Legal Aspects of the Privatisation and Commercialisation of Space Activities

MAUREEN WILLIAMS

Toronto

Congreso; 72nd Conference of the International Law Association; 2006

International Law Association

ILA S P A C E  L A W  C O M M I T T E E Legal Aspects of the Privatisation and Commercialisation of Space ActivITIES Remote Sensing and National Space Legislation Second Report I N T R O D U C T I O N by Professor Maureen Williams (HQ/Argentina) Chair The Committee´s terms of reference for 2004-2006. Different stages This Second Report of the Space Law Committee aims at highlighting the most controversial issues addressed in our work submitted to the Berlin Conference, with the purpose of laying down the pillars for concrete proposals on remote sensing (RS) and national space legislation (NSL), to be presented to the ILA 73rd Conference in 2008. Both topics -of an unquestionable evolving nature- appear, in today´s international scene, very much linked. As anticipated in Berlin under the heading "Future Work of the Committee" of the Report, the Commitee further notes that remote sensing and national space legislation are being increasingly related to the registration of objects launched into outer space, an activity governed by the 1975 Registration Convention. This Convention, however, has been only timidly supported by the international community and calls for adjustments in order to be consistent with the present time. In fact, the various shortcomings of this text are now becoming a matter of concern at all levels -governmental and private, domestic and international- in view of the decreasing number of space objects being registered with the UN Secretary-General, as statistics clearly indicate. Therefore, over the nearly two years elapsed between the Berlin and Toronto Conferences, the Committee sensed the need to include registration issues in the context of this Second Report and, to be practical, link them to remote sensing and national space legislation from the initial stages of our work. Consequently, and following our traditional practice of circulating a Questionnaire to Committee members before embarking on the preparation of the Conference Report, three sections were included therein dealing, in turn, with state practice relating to remote sensing, national space legislation and registration. Registration is, by no means, an issue new to this Committee. As may be recalled, it was addressed and discussed in the framework of the London 2000 and New Delhi 2002 ILA Conferences, under the general heading Review of Outer Space Treaties in View of Commercial Space Activities, and on the basis of Professor Vladimir Kopal´s Special Report on the subject. This distinguished member of our Committee identified a number of Articles of the 1975 Convention in need of urgent clarification .