Background Guide UNCOPUOS JKMUN 2013

7/23/2019 Background Guide UNCOPUOS JKMUN 2013

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UNITED NATIONS

Committee on peaceful

uses of outer space

BACKGROUND GUIDE


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Table of Contents

Letter from the Executive Board.3

Committee Structure.4

Overview..............................5

Agenda ...5

International space law....5

The Outer Space Treaty.................7

Recent Developments...........10

Role of the United Nations and other major actors.......11

United Nations.....11

United States of America...12

United Kingdom...12

Russian Federation....13

COSPAR......13

Major Space Agencies ......14

Bibliography..14


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LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE BOARDHello Delegates!

We warmly welcome you to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer

Space at none other than JKMUN 2013! It is our pleasure to be presiding over such a dynamic

and intriguing committee this year, and we assure you of an extremely enriching learning

experience through this MUN.

The following pages intend to guide you with the nuances of the agenda as well as the Council.

The Guide chronologically touches upon all the different aspects that are relevant and will lead

to fruitful debate in the Council. Make sure you go through the guide in as much detail as you

can, as this will be forming the basis of your entire research for the conference. However,

please do take note that the background guide only contains certain basic information which

may form the basis for the debate and your research as well. This guide will be your starting

point!

What we would expect from delegates is knowledge, research and facts. We also want to see

how delegates can respect disparities and differences of opinion and work around these while

extending their own foreign policy so that it encompasses more of the others without

compromising their own stand. Moreover, we also expect you to respect at all times, other

delegates as well as your executive board members as respect and humility are values

essential to a good delegate.

We wish you all the very best for your research and hope you are able to delve into the

important aspects of the agenda with immense clarity. Our email IDs and contact details are

listed below and feel free to contact us in case of any help required!

Note: Please note that all information given in this Background Guide is solely for the

Research purposes of the delegates. No authentication or proof from the inputs of the

Background Guide is advocated.

With that we wish you the best of luck for the Conference!

Executive Board

UNCOPUOS

Brijesh Choudhary Shubham Rajrah

Chairperson 1 Chairperson 2

[email protected] [email protected]

Mob: +919796285767 Mob: +919796228772


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COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND MANDATE

The Office for Outer Space Affairs is the United Nations office responsible for promoting international

cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. The Office forms part of the United Nations Office at

Vienna and serves as the Secretariat for the General Assembly's only committee dealing exclusively withthose issues: the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The Committee has two

subcommittees: the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee.

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space was set

up by the General Assembly in 1959 (resolution 1472 (XIV)) to

review the scope of international cooperation in peaceful uses

of outer space, to devise programs in this field to be

undertaken under United Nations auspices, to encourage

continued research and the dissemination of information on

outer space matters, and to study legal problems arising from

the exploration of outer space.

The Office for Outer Space Affairs implements the United Nations Programme on Space Applications

(PSA) and works to improve the use of space science and technology for the economic and social

development of all countries, particularly developing countries. The Office implements the decisions of

the General Assembly and of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space;

performs functions of the Secretariat of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer

Space and its Scientific and Technical and Legal Subcommittees; coordinates the inter-agency

cooperation within the United Nations on the use of space technology; implements the United Nations

Programme on Space Applications; maintains coordination and cooperation with space agencies and

intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations involved in space-related activities. The Office

maintains, on behalf of the United Nations Secretary- General, the Register of Objects Launched into

Outer Space.

The Committee and its two Subcommittees meet annually to consider questions put before them by the

General Assembly, reports submitted to them and issues raised by the Member States. The Committee

and the Subcommittees, working on the basis of consensus, make recommendations to the General

Assembly.

The fifty-sixth session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space was held from 12-21 June

2013 at the United Nation Office at Vienna, Vienna International Center, Vienna, Austria.

___________________________

Links for further research:

http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/COPUOS/copuos.html

www.oosa.unvienna.org/
http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/COPUOS/copuos.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/COPUOS/copuos.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/COPUOS/copuos.html


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Overview

In 1958, shortly after the launching of the first artificial satellite, the General Assembly decided to

establish an ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space(resolution 1348 (XIII), with 18

members, in order to consider:

the activities and resources of the United Nations, the specialized agencies and other

international bodies relating to the peaceful uses of outer space;

international cooperation and programmes in the field that could appropriately be undertaken

under United Nations auspices;

organizational arrangements to facilitate international cooperation in the field within the

framework of the United Nations; and

legal problems which might arise in programmes to explore outer space.

