The history of the rescue agreement began shortly after the beginning of the space age with a 1959 report from the Committee for peaceful uses of space: „The problems of re-entry and landing of spacecraft will arise for both unmanned and manned exploration craft. Recognizing that landing can be caused by accidents, errors or emergency landings, the Committee emphasized the opportunity to conclude multilateral agreements on readmission and landing. One of the topics that could be covered by these agreements is the return to the starting state of the vehicle itself and, in the case of a dressed vehicle, the provision of a rapid return of staff. The 1963 Declaration of Principle would soon be recognized as a binding international customary law. The 1968 bailout agreement would then be adopted shortly after the space treaty came into force in 1967. Article 2 states that „when the personnel of a space vehicle land on the territory of a contracting party due to accidents, emergencies, emergencies or accidental landings, they immediately take all possible measures to save it and provide them with all necessary assistance. It informs the launch authority and the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the steps it has taken and their progress. If the assistance of the launch authority contributed to a rapid rescue or contributed significantly to the effectiveness of search and rescue operations, the launch authority cooperates with the contracting party to carry out search and rescue operations. These measures are subject to the management and control of the party acting in close and ongoing consultation with the opening authority. Article 6 of the 1968 bailout contains provisions of great material importance, which are contained under the guise of a definition of introductory power. This article provides for the provision of a mechanism by which an international organization can benefit from the benefits and obligations of the agreement, as long as it applies to the activities of international organizations. The 1968 rescue agreement, the agreement on the rescue of astronauts, the return of astronauts and the return of objects that were launched into space, the second space treaty, drawn up in the united Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Space, was adopted on 19 December 1967 by 115 votes to 0 and was opened for signature in Washington. , London and Moscow on 22 April 1968 and came into force on 3 December 1968. Since January 2019, ninety states have ratified the 1968 bailout agreement.

The bailout agreement essentially stipulates that any State party to the agreement must provide all possible assistance to rescue the personnel of a spaceship that has landed on the territory of that state, whether as a result of an accident, an emergency, an emergency or an accidental landing. If distress occurs in an area outside the territory of a nation, each part of the state able to do so will increase assistance in the search and rescue operation, if necessary. The agreement also does not take into account the cost of a rescue mission. The bailout agreement stipulates that the state of departure must bear the costs of rescuing a boat that crashes into the territory of another state. However, the cost of rescuing astronauts is not mentioned in the agreement. A significant change in the approach to orbital rescues came in the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, after NASA took steps to prepare the STS-3x or Launch on Need missions to ensure rescue in certain scenarios. [2] However, this capability was never exercised during the remainder of the space shuttle program.