Ratified 29 July 2101 following a decade of continuous drafting begun in 2091, the UN Charter of 2101 reconstitutes the United Nations as the sole governing authority of humankind across the solar system. It was approved without dissent by all seven confirmed Council seats: the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the African Union, the South American Union, and the Federation of Northern American Nations.
Article I — Authority
The United Nations is recognized as the sole governing body of humankind, exercising authority over all settled and unsettled territory within the solar system and beyond, without prejudice to the domestic governance of member states and blocs within their own recognized jurisdictions on Earth.
All celestial bodies — planets, moons, asteroids, and any other naturally occurring body not part of a planet’s recognized surface territory — are declared the common property of humankind, held in trust by the United Nations on behalf of all peoples, present and future. No claim of exclusive sovereign ownership over any celestial body, in whole or in part, shall be recognized. Settlement, extraction, and development activity are not prohibited; they are to be governed by subsequent legislative instrument consistent with the principle of common trusteeship.
Article II — Council Composition
The Council shall be composed of the seven seats confirmed at ratification. Additional seats, whether permanent or rotating, shall be established by subsequent Council resolution as remaining nations and blocs — including Japan, the Korean states, the nations of South Asia, the West Asian and Middle Eastern bloc currently in formation, and the nations of Central America and the Caribbean — complete the formation processes necessary for representation. No amendment to Council composition shall take effect without the assent of all seats confirmed at the time such amendment is proposed.
Article III — Currency
The United Nations Credit (UNC) is established as the standard unit of exchange across the solar system, backed by pooled Helium-3 stockpiles held jointly by the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and the United Nations itself.
Local and regional settlement instruments already in lawful operation at the time of ratification — including the Ceres-issued SP water-credit — are not superseded and may continue to operate under their existing administration, provided they remain convertible to UNC at a published rate. The Council retains authority to recognize, restrict, or formally incorporate any such local instrument by subsequent resolution.
Article IV — Dissolution of Prior Authorities
The United Nations Office for Lunar Affairs (UNOLA), together with the separate governing authorities previously exercised over Mars and Ceres, are dissolved as independent bodies and reconstituted as administrative organs operating under direct United Nations authority. Existing governors, administrators, and officials — including Governor Liu Wenjing of Ceres — shall continue in their functions absent specific Council action to the contrary.
This Article shall not be construed to alter existing arrangements between the Soviet Union and the Martian governing administration beyond bringing such arrangements formally within United Nations authority.
Articles V through XII, concerning Council procedure, permit authority, judicial structure at Guanghan, and amendment process, are omitted from this excerpt.