Press Releases

On Tuesday, December 8 (December 7 local time), the draft resolution entitled “Reducing Space Threats through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviours”, co-sponsored by various countries including Japan and the United Kingdom, was adopted in the Plenary Meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly with widespread support of 164 countries including developing countries.

1. This resolution is the first UN General Assembly resolution to be adopted on responsible behaviors in outer space. It encourages Member States to study threats and security risks to space systems, characterize actions including those that could be considered responsible, and advance discussions on this subject. The adoption of this resolution with the widespread support from countries of diverse regions marks a major breakthrough, and we hope that there will be further progress in efforts toward securing the sustainable and stable use of outer space.
2. Japan will continue to actively take part in international discussions on issues related to international rule-making on outer space activities in order to prevent an arms race in outer space from the perspective of advancing effective rule-making.

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Results of the voting for the adoption of the draft resolution at the Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly)
Affirmative votes: 164, Negative votes: 12, Abstentions: 6

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Results of the voting for the adoption of the draft resolution at the First Committee of the UN General Assembly)
Affirmative votes: 150, Negative votes: 12, Abstentions: 8

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• Statement by Japan at the Meeting of the First Committee 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly – Thematic Debate: Outer Space (October 29, 2020) (PDF)