Office of the Historian

124. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Johnson1

Washington, April 2, 1966.

SUBJECT

  • An approach to the Soviet Union on a Celestial Bodies Treaty
  • Recommendations2
1.
That you announce, as a U.S. initiative, proposals for a treaty to govern activities on the moon and other celestial bodies. A suggested statement is contained in Enclosure 1.3
2.
That Ambassador Goldberg (a) circulate the announcement to U.N. Members in New York, and (b) propose a meeting of the appropriate United Nations committee to take up our proposals.
3.
That Ambassador Thompson inform Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin a day or so in advance of the U.S. announcement and urge an affirmative Soviet response. He will give Dobrynin a brief paper outlining the basic elements for a treaty to be covered in the U.S. announcement.

Discussion

Ambassador Goldberg told the U.N. General Assembly on December 18 that the U.S. would make a definite proposal for a treaty governing activities on celestial bodies.4 We are not ready to put forward such a proposal. I believe doing so would constitute a constructive U.S. initiative. It would emphasize once again our interest in international cooperation in outer space, and it would signal the progress of this country in moving toward a manned lunar landing.

We have cleared with other Executive Branch agencies the text of a draft Treaty Governing the Exploration of the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Enclosure 2).5 This treaty would bar claims of sovereig nty to the moon and other celestial bodies, guarantee freedom of scientific investigation and free access, and call for international cooperation in studies relating to celestial bodies. The treaty would prohibit military fortifications, military maneuvers, weapons tests, and stationing nuclear weapons on a celestial body.

I think the best way to move ahead is to make an announcement publicizing the principal elements of the proposed treaty. Later, when negotiations are begun, we will be ready to discuss with other governments the text of treaty provisions.

Dean Rusk 6
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, SP 6 UN. Confidential. Typed notes on the source text read as follows: “Signed original hand carried to President 4/2/66.” “Approved by President 4/2/66. Announcement made by President 4/3/66 [sic].” This memorandum apparently was generated by a memorandum from Leonard C. Meeker (L) and Joseph J. Sisco (IO) to Secretary Rusk, April 1. (Ibid.)↩
  2. All three recommendations have been checked as approved.↩
  3. Not printed. The draft statement is identical to the statement issued May 7 except for a change of the preposition “on” to “of” in the last sentence. See Document 127.↩
  4. Reference is to the statement by Arthur J. Goldberg, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, in Committee I of the U.N. General Assembly on December 18, 1965. (Department of State Bulletin, January 31, 1966, pp. 163-167)↩

  5. Not printed. This draft treaty is virtually identical to the one Ambassador Goldberg transmitted to Kurt Waldheim, Chairman of the U.N. General Assembly Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on May 9, cited in Document 127 except for one substantive difference. Article 3 of this draft contains the following sentence that is not in the later draft:

    “A State conducting or planning to conduct activities on a celestial body shall provide reasonably in advance of each mission, notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.”

    ↩
  6. Printed from a copy that indicates Rusk signed the original.↩