1967

Outer Space Treaty

Outer Space Treaty opens for signature in three capitals

It bans nuclear weapons from orbit — and leaves a conspicuous gap for conventional ones. Signing began in Washington, London and Moscow on the same day.

Three ceremonies, one text

The Outer Space Treaty opened for signature simultaneously in Washington, London and Moscow on 27 January 1967. There was no single diplomatic table.

At the White House, with President Lyndon Johnson hosting, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Ambassador Arthur Goldberg signed for the United States, British Ambassador Sir Patrick Dean for the United Kingdom and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin for the USSR. In London, Foreign Secretary George Brown, Soviet Ambassador Mikhail Smirnovsky and U.S. chargé Philip Kaiser signed at 10:50 a.m.

What the 17 articles actually forbid

The text bars nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction from orbit or other stationing in outer space. It does not ban every weapon or every military activity there.

The full prohibition on military bases, weapons tests and maneuvers applies specifically to the Moon and other celestial bodies, which are reserved for peaceful purposes. The treaty also prohibits national appropriation, and Article VIII assigns jurisdiction and control to the state of registry.

Signed, not yet binding

Dozens of governments signed; NASA's contemporary chronology reports 62 signatory states. Historical accounts vary slightly on the first-day count, partly because signatures were collected in three separate capitals.

None of that put the treaty in force. It became binding on 10 October 1967, once the required ratification instruments — including those of all three depositaries — had been deposited.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes Date corrected

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

Date corrected. The research places this at 1967-01-27.

What the sources leave uncertain

The USSR’s domestic ratification is sometimes dated 19 May 1967, but the Presidium decree located in the Russian legal record is dated 18 May. The internationally recorded deposit and entry-into-force date is 10 October 1967.
Historical accounts vary slightly in their count of first-day signatures, partly because signatures were collected in three separate depositary capitals. NASA’s contemporary chronology reports 62.