The Contribution of the United Nations to the Development of International Space Law

The international legal framework for outer space activities has largely been developed through the consensus process within the Vienna-based United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), the primary multilateral fora dealing with the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. The UNCOPUOS has made a remarkable contribution to the development of the international regulatory framework for space through the adoption of five binding Treaties, five sets of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Principles, as well as an array of other ‘soft law’ instruments. This chapter examines the development of this international regulatory framework within the UNCOPUOS, and the major role it continues to play in promoting international cooperation in the field of space exploration. Lastly, it discusses the evolution of this framework within the security perspective of space activities addressed by the First Committee of the UNGA and in the Conference on Disarmament (CD).