Abstract
The first phase of space developments, which started on ist October 1957 when the Soviet Union launched its first Sputnik and during which the main emphasis has been on space exploration, has passed. We are now on the threshold of the second phase in which space applications will increasingly exercise their influence on all aspects of human life on Earth.
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Reference
See Report of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, General Assembly, 27th Session, Supplement Nr. 20 (A/872o), p. 13.
U.N. Doc. A/AC.ro51L. 44, September 1968.
See “The Future of the International Legal Order”, Vol. II, Wealth and Resources, Princeton University Press, 197o, p. 306.
See “Foreign Affairs”, October 1972, p. 137.
See U.N. Doc. A/AC.1o5–83, 25 May 1970.
See for his Report on the field of his activities U.N. Doc. A/AC. ro5/PV 116 p. 8 et seq. and further infra p. 000.
See U.N. Doc. A/AC.ro5/P. V. r13.
See U.N. Doc. A/C.r/PV. 1869, p. 52.
See “Space Law”, C. W. Jenks, London 1965, p. 303.
See General Assembly Resolution 1962 (XVIII).
See General Assembly Resolution 2222 (XXI).
See General Assembly Resolution 2345 (XXII).
See General Assembly Resolution 2777 of 29th November 1971 (XXVI).
See infra p. 22 et seq.
See Report of the 51st Conference of the I.L.A., Tokyo, 1964, p. 65o et seq.; see also the Resolution adopted by the “Institut de Droit International” adopted in Brussels on II September 1963 (i.e. before the adoption of Declaration 1962) by which the “Institut” recognized the validity of the freedom of outer space for exploration and use.
See on the definition of the term “outer space”, infra p. 37.
Published in a collection of essays “The Evolving United Nations; a Prospect for Peace”, edited by the “David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies”, London 1971, p. 179.
See further on this subject the writer’s article “An Evaluation of the Leading Principles of the Treaty on Outer Space of 27 January 1967”, Netherlands International Law Review 1g68, p. 21 et seq.
In his article “Legal Aspects of the Utilization of Outer Space”, Netherlands International Law Review, 197o, p. 33 et seq., the present writer commented on the views of a number of authoritative writers on Art. II of the Space Treaty.
During the Hearings on the Space Treaty before the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate, Mr. Vance expressed the view that this term would include such other weapon systems as chemical and biological weapons or any weapons which might be developed in the future which would have the capability of mass destruction such as that which would be wreaked by nuclear weapons. See “Hearings”, p. ‘coo.
Reconnaissance satellites are geared with machinery using radar, infrared beams, microwaves, lasers and ultramodern electronic devices. They can perpetually day and night observe and magnify every square inch on Earth. They have not only infra-red but ultraviolet cameras on board. They can overhear any coded message, conversation or telephonecall everywhere. See Foreign Affairs, October 1972, p. 136.
Professor F. Polak, in his contribution entitled “Balance of Technology” to a symposium on “World Society, How is an effective and desirable world order possible” (the Hague 1971, p. 158), writes about the information gathered by reconnaissance satellites as follows: “There are almost no military secrets left. Russia and America know exactly about each other’s armament: about the number of I.C.B.M.’s, the rocket sites and launching pads, the location of the silos, where the atomic warheads are kept, the place and time and character of nuclear experiments, the underground high command bunkers, the encircling continental radar-rings, the naval and air-bases, even the progress of new weapons put to trial and the position of moving atomic submarines”.
In September 1971, a great number of leading American and Soviet scientists—including two Nobel Prize winners—met at the Astrophysical Observatory in Soviet Armenia and discussed the possibility of there being extra—terrestrial intelligent life. On the basis of mathematical probability they came to the conclusion that there may be thousands of civilizations in the Milky Way alone and that they might be millions of years ahead of us.
See U.N. Document A/AC.1os/PV.115, p. 45.
In his article “Legal Aspects of the Utilization of Outer Space”, Netherlands International Law Review, 197o, p. 33 et seq., the present writer commented on the views of a number of authoritative writers on Art. II of the Space Treaty.
See U.N. Document A/C.1/PV.1867, p. 8.
See U.N. Document A(AC.1o5/PV.115, p. 16.
See U.N. Documents A/AC.1o5-PV113, p. 18; PVii3, p. 51; PVr15, p. 17. 99See U.N. Document A/AC.105—PV 112, p. 6.
See “The Law Relating to Activities of Man in Space”, S. H. Lay and H. J. Taubenfeld, University of Chicago Press, 197o, p. 25 et seq.
See “An Evaluation of the Leading Principles of the Treaty on Outer Space of 27th January 1967”, Netherlands International Law Review, Vol. XV, 1968, p. 24 et seq.; see also the conclusive arguments against the interpretation of the term “peaceful purposes” as “non-aggressive” instead of as “nonmilitary”, Manfred Lachs, “The Law of Outer Space”, Leiden 1972, p. 105 et seq.
