Common use of Five Outer Space Conventions Clause in Contracts

Five Outer Space Conventions. Australia’s Status Australia is a party to all five United Nations outer space conventions.129 Australia signed the first outer space convention, the Outer Space Treaty 1967,130 on 27 January 1967, the date it Councils which included the Space Council. See ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇.▇▇/SPACEPOLICYUNIT/NATIONALSPACEPOLICY/Pages/default.aspx; and ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇.▇▇/SPACEINDUSTRYINNOVATIONCOUNCIL/Pages/default.aspx, both accessed: 16 January 2013. 124 See ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇, and ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, supra note 119, at 44. 125 See ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇.▇▇/SPACEPOLICYUNIT/NATIONALSPACEPOLICY/Pages/default.aspx, accessed: 15 January 2013. 126 See ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇.▇▇/SpaceIndustryInnovationCouncil/Pages/default.aspx, accessed: 15 January 2013. 127 Its website is available at ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇.▇▇/About, accessed: 15 January 2013. 128 See supra note 116. 129 These conventions are: the Outer Space Treaty 1967, the Rescue Agreement 1968, the Liability Convention 1972, the Registration Convention 1975, and the Moon Agreement 1979. See United Nations, supra note 23. 130 Outer Space Treaty 1967, supra note 24. was opened for signature for all states. On 10 October the same year, the date when the Outer Space Treaty 1967 entered into force, Australia ratified the Treaty.131 From this date, Australia has been bound by its international obligation to observe and comply with the legal rules set forth in the Outer Space Treaty 1967. The second agreement was the Rescue Agreement 1968.132 Australia indicated its early interest in becoming a party to the Rescue Agreement 1968 by signing the Agreement on 22 April 1968. This was the date when the Rescue Agreement 1968 was opened to signature for all states. However, Australia ratified this Agreement only on 18 March 1986, approximately 18 years after the date of its entry into force, on 3 December 1968.133 This shows that Australia took about 18 years to consider becoming a party to the Agreement after its signature date. The third was the Liability Convention 1972,134 to which became a party by accession135. The state acceded to the Liability Convention 1972 on 20 January 1975, about three years after its date of entry into force on, 1 September 1972.136 The fourth United Nations outer space convention was the Registration Convention 1975,137 to which Australia became a party by accession. The accession date was 11 March 1986. Such accession took place only 10 years after the Convention entered into force, 15 September 1976.138 The last Agreement was the Moon Agreement 1979,139 to which the country acceded on 7 July 1986.140 This accession was executed about four months after Australia’s accession to the Registration Convention 1975. It is noted that the country took around just two years to accede to the Agreement after the Agreement had entered into force, on 11 July 1984. To sum up, Australia is a state party to all five United Nations outer space conventions: the Outer Space Treaty 1967, the Rescue Agreement 1968, the Liability Convention 1972, the 131 See supra note 26. 132 Rescue Agreement 1968, supra note 27. 133 See id., and supra note 26. 134 Liability Convention 1972, supra note 29. 135 Accession occurs when a state that has not signed a treaty already signed by other states formally accepts its provisions. Accession may occur before of after the treaty has entered into force. The procedure involved depends on the provisions of the treaty. See ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇, supra note 25, at 611. 136 See supra note 26. 137 Registration Convention 1975, supra note 31. 138 See id., and supra note 26. 139 Moon Agreement 1979, supra note 34. 140 See supra note 26. Registration Convention 1975 and, lastly, the Moon Agreement 1979. Australia expressed its consent to be bound by the treaties in two ways: ratification and accession. The state became a party to two treaties - the Outer Space Treaty 1967 and the Rescue Agreement 1968 - via ratification. It became a party to the other three treaties - the Liability Convention 1972, the Registration Agreement 1975, and the Moon Agreement 1978 - through accession. Since Australia is a party to all five UN outer space treaties, the state is bound by the legal rules stipulated in all United Nations outer space treaties. Such binding effect commenced from the moment Australia ratified or acceded to the treaties.