In 1959, the General Assembly established the Committee as a permanent body and reaffirmed its

mandate inresolution 1472 (XIV). In 1961, the General Assembly, considering that the United Nations

should provide a focal point international cooperation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer

space, requested the Committee, in cooperation with the Secretary-General and making full use of the

functions and resources of the Secretariat.

AGENDA

International dissemination on outer space with special

reference to the Outer Space Treaty

International Space Law

International Space Law is a sub study of Space Law which includes both domestic and international

space law. However, it is much more debated and controversial than domestic space law because it is

very difficult to come to a consensus when it comes to laws for international space area. Five

international treaties and five "declarations and legal principles" were developed through the United

Nations, which maintains an Office of Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) in Vienna, Austria.The Synopsis on the four other major treaties on International Space Law is as follows:

1. Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, Return of Astronauts, and Return of Objects

Launched into Space (the "Astronaut Rescue and Return Agreement")

Entered into force 3 December 1968. 90 ratifications, 24 signatures, and 1 acceptance of rights and

obligations as of January 1, 2008.
http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/gares/html/gares_13_1348.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/gares/html/gares_13_1348.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/gares/html/gares_13_1348.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/gares/html/gares_14_1472.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/gares/html/gares_14_1472.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/gares/html/gares_14_1472.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/gares/html/gares_14_1472.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/gares/html/gares_13_1348.html


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States Parties are to render humanitarian assistance to astronauts in distress or who have made an

emergency or unintended landing on their territory, and to return the astronauts to the launching

authority.

2. Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects (the "Liability

Convention")Entered into force 1 September 1972. 86 ratification, 24 signatures, 3 acceptances of rights and

obligations as of January 1, 2008

Procedures are created for presenting and resolving claims for damages caused by space objects on the

Earth, to aircraft, or to other space objects.

The launching state is absolutely liable for damage caused on Earth's surface or to aircraft in flight; if

the damage is caused elsewhere (e.g., in space), the launching state is liable only if the damage is due to

its fault or the fault of persons for whom it is responsible.

3. Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space (the "Registration

Convention")

Entered into force 15 September 1976. 51 ratifications, 4 signatures, and 2 acceptances of r ights and

obligations as of January 1, 2008.

States Parties are to maintain a national register of objects launched into space.

States Parties must report certain information about the launch and payload to the United

Nations as soon as practicable, and notify the U.N. when an object no longer is in orbit.

4. Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the

"Moon Agreement")

Entered into force 11 July 1984. 13 ratifications and 4 signatures as of January 1, 2008.

Exploration and use of the Moon shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries,

and due regard shall be paid to the interests of present and future generations and to the need to

promote higher standards of living and conditions of economic and social progress and development in

accordance with the U.N. charter. The Moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind; neither the surface nor the

subsurface nor any part thereof shall become property of any State, international intergovernmental or

non-governmental organization, national organization or non-governmental entity or of any natural

person.

States Parties shall undertake to establish an international regime to govern the exploitation of the

Moon's natural resources as such exploitation is about to become feasible. The regime's purposes

include the orderly and safe development of the Moon's natural resources, the rational management of

those resources, the expansion of opportunities to use those resources, and an equitable sharing by all

States Parties in the benefits derived from those resources, whereby the interests and needs of the

developing countries, as well as the efforts of those countries which have contributed either directly or

indirectly to the exploration of the Moon, shall be given special consideration.

________________________


www.un.org/ga/maincommittees.shtmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/SpaceLaw/index.html

http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/Legal/index.html

http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/stsc/index.html
http://www.un.org/ga/maincommittees.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/ga/maincommittees.shtmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/SpaceLaw/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/SpaceLaw/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/Legal/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/Legal/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/stsc/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/stsc/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/stsc/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/Legal/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/SpaceLaw/index.htmlhttp://www.un.org/ga/maincommittees.shtml


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THE OUTER SPACE TREATY

The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the

Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, is a treaty that

forms the basis of international space law. The treaty was opened for signature in theUnited States, the

United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on 27 January 1967, and entered into force on 10 October 1967.As of May 2013, 102 countries are states parties to the treaty, while another 27 have signed the treaty

but have not completed ratification.