See U.N. Document A/AC.1o5/PV.113, p. 8 (7 September 1972 ).
U.N. ‘Day Proclamation by the President of the United States, August 1967.
See U.N. Document A/AC.Io3/PV.iio (ii May 1972) p. 33 et seq.
See U.N. Doc. A/C.r/Pv. 1870, p. 46.
See “The Law Relating to Activities of Man in Space”, S. H. Lay and H. J. Taubenfeld, University of Chicago Press, 197o, p. 25 et seq.
See “Space Law”, Gyula Gal, Leyden, 1969, p. 211.
See Report of the 53th Conference of the I.L.A., Buenos Aires 1968, p. 81 et seq. and Report of the 54th Conference, The Hague, 197o, p. 405 et seq.
See p. 7 of Annex II of the Report of the Legal Sub-Committee on its 11th Session, U. N. Document A/AC.lo5/lol, I I May 1972.
See Annex II of the Report of the Legal Sub-Committee onhits 1 ith Session, U.N. Doc. A/AC. 105/101, II may 1972.
See U.N. Doc. A/C.I-PV. 1861, p. 23.
See U.N. Doc. A/C.I-PV.1862, p. 32 and p. 53.
See U.N. Doc. A/C.I/PV.1867, p.1o. In 1869 at The Conference of the International Air Transport Association in The Hague, Dr. Müller of NASA presented a paper on the role space shuttles will play by opening up a completely new era of transport not only in space but also on Earth.
During the debates in the First Committee the delegate of New Zealand, supporting the preparation of a convention on registration, gave an account of the difficulties encountered by New Zealand in returning some objetcs which in 1972 landed on its territory and declared that no state was prepared to admit responsibility for launching the objects concerned. See U.N. Doc. A/C.I/PV. 1867, p. 67.
Since the present article went to press the U.N. published a document entitled: “The Application of Space Technology to Development”, ST/ECA/161, 1973, containing i.a. a survey of the history of satellite communications.
See for a thorough investigation on the various aspects of INTELSAT as a quasi-public agency, “The Law of Global Communication”, C. H. Alexandrowicz, Columbia University Press, 1971, in particular p. 505 et seq.; see also “International Telecommunication Control”, D. D. Smith, Leiden 1969.
See U.N. Document A/AC.1o5172, II December 1969.
During the debates in the First Committee the delegate of New Zealand, supporting the preparation of a convention on registration, gave an account of the difficulties encountered by New Zealand in returning some objetcs which in 1972 landed on its territory and declared that no state was prepared to admit responsibility for launching the objects concerned. See U.N. Doc. A/C.I/PV. 1867, p. 67.
See U.N. Document A/AC.1o5–83, 25 May 197o.
The Radio-Regulations define geo-stationary satellites as “satellites, the circular orbit of which lies in the plain of the earth equator and which turns about the polar axis of the earth in the same direction and with the same speed as those of the earth rotation”.
See Jan Busak: “Geo-stationary satellites and the Law”, Telecommunication Journal, Vol. 39, August 1972.
See U.N. Document A/AC.1os/62, 1969.
See “Perspectives in the Emerging Law of Satellite Communication”, Stanford Journal of International Studies, Vol. V, June 197o, p. 167.
During the debates in the First Committee the delegate of New Zealand, supporting the preparation of a convention on registration, gave an account of the difficulties encountered by New Zealand in returning some objetcs which in 1972 landed on its territory and declared that no state was prepared to admit responsibility for launching the objects concerned. See U.N. Doc. A/C.I/PV. 1867, p. 67.
See “Declaration on Guiding Principles of the Use of Satellite Broadcasting for the Free Flow of Information, the Spread of Education and Greater Cultural Exchange”, adopted in November 1972 by its seventeenth Session and submitted to the Secretary General of the U.N. for comments by the U.N. Outer Space Committee, U.N. Document A/AC.1os/1o9 (12 February 1973).
See “The Concept of State Jurisdiction in International Space Law”, The Hague, 1971, p. 149.
See the present writer’s article “Legal Aspects of the Utilization of Outer Space”, Netherlands Law Review, 197o, p. 4o et seq.
There is in some respects an analogy between the problem of the parking of geo-stationary satellites in outer space and that of the deployment of installations on the seabed for the purpose of collecting data relating to the marine environment.
See “Report of the 52nd Conference of the International Law Association, Helsinki, 1966” p. 207 et seq.
See Alexandrowicz, op. cit. p. 109.
