The Soviet Union co-operates in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes with foreign States and international organizations and as a party to a number of multilateral intergovernmental agreements. It has concluded an appreciable nwnber of bilateral intergovernmental agreements defining areas and forms of co-operation and the organizations responsible for the implementation of joint projects. There is also extensive co-operation on the basis of contracts and agreements concluded through national governmental organs, organizations and scientific ·institutions. I. Multilateral co-operation under the INTERCOSMOS programme INTERCOSMOS is an integrated programme of multilateral co-operation in the exploration and use of outer space; the participants in it are the USSR, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania and Viet Nam. The programme was adopted in 1967. For a nwnber of years, the directions in which co-operation was to develop were fixed in accordance with agreements between Heads of Government and by decisions adopted at meetings of representatives of the participating countries and agreements between government departments. Further to the development of integration in the economic, scientific arid technological spheres, representatives of the USSR, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland and Romania signed an Agreement on Co-operation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes on 13 July 1976. This instrument came into force on 25 March 1977 and Viet Nam became a party to it in 1979. Co-operation of the above kind in the conquest of space is founded on agreed programmes and plans defining the conditions for the conduct of specific experiments and research. A given experiment under such programmes A/AC.105/C.2/16/Add.5 page 3 and plans will involve the participation of organizations from all or some of the countries participating in the INTERCOSMOS programme, depending on their level of interest. 
**Analysis**
The text primarily discusses the cooperation between countries in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. It highlights the agreements, programs, and plans that govern this cooperation, as well as the participation of various organizations and countries. Given the focus on space exploration and cooperation, it seems likely that the category will be related to science and technology.

**Category**
Science and Technology