The Outer Space Treaty was considered by the Legal Subcommittee in 1966 and agreement was reached

in the General Assembly in the same year (resolution 2222 (XXI). The Treaty was largely based on the

Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer

Space, which had been adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 1962 (XVIII) in 1963, but

added a few new provisions. The Treaty was opened for signature by the three depository Governments

(the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) in January 1967, and it

entered into force in October 1967.

The Outer Space Treaty provides the basic framework on international space law, including the

following principles:

The exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests

of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind;

Outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States;

Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use

or occupation, or by any other means;

States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on

celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner;

The Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes;

Astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind;

States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental

or non-governmental entities;

States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and

States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.

________________________


eniipediaorgiiOuterSpaceTreatunoosaorgoosaSpaceaouterspthtmlwww.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/STSPACE11E.pdf


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The Organization established for that task a special Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

(COPUOS), first as an ad hoc committee in 1958 and, in 1959, as a permanent body. The COPUOS has

become the focal point for all space-related cooperative programmes furthered by the United Nations

and its Member States.

It created two subcommittees, one Legal, and the other Scientific and Technical, to consider specificproposals concerning the development of international cooperation, in their respective fields, of space

exploration for peaceful purposes. In resolution 1721 (XVI) of 20 December 1961, the General

Assembly adopted by consensus a wide programme for such multilateral cooperation. The same

resolution commended two fundamental principles to States for their guidance in space activities,

namely that international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, applies to outer space and

celestial bodies, and that outer space and celestial bodies are free for exploration and use by all States in

conformity with international law and are not subject to national appropriation.

The 1963 Declaration included a set of general principles which characterized the legal status of outer

space and celestial bodies and outlined the scope of legality for activities of States in the space

environment. It also provided initial rules for handling some already known problems of the space

activities undertaken at that time, thus creating starting points for a further regulation of space projects

by space law. As a General Assembly resolution, the Declaration could not establish binding norms of

international law. Nevertheless, already during the period of its adoption, it was considered to be the

basis for a future legally binding treaty.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans the stationing of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in outer space,

prohibits military activities on celestial bodies, and details legally binding rules governing the peaceful

exploration and use of space. Ninety-nine countries are states-parties to the treaty, while another 26

have signed it but have not yet completed ratification.

Fuelled by concerns about U.S. missile defense plans and space policy, many countries support

negotiation of additional outer space agreements. For instance, China and Russia are urging the 65-member UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to negotiate a treaty to prevent an arms race in

outer space. In February 2008, the two countries submitted a draft treaty text to the conference, which

has failed for several years to achieve the necessary consensus to start negotiations on an outer space

treaty.

The term "weapons of mass destruction" is not defined, but it is commonly understood to include

nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. The treaty, however, does not prohibit the launching of

ballistic missiles, which could be armed with WMD warheads, through space.

The treaty repeatedly emphasizes that space is to be used for peaceful purposes, leading some analysts

to conclude that the treaty could broadly be interpreted as prohibiting all types of weapons systems, not

just WMD, in outer space.

________________________

Links for further Research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space

http://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/

http://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/uncosa/en/iamos/index.html

http://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/uncosa/en/wssd/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_spacehttp://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/http://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/uncosa/en/iamos/index.htmlhttp://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/uncosa/en/wssd/index.htmlhttp://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/uncosa/en/wssd/index.htmlhttp://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/uncosa/en/iamos/index.htmlhttp://www.uncosa.unvienna.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space


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The treaty's key arms control provisions are in Article IV. States-parties commit not to:

Place in orbit around the Earth or other celestial bodies any nuclear weapons or objects carrying WMD.

Install WMD on celestial bodies or station WMD in outer space in any other manner.

Establish military bases or installations test "any type of weapons," or conduct military exercises on the

moon and other celestial bodies.

Born out of anxiety about the Cold War and excitement about the Space Age, the agreement is a tribute

to the ability of diplomats to draft international law that is simultaneously effective but is claimed to be

incompetent by some. Successful in preventing states from claiming sovereign territory in outer space

the treaty also hobbled space exploration and development. Today, human activity in outer space is

confined to low Earth orbit and unmanned space exploration of the solar system proceeds at a leisurely

pace. The Space Age has sputtered to a crawl and it is believed that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty

deserves a large measure of the blame.

