ABSTRACT
Three UN treaties, the Agreement on the Rescue and Return of Astronauts (ARRA) of 1968, the Liability Convention of 1972 and the Registration Convention of 1975, expand the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, giving for their parties a degree of precision to the rights and duties of states in the exploration and use of space which it had set out. These treaties are now decades old and are capable of improvement, but, with the exception of the ITU documents within its specialised area, they remain the sources of law on major issues. Later chapters will deal with particular uses of space: these conventions provide the responsibilities, the boundaries and the main constraints on state activity. The Moon Agreement of 1979 and questions of celestial bodies require a separate chapter. Here we will deal with space objects, reserving the question of astronauts for separate treatment in Chapter 5. ARRA therefore figures in this chapter only with regard to its technical provisions and as it relates to questions of space objects.
