the prevention of an arms race in outer spaceLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/238Further practical measures for the prevention of an arms race in outer space

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What subjects does this mandate have?

4 topics

Arms Race Disarmament Agreements Groups of Experts Outer Space

What does this mandate say?

14 operative paragraphs

Proclaims it a historic responsibility of all States to ensure that the exploration of outer space is carried out exclusively for peaceful purposes for the benefit of mankind;

Declares that the exclusion of outer space from the sphere of the arms race and the preservation of outer space for peaceful purposes should become a mandatory norm of State policy and a generally recognized international obligation;

Calls upon all States, and above all those with major space capabilities, to this end:

To take urgent measures to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space and the threat or use of force in outer space, from space against Earth and from Earth against objects in outer space;

To seek through negotiations the early elaboration of appropriate reliably verifiable legally binding multilateral agreements;

Expresses its deep regret over the years of stalemate in the work of the Conference on Disarmament, and looks forward to the Conference again fulfilling its mandate as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum;

Urges the Conference on Disarmament to agree on and implement at its earliest opportunity a balanced and comprehensive programme of work that includes the immediate commencement of negotiations on an international legally binding instrument on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, including on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space and of the threat or use of force in outer space, from space against Earth and from Earth against objects in outer space;

Acknowledges that the guaranteed prevention of an arms race in outer space will provide an opportunity for the peaceful exploration of outer space and its use in solving acute major problems relating to economic, social and cultural development facing mankind today, as well as in consolidating the efforts of States of the world in this domain;

Welcomes the establishment in 2023 of the Group of Governmental Experts to consider and make recommendations on substantial elements of an international legally binding instrument on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, including, inter alia, on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space;

Decides, with a view to ensuring continuity and consistency in the consideration of issues pertaining to the prevention of an arms race in outer space, upon the termination of the activities of the above-mentioned Group of Governmental Experts, to establish for the period 2024–2028 an open-ended working group to continue building on the work of the Group of Governmental Experts to consider and to make recommendations on substantial elements of an international legally binding instrument on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, including, inter alia, on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space, as well as to consider various aspects of the prevention of an arms race in outer space in the context of an international legally binding instrument on the prevention of an arms race in outer space;

Decides also that the newly established open-ended working group will operate by consensus, without prejudice to national positions in future negotiations, and will hold in Geneva its organizational two-day session in 2024, as well as eight sessions, comprising two sessions annually of 10 and 5 days each in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide all necessary assistance to the open-ended working group and its Chair and to transmit its report to the General Assembly at its eighty-third session, the Conference on Disarmament and the Disarmament Commission;

Decides that, if the Conference on Disarmament agrees upon and implements a balanced and comprehensive programme of work that includes the negotiation of an international legally binding instrument on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, including, inter alia, on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space, the newly established open-ended working group will conclude its work and submit the results thereof to the Secretary-General for onward transmission to the Conference on Disarmament;

Also decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-ninth session, under the item entitled “Prevention of an arms race in outer space”, the sub-item entitled “Further practical measures for the prevention of an arms race in outer space”.

50th (resumed) plenary meeting

22 December 2023

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