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| | Outer Space Treaty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | Outer Space Treaty (the Treaty), was opened for signature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union (the three depository governments) on January 27, 1967, and the Treaty entered into force on October 10, 1967. |
 | | II of the Treaty states, in fact, that “[o]uter space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.”. |
 | | Experts of international space law state that the Moon falls under the legal concept of res communis, which means that it belongs to a group of persons, and may be used by every member of the group, but cannot be appropriated by anyone (the concept is also applied to International Waters). |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty (499 words) |
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