The core legal principle of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty declared that everywhere beyond the

atmosphere to be res communis, an international commons rather ain to the international aters of

the open oceans on Earth, rather than terra nullius, the sort of territory that is unclaimed yet claimable

by states as sovereign territory. In what was then stirring, and today preposterous, language of the

agreement, all of outer space as declared the Common Home of Manind to be explored and

exploited by all countries and for the benefit of all humanity.

There are two most criticised flaws in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. The first flaw is that it created an

anti-commons The general problem is that establishing a commons runs the ris of creating perverse

incentives. Where the commons is easy to exploit the likely result is the degradation of its renewable

resources. That much has been understood by public policymakers at least since publication of Garret

Hardins influential essa The Traged of the Commons ess appreciated is that establishing a

commons can also establish an anti-commons Eliminating the possibilit of reaping reards from a

desired activity discourages that desired activity. When the 1967 Outer Space Treaty eliminated the

possibility that states could claim territory on the final frontier it also extinguished an importantmotivation for states and private firms to engage in exploration and development. Had the policy

purpose of the treaty been wilderness preservation in outer space then today it would be declared a

smashing success. Beyond low Earth orbit, outer space remains a wilderness that benefits no one except

astronomers and stargazing lovers.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty may expire as controlling international law well before humanity ever

encounters any extraterrestrials, indulgent or otherwise. Any resumption of human exploration on

celestial objects is liable to expose both territorial ambition and the flaws of the treaty. The recent

emergence of competition between the United States and China to return to the Moon and establish

permanent bases ill compel both interest in establishing national control over our satellites better

territories and their resources. Although NASA has encouraged participation by the other major nationalspace programs in its projected Moon base, participation by the Chinese is clearly unwelcome.

Planting rival Moon bases might be sufficient to cause one of the other of the powers to renounce

(denounce) the agreement and prompt resurgence of energetic human space exploration and perhaps

development. Fortunately, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty has an easy to operate escape hatch: signatory

states are free to withdraw from the agreement within one year of giving notice. American, Russian, or

Chinese withdrawal would reduce the treaty to irrelevance.


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RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

During the last five decades, an international legal basis for space activities was built up. It was

established in the United Nations through its Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its

Legal Subcommittee, which contributed to the progressive development of international law in a specialfield of outer space. The present system of space law now comprises the UN Space Treaties and

Principles, other international space agreements and also national laws, which complete international

norms by national regulations of activities performed under the jurisdiction of individual States.

Since more than two decades, there are important new developments that may change also the legal

order for outer space activities. At least, we can observe a considerable difference to the beginning of

the space age when there were only two space powers, the United States of America and the then

Soviet Union. The tendency towards commercialization as an orientation towards profit-making and

even to privatization and a considerably growing number of users of outer space may ask for new

answers and may ask for new legal regulation. In the following, the attempt will be made to briefly

sketch out the changing parameters of the use of outer space and then to come up with a description of

the present and perhaps the challenges of the future legal order.

The first man-made object to completely orbit the Earth was the Soviet satellite, Sputnik, which was

launched in 1957. In 1958, the US followed with the Explorer satellite. At the time, what was most

significant about these launches was that they showed that each country had the capability to fire

intercontinental ballistic missiles at the other. This took the terrestrial nuclear arms race, which began

with the US development and use of nuclear weapons in 1945, to a new level. Since 1957, satellites have

become important in their own right. As of 2007, there were at least 800 satellites in outer space,

photographing the planet and the universe, and receiving and beaming signals for everything from

radios, cell phones, computers, and televisions to telescopes, weather stations, navigational equipment,

and military surveillance.

Since 1969, Russia, Japan, China, and India have each conducted their own exploration of the Moon. In

addition, Russia, the US, Japan, and the EU have explored Venus, 12 and 13 countries have agreed to

collaborate to explore Mars. Since 1998, 16 countries have participated in the construction of,

experiments at, and explorations from the International Space Station (ISS). The space station is

composed of labs built by the North American Space Agency (NASA), Russia, the European Space Agency

(ESA), and Japan. It is manned by a crew of up to 6 scientists and other individuals (including tourists)

who are shuttled back and forth in Russian spacecraft, now that the US has ended its space shuttle

program. This was not the first space station but is the largest to date and the first to involve extensiveinternational cooperation in an effort to share costs. Since the Sputnik launch, outer space has also

become a realm for corporate research and investment. In 2006, Bigelow Aerospace, which is based in

Nevada, launched the first private space station, or habitat, called Genesis I. Its plan is to lease space to

corporations and others interested in research and travel.


