COSPAR has a planetary protection policy (PDF) ensuring that the world‘s space agencies protect the safety of our planet as well as any that we explore.
„The Planetary Protection Requirements are an international NATO treaty, ratified by COSPAR,“ said Moogega Cooper, Planetary Protection Lead Engineer for NASA‘s Perseverance rover mission. „It‘s an international policy that we have to abide by. Agencies around the world have to make sure their hardware and their spacecraft is clean enough.“