Adoption and background
December 2019
December 2019, in its Resolution 74/82 the United Nations General Assembly welcomed with
appreciation the adoption by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)
of the preamble and 21 guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and
the establishment, under a five -year workplan, of a working group under the agenda item on
the long-term sustainability of outer space activities of the Scientific and Technical
Subcommittee of COPUOS. In its Resolution, the General Assemly noted that COPUOS
encouraged States and international intergovernmental organizations to voluntarily
take measures to ensure that the guidelines were implemented to the greatest extent
feasible and practicable, and emphasized that COPUOS serves as the principal
forum for continued institutionalized dialogue on issues related to the implementation
and review of the Guidelines.
June 2019
In June 2019, the Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities,
which had been negotiated by the Working Group on the Long-term Sustainability of
Outer Space Activities, were adopted by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer
Space (A/74/20, para. 163 and Annex II). At the same session, the Committee also
decided to establish a new working group under the long-term sustainability agenda
item of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (A/74/20, para. 165).
2018
In 2018, consensus was reached at the fifty-fifth session of the Subcommittee on a preamble
and nine additional guidelines (A/AC.105/1167, Annex III).
2016
At the fifty-ninth session of COPUOS, in June 2016, a first set of guidelines for the
long-term sustainability of outer space activities was agreed upon (A/71/20, Annex).
2010
The Working Group on the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities was established
in 2010 under the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful
Uses of Outer Space (A/AC.105/958, para. 181) to identify areas of concern for the long-term
sustainability of outer space activities, propose measures that could enhance sustainability,
and produce voluntary guidelines to reduce risks to the long-term sustainability of outer
space activities.