COSPAR Policy on Planetary Protection

Abstract

Preamble: Noting that COSPAR has concerned itself with questions of biological contamination and spaceflight since its very inception, and noting that Article IX of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (also known as the UN Outer Space Treaty of 1967) states that [1]: “States Parties to the Treaty shall pursue studies of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, and conduct exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter, and where necessary, shall adopt appropriate measures for this purpose.” therefore, COSPAR maintains and promulgates this policy on planetary protection for the reference of spacefaring nations, both as an international standard on procedures to avoid organic-constituent and biological contamination in space exploration, and to provide accepted guidelines in this area to guide compliance with the wording of the UN Outer Space Treaty and other relevant international agreements.