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In Europe, in 1980 the semi-private firm Arianespace was established which became heavily involved in

commercial launches. Europe is probably the region of the world that is very advanced in

commercialization and privatization of the launching market. Other countries which today possess

launching capability, such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, China and India provide public launch services,

but are in an increasing way engaged in commercial uses. Europe basically uses Arianespace and thus

the semi-private enterprise. Thus, the launching sector is still predominantly public but in a growing way

commercialized and partially even semi-privatized. The largest and most attractive commercial use of

outer space is the use through satellites. There are three major forms of such satellite use, namely using

outer space by telecommunication satellites, by satellites for Earth observation so called remote

sensing and by navigation satellites.

With regard to telecommunication, which is the most lucrative space application, one can observe a

considerable move towards privatization. The international telecommunication public enterprise

INTELSAT had been privatized and is now Intelsat Inc. Moreover, we find private satellite uses like for

example SES Astra in Luxembourg and the US enterprise IRIDIUM. So, one can clearly find a tendency

towards privatization. With regard to remote sensing of the Earth by satellites, we can find, on the one

hand, semi-public entities running the remote sensing for commercial ends like ENVISAT (ESA), ERS

(ESA), LANDSAT (NASA), SPOT (CNES, France), IRS (ISRO, India), Earth Observation System (EOS, NASA),

Terrasar X and Tandem X by Germany (DLR). On the other hand, there are commercial providers such as

ECONOS (US), Quick Bird (US), Orbit View (US) and Rapid Eye (Germany).

The use of the International Space Station (ISS) is governed by public entities. It is based on the

Intergovernmental Agreement of the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and 10 ESA Member States.

The rationale of the ISS is rather unclear. Besides its high political value as a symbol of inter-State

cooperation, there are, of course, primarily scientific purposes which the ISS shall serve. Dollars as space

tourists made it clear that the participants of this great endeavour will call for commercial uses of theInternational Space Station.

ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND OTHER MAJOR ACTORS:

UNITED NATIONS:

The United Nations has the most important role to play in the formation, development and amendment

of International Space Law and treaties. The Office for Outer Space Affairs, a UN Commission is the one

responsible for coordinating International Space Law through deliberations with member nations of the

United Nations. Therefore, the importance of the UN in bringing different parties to the table,

conducting negotiations and forming the most widely acceptable law is paramount.


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In the past as well, through discussions on global platforms and the subsequent formation of the Outer

Space Treaty among others, the United Nations has served the greater purpose of settling space related

disputes between member nations.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

The United States originally took the approach of establishing, in addition to a general space law, the

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, three specific sets of national laws for each of the three

respective areas where private enterprise has become substantially involved in space activities:

launching, satellite communications and satellite remote sensing. In the course of the 1990s, policy

makers apparently and increasingly became aware of a number of overarching and transversal issues

and problems amongst the various sectors. Also the growing private and commercial use of the Global

Positioning System (GPS) signals and the impending prospect of partly commercial International Space

Station (ISS) operations called for a more comprehensive approach to private and commercialinvolvement in US space activities.

The CommercialSpace aunch Act as enacted on 30 October 1984 specificall to deal ith one ofthe

three fields of interest to private enterprise: launching activities. It was directly aimed at inducing

involvement of the United States private sector in such activities. Even more to the point, it was the

absence of substantial success in the prodding of private enterprise to enter the business that led to the

enactment of Amendments to the aunch Act in 1988 These Acts ere later incorporated more

formally into the US Codes, solidifying the relevant arrangements without fundamentally changing

them.

As active US involvement in the context of the World Trade Organization to enhance global liberalization

and privatization of satellite communications and the ORBIT Act in particular have shown, US policy over

the last years has largely focused on international aspects of the sector.

In many ways, the US market is considered mature enough not to require fundamental or even

revolutionary domestic legislative activities; the focus is rather on making existing procedures (even)

more flexible and business-friendly. The major legal issue involved in this context is that concerning the

possible auctioning and ownership of frequency assignments, which is why one might expect the major

national policy and legislative developments to arise in that area.

