Resolution space

Sponsors: France, China

Signatories: South Africa, Iran, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Representative of the UNOOSA, Djibouti,
Guatemala, Algeria, Venezuela, Pakistan, Malaysia, Ukraine,

Guided by the principles and values laid in the United Nations charter,

Supports the Outer Space Treaty 1967, the Rescue and Return Treaty 1968, the Liability Convention 1972,
the Registration Convention 1976, the Moon Agreement 1979, The Rescue and Return Agreement, the
Registration Convention and the draft International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities (ICoC),

Reaffirming that general international law and the Charter of the United Nations are a central part of the
corpus juris spatialis along with the OST,

Notes that further exploration and use of outer space plays an ever-increasing role in the development of
humankind,

Aware of the dependence of humankind on space technology,

Recognizing the contribution of space technology to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development
Goals,

The Fourth Committee of The General Assembly

1) Encourages nations to establish transparency and confidence-building measures in space,

a) These measures can be adopted from the proposed ICoC,
b) Nations should adhere to the Principles of Responsible Behaviour in Outer Space (PORBOS);

2) Suggests the following modifications to the mandate of the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
(COPUOS),
a) Inspecting of space equipment before they are launched into space,
i) Nations should provide reports to the COPUOS during development and testing stages as well as
pre-launch notifications;

3) Strongly suggests that the COPUOS increases security by issuing inspection licenses to international
inspectors/representatives prior to their arrival at the area they are going to inspect,
a) This will ensure the integrity of the process and ensure safety for the inspectors,
b) Two inspections will be conducted per quarter, one in the beginning and one at the end to ensure
frequent and adequate inspection results as compared to space capabilities;

4) Urges nations to only develop dual-use space satellites,

a) If single-use satellites are developed, they must be only for civilian use;

5) Suggests that “space weapons are defined as follows,

 a) A device stationed in outer space (including void space, the Moon and other celestial bodies) or in
the earth environment designed to destroy, damage, or otherwise interfere with the normal
functioning of an object or being in outer space,
b) A device stationed in outer space designed to destroy, damage, or otherwise interfere with the normal
functioning of an object or being in the earth environment,
c) A device that does not cause physical damage but destroys the target’s command, control, and space
surveillance equipment, which are vital to the efficient operation of spacecraft and missiles;

6) Urges nations to use space weapons only as a self-defence mechanism,

a) Reiterates that the International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility provides in
Articles 51 and 52 that States may have a right of proportionate countermeasures with respect to
violations of the principle of sovereignty, non-intervention and violation of Article 2 sub-clause 4 of
the UN Charter,
b) Technology and equipment that could be used as self-defence mechanism includes but is not limited
to nano-satellites that would patrol a few kilometres around main satellites and a ground-based laser
system to blind snooping satellites;

7) Requests nations to ensure decommissioned satellites are disposed on Earth instead of destroyed in space
as this spreads dangerous space debris,
a) Reusing the components of satellites and other space equipment would be beneficial for research
and can be used by scientists for alternative purposes;

8) Recommends collaboration between member states to develop methods of space debris removal,
a) Funding from member states would be beneficial towards the removal of space debris,
b) Once developed, these new technologies can be shared and implemented by nations;

9) Supports the “Triple I” mechanism, which refers to international, impartial, and independent, which was
established by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring accountability to entities that perform armed
attacks in space,
a) The definition of an armed attack will be taken from the ICJ case Nicaragua vs United States of
America (1986);

10) Encourages the COPUOS to improve collaboration and work with scientists, clinicians, experts,
academia, civil society representatives as well as representatives of private and non-governmental
organisations in order to explore emerging technology and methods that can be used for space colonization
in the future;

11) Emphasizes the importance of increased security infrastructure and provisions to ensure access to space
technology and equipment is not obtained by non-state actors, extremist organisation or hostile
governments;

12) Recommends that States adopt national space legislation to facilitate supervision of non-governmental
entities under their jurisdictions; enter into agreements with other States in relation to joint launches and
cooperation in line with the Liability Convention, and foster consistency of national space legislation with
the provisions of international law;
13) Suggests the use of the following types of incentives to reduce the economic gap and social inequality
caused by advanced space capabilities of certain well-developed countries,
a) Economic incentives, such as market access agreements, access to capital in the form of loans from
private and international corporations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund grants, foreign
investment and trade agreements,
b) Diplomatic incentives, such as establishing liaison offices and embassies for diplomatic contacts,
bilateral visits and summit meetings,
c) Confidence building measures, such as bilateral inspection agreements, exchange of lists about the
space technology of a nation, provision of training, research exchanges and equipment monitoring,
d) Humanitarian incentives, such as food aid, medicine, infrastructure development, funding for
education from NGOs like the International Peace Institute (IPI) as well as from member countries
that wish to;

13)Encourages the formation of the Society for Outer Space Actions (SOSA) under the United Nations
Office for Outer Space Affairs to look into,
a) Facilitating the development and enrichment of international space agreements between nations,
b) Implementation and monitoring of policies,
c) The monitoring of international and national agreements to ensure visibility, compliance with
regulations, and periodic inspections;

14)Supports the formation of a standing committee that will work as a forum for monitoring and settling
conflicts related to damage of state and non-state space assets;

15)Renews its appeal for the establishment of an ad-hoc committee on the Prevention of an Arms Race in
Outer Space(PAROS) at the United Nations Conference of Disarmament(UNCD);

16)Advices the United Nations General Assembly to call for an advisory opinion from the International
Court of Justice on the laws and steps needed to prevent space from being an arena for an arms race;

17)Recommends the following guidelines to be considered for the mission planning, design, manufacture
and operational phases of space and launch vehicle orbital stages;
a)Limit debris released during regular operation in space systems,
b)Spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stages should be designed to avoid failure modes which may
lead to accidental break-ups,
c)Limit the long-term presence of spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stages in the low-Earth orbit
(LEO) region after the end of their mission;

18)Also Recommends the involvement of private companies which provide a technical solution, essentially,
the grabbing of debris with a special satellite and de-orbit both of them, thus burning up the debris along
with itself;

19) Requests the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, in co-operation with the
Secretary-General and making full use of the functions and resources of the Secretariat,
(a) To maintain close contact with governmental and non-governmental organizations concerned with
outer space matters,
 (b)To provide for the exchange of such information relating to outer space activities as Governments
may supply on a voluntary basis, supplementing but not duplicating existing technical and scientific
exchanges,
(c) To assist in the study of measures for the promotion of international co-operation in outer space
activities;

20) Invites the Special Fund and the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance, in consultation with the
International Telecommunication Union, to give sympathetic consideration to requests from the Member
States for technical and other assistance for the survey of their communication needs and for the
development of their domestic communication facilities, so that they may make effective use of space
communication;

21)Endorses the exchange of information between States on a voluntary basis of their following space
activities:
a) Activities having military or military-related functions,
b) Prior notification of launching of space objects,
c) Send observers to the launching of space objects or to the preparation of or participation in other
outer space activities, particularly having military or military-related functions (in the spirit of
reciprocity and goodwill),
d) Supply other information considered useful for,
i) building confidence,
ii) the reduction of misunderstanding;

22) Further invites all member states to collaborate and offer solutions on the safe exploration and
militarization of space.