Interactive organizational diagram of U.S. space governance across executive, legislative, regulatory, and international bodies. Click any entity for details.
📜 International Treaty Framework
Outer Space Treaty (OST)
1967 | 114 parties
The foundational treaty of international space law. Establishes that space is free for exploration by all nations, prohibits national appropriation of celestial bodies, bans weapons of mass destruction in space, and establishes that states bear international responsibility for national space activities, including those by private entities.
Rescue Agreement
1968 | 98 parties
Requires states to assist astronauts in distress and return them to the launching state. Also requires return of space objects that land in foreign territory. Reinforces the concept of astronauts as “envoys of mankind.”
Liability Convention
1972 | 98 parties
Establishes that a launching state is absolutely liable for damage caused by its space objects on Earth’s surface and liable for fault-based damage in space. Applied in practice when Cosmos 954 crashed in Canada (1978) — USSR paid CAD $3 million.
Registration Convention
1975 | 72 parties
Requires states to register space objects with the UN. Creates a central registry maintained by UNOOSA. Essential for establishing jurisdiction and control over space objects, and increasingly important for space traffic management.
Artemis Accords
2020 | 45+ signatories
U.S.-led non-binding multilateral arrangement establishing principles for civil exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Key provisions: interoperability, transparency, emergency assistance, registration, release of scientific data, deconfliction of activities, space resource utilization, and orbital debris mitigation. Seen as complementary to OST.