UNITED KINGDOM:

On 18 July 1986, the United Kingdom promulgated its Outer Space Act, which entered into force in1989.

The major reason for such legislative action was the growing need to implement domestically, the

relevant rules of international space law vis-a-vis private enterprise. The Act itself repeatedly refers to

the international obligations of the United Kingdom in this respect. The Act in practical terms applies to


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the launching, or procuring of launching, of a space object, the operation thereof, or "any activity in

outer space". Especially the inclusion of procurement should be noted. It is relevant, as a non-space

activity, in terms of international space law liability. Even more sweepingly, carrying on an activity in

outer space is defined as "causing it to occur or [being] responsible for its continuing". An individual

involved anywhere down the chain of causation or responsibility could thus find himself included in the

scope of the Act. As a consequence, he might be obliged to refund the government for any international

liability claims awarded - this, moreover, without a right to participate in the proceedings itself.

Within the United Kingdom for some time a debate has been raging in particular as to whether the

liability and insurance obligations are still in line with overall UK policies vis-a-vis private activities. One

might expect activities such as those envisaged by Mr. Branson (a UK citizen) in setting up Virgin Galactic

to raise the stakes in this debate even further. In particular issues of safety and liability, both third party

and contractual vis-a-vis the passengers, would have to be dealt with. No doubt the debate will make

reference one way or another to similar contexts in civil aviation, whether or not it will in the end find its

way into the UK Outer Space Act.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION:

On 20 August 1993, the President of the Russian Federation signed the Russian law regarding space

activities, thus bringing it into force. 25 Included within the aims of the Law is the regulation of any

potential private involvement in the activities under consideration. While it should be noted that many

issues are explicitly deferred to further future legislation, at this point from the perspective of private

enterprise the following picture arises.

The scope of the Russian Law in practical terms - as does the license obligation - comprises all activities

"immediately connected with operations to explore and use outer space". Space communications and

space remote sensing are expressly enumerated as examples, while launch activities undoubtedly fall

within the general circumscription as provided.

COMMITTEE ON SPACE RESEARCH (COSPAR):

The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) was established by the International Council for Science in

1958.Among COSPAR's objectives are the promotion of scientific research in space on an international

level, with emphasis on the free exchange of results, information, and opinions, and providing a forum,

open to all scientists, for the discussion of problems that may affect space research.

These objectives are achieved through the organization of symposia, publication, and other means.

COSPAR has created a number of research programmes on different topics, a few in cooperation with

other scientific Unions. The long term project COSPAR international reference atmosphere started in

1960; since then it produced several editions of the high atmosphere code CIRA, The code "IRI" of the


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URSI-COSPAR working group on the International Reference Ionosphere was first edited in 1978 and is

yearly updated. The Committee on Space Research has also been involved in translating provisions of

the Outer Space Treaty and others into recommendations and is often an observer at the United Nations

Committee on Peaceful Uses of the Outer Space sessions.

MAJOR SPACE AGENCIES:

NASA (www.nasa.gov/)

ESA (www.esa.int/)

JAXA axapindexehtml) UKSA(http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency)

CNSA(http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/cindex.html)

ISRO(http://www.isro.org/) ROSCOSMOS(http://www.roscosmos.ru/)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

http://www.atomicarchive.com/Treaties/Treaty4.shtml

http://untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/ha/tos/tos.html

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2305/1

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=nlrhttp://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=spacelaw

http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/pres/2010/SLW2010/02-12.pdf

http://www.unvienna.org/unov/en/unoosa.html

http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a5620.pdf

http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a5620.pdf

_______________________

LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/ost/text/space1.htm

http://history.nasa.gov/1967treaty.html

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/au-18/au180044.htm

http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/ost/text/space5.htm

http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/space1.html

http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/outerspace
http://www.esa.int/http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagencyhttp://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/cindex.htmlhttp://www.isro.org/http://www.roscosmos.ru/http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a5620.pdfhttp://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a5620.pdfhttp://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a5620.pdfhttp://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a5620.pdfhttp://www.roscosmos.ru/http://www.isro.org/http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/cindex.htmlhttp://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagencyhttp://www.esa.int/

Background Guide UNCOPUOS JKMUN 2013

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