During the debates in the First Committee the delegate of New Zealand, supporting the preparation of a convention on registration, gave an account of the difficulties encountered by New Zealand in returning some objetcs which in 1972 landed on its territory and declared that no state was prepared to admit responsibility for launching the objects concerned. See U.N. Doc. A/C.I/PV. 1867, p. 67.
See “Detection of Earth’s Resources by Remote Sensors”, Report to the International Institute of Space Law of the Federation by Sebastian Estradé, p. 13.
See infra p. 238.
General Assembly Resolution 1803 XVII.
In his contribution to a book entitled “The Evolving United Nations; A Prospect for Peace”, The David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies 1971, p. 63, Fawcett rightly criticizes this Resolution as wholly ignoring the need for conservation and wise management of natural resources in the common interest.
See B. H. White, “Legal Aspects of ERTS”, Report to the San Francisco Conference of the American Bar Association, August 13, 1972.
See U.N. Press Release OS/5o3, 31 January 1973, p. 2.
See the present writer’s article “Legal Aspects of the Utilization of Outer Space”, Netherlands Law Review, 197o, p. 4o et seq.
aSince the present article went to press, the first issue of a journal devoted to the legal problems arising out of man’s activities in outer space, entitled “Journal of Space Law” (edited by the University of Mississippi) was published. In his article “Earth Resources Survey Satellites and the Outer Space Treaty” Professor Gorove arrives at the same conclusion as that submitted by the present writer namely that not only the use of such satellites is permissible, with no indication that any sovereign rights are violated, but that there is no stipulation prohibiting the use and dissemination of the data collected. See “Journal of Space Law” p. 85.
See U.N. Document A/AC.1o5/111, 14 February 1973.
See U.N. Document A/AC.1o5/85, Annex II, 197o.
See for a valuable analysis of the pro’s and con’s of drafting a Treaty on Remote Sensing: “The Role of the U.N. in Earth Resources Satellites”, Eilene Galloway, Report presented to the International Institute of Space Law of the International Astronautical Federation, Vienna, October 1972.
See U.N. Press Release OS/5o3, 31 January 1973, p. i.
See U.N. Document A/AC.ro5/rix, 14 February 1973, p. 14.
See supra p. 234.
See Manfred Lachs, op. cit., p. 58.
See Report of the 53rd Conference of the I.L.A., p. XXII.
See “La Résolution de Bruxelles de l’Institut de Droit International sur le Droit de l’Espace”, Revue Belge de droit international 1965, no. I, p. 20.
The consequences which Chaumont attaches to a non-specification of zones have been set forth in his book “Le Droit de l’Espace”, Paris 1960, p. 52, as follows: “Si l’espace au sens juridique, est défini par les activités qui s’y déroulent, plutôt que par les zones entre lesquelles il peut être réparti, il sera soumis à un régime juridique uniforme et non pas à une pluralité de régimes.”
See the present writer’s article “Reflections on the Evolution of Space Law”, Netherlands International Law Review, 1966, Issue 2, p. 137; in this article the problem of access has been considered in greater detail.
See Report of the 51st Conference of the International Law Association, p. 622 et seq. see however the Soviet writer Zadoroshny who in an article published in 1962 and quoted by Lapenna in a Paper presented to the Space Law Conference of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 4th May, 1965, considered that it would be possible to recognise the right of innocent passage for spacecraft if they are used for peaceful purposes and directed towards the conquest of space.
See “Report of the 51st Conference of the International Law Association”, p. 701.
See “Report of the 5rst Conference of the International Law Association”, p. 701.
See for the present disarray in this structure the writer’s paper on “Changes in the Approaches to International Air Agreements” presented to a Symposium held at the Royal Aeronautical Society on 13th March, 1972, “the Aeronautical Journal of the R.A.S.”, January 1973, p. 25 et seq.
See supra p. 223.
See “Theory and Reality in Public International Law”, Princeton 1957, p. 125.
Cf. Charles de Visscher op. cit. p. 362: “Realism has its limits. Inclined towards action guided by an ideal human nature refuses to accept these distorting simplifications as the final goal of thought” and Sir Isaiah Berlin, “Four Essays on Liberty”, Oxford University Press, 1969, p. 119: “It is only a very vulgar historical materialism that denies the power of ideas, and says that ideals are mere material interests in disguise”. See also B. M. Telders, “Beschouwingen over Vrede”, Verzamelde Geschriften, The Hague 1949, V, p. 276.
See “Hearings of the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives”, 92nd Congress, Second Session, June 1972, p. 107.
See “Liber Amicorum presented to Salvador de Madariaga on his 8oth Birthday”, Bruges 1966, p. 77.
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Goedhuis, D. (1973). The Present State of Space Law. In: Bos, M. (eds) The Present State of International Law and Other Essays. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-4497-3_12
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