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19 Am. U. L. Rev. 33 (1970)
A Liability Treaty for Outer Space Activities

handle is hein.journals/aulr19 and id is 41 raw text is: A LIABILITY TREATY FOR OUTER SPACE ACTIVITIES By Paul G. Dembling* Introduction Much progress has been made in tie law of outer space activities. The entry into force of the Outer Space Treaty of 19671 and the Treaty on Rescue and Return of Astronauts and Space Objects2 climaxed almost a decade of efforts to secure widespread international agreement in these areas. The provisions of the Treaties had been advanced previously in the form of General Assembly resolutions, analogous international agreements, domestic legislation, statements by government officials, articles by scholars in the field, and other expressions of views. Although the Outer Space Treaty contains a provision making any state party to the Treaty internationally liable for damage to another state as a result of its outer space activities3 it was generally recognized * General Counsel, United States General Accounting Office (Comptroller General). A.B., M.A., Rutgers University; J.D., The George Washington University. Member of the bar of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States. [Mr. Dembling has been a member of the U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Legal Subcommittee in the drafting of the Outer Space and Astronaut Treaties. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not intended to reflect expressions of any agency or organization with which he may be connected. I. The Treaty is officially entitled Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, and is annexed to a resolution of the General Assembly. U.N. Doc. A/C.I/L.396 (1966). For a full discussion of the Treaty, see Dembling and Arons, The Evolution of the Outer Space Treaty, 33 J. AIR L. & Com. 419 (1967). The Treaty entered into force on October 10, 1968, and as of October 15, 1969, 89 countries have signed, (plus the German Democratic Republic, the Ukraine U.S.S.R. and Byelo Russian U.S.S.R.), 41 have ratified, and nine have acceded. 2. The official title is Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, and the Return of Astronauts, and the Return of Objects Launched in Outer Space, and is annexed to G.A. RES. 2345 (XXII), December 19, 1967. Texts of the Resolution and the Agreement appear in 58 DEP'T. STATE BULL. 85 (1968). For a full discussion of the Treaty, see Dembling and Arons, The Treaty on Rescue and Return of Astronauts and Space Objects, 9 Wm. & MARY L. REv. 630 (1968). The Treaty entered into force on December 3, 1968, and as of October 15, 1969, 78 countries have signed, (plus the German Democratic Republic, the Ukraine U.S.S.R. and Byelo Russian U.S.S.R.), 24 countries have ratified, and 8 have acceded. 3. Art. VII: Each State Party to the Treaty that launches or procures the launching of an object into outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and each State Party from whose territory or facility an object is launched, is internationally liable for damage to another State Party to the Treaty or to its natural or juridical persons by such object or its component parts on the Earth, in air space or in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies.

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