Today In History with The Retrospectors

Governing Outer Space


Listen Later

On 10th October, 1967 a treaty went into force that has gone on to become the backbone for all international space law – a United Nations-approved agreement known as the The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, but better known today as the Outer Space Treaty.

It’s a relatively succinct document of just 17 articles, some as short as a single sentence, but it represented a lot of fundamentally very challenging cooperation at the time. Not least because it came about when the Cold War was in full swing, and both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to prevent the expansion of the nuclear arms race into space. 

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the principles of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 turned out to be a good fit for rules on what can and can't be done in outer space; revisit everyone's favourite topic of property law in the 13th century; and discuss whether Elon Musk will, according to the law, own other planets if he lands on them.

Further Reading:

• ‘Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies’ (US Department of State, 2009): https://2009-2017.state.gov/t/isn/5181.htm 

• ‘How an international treaty signed 50 years ago became the backbone for space law’ (The Verge, 2017): https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/27/14398492/outer-space-treaty-50-anniversary-exploration-guidelines 

• ‘Who Owns The Moon?’ (Vsauce, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks8WH3xUo_E 


This episode first aired in 2023


Love the show? Support us! 

Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Today In History with The RetrospectorsBy The Retrospectors

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

103 ratings


More shows like Today In History with The Retrospectors

View all
The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman

The Allusionist

3,014 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

897 Listeners

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

2,119 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,924 Listeners

Answer Me This! by Helen and Olly

Answer Me This!

827 Listeners

No Such Thing As A Fish by No Such Thing As A Fish

No Such Thing As A Fish

4,852 Listeners

Comedy of the Week by BBC Radio 4

Comedy of the Week

490 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

805 Listeners

The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann by The Week Unwrapped

The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann

78 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

351 Listeners

The Modern Mann by Olly Mann

The Modern Mann

150 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,190 Listeners

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

5,142 Listeners

We Can Be Weirdos by Global

We Can Be Weirdos

194 Listeners

Lunchbox Envy by Lunchbox Envy

Lunchbox Envy

50 Listeners