A/RES/51/44 Page 2 at its regular sessions, and of the recommendations made to the competent organs of the United Nations and to the Conference on Disarmament, Recognizing that prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert a grave danger for international peace and security, Emphasizing the paramount importance of strict compliance with existing arms limitation and disarmament agreements relevant to outer space, including bilateral agreements, and with the existing legal regime concerning the use of outer space, Considering that wide participation in the legal regime applicable to outer space could contribute to enhancing its effectiveness, Noting that the Ad Hoc Committee on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space, taking into account its previous efforts since its establishment in 1985 and seeking to enhance its functioning in qualitative terms, continued the examination and identification of various issues, existing agreements and existing proposals, as well as future initiatives relevant to the prevention of an arms race in outer space,3 and that this contributed to a better understanding of a number of problems and to a clearer perception of the various positions, Regretting the inability of the Conference on Disarmament to reestablish the Ad Hoc Committee in 1996, Emphasizing the mutually complementary nature of bilateral and multilateral efforts in the field of preventing an arms race in outer space, and hoping that concrete results will emerge from those efforts as soon as possible, Convinced that further measures should be examined in the search for effective and verifiable bilateral and multilateral agreements in order to prevent an arms race in outer space, including the weaponization of outer space, Stressing that the growing use of outer space increases the need for greater transparency and better information on the part of the international community, Recalling in this context its previous resolutions, in particular resolutions 45/55 B of 4 December 1990, 47/51 of 9 December 1992 and 48/74 A of 16 December 1993, in which, inter alia, it reaffirmed the importance of confidence-building measures as means conducive to ensuring the attainment of the objective of the prevention of an arms race in outer space, Conscious of the benefits of confidence- and security-building measures in the military field, Recognizing that the conclusion of an international agreement or agreements to prevent an arms race in outer space remains the fundamental task 3 Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 27 (A/49/27), sect. III.D (para. 5 of the quoted text). /...