Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN 107
A. Technology Gap
Many foreign nations feel that they were forced to accept the 1964 communications
satellite agreements on U.S. terms as a result of deficiencies in their own space research
and development capabilities.
[8] These nations are working as hard as [bolded passages were highlighted with a marker
in the original] possible to improve their technical position to give them options to
strengthen their position and insure more equitable participation in the INTELSAT organization
after 1969. [note in margin, arrow pointing to, and emphasizing, the following
sentence] The manner in which the U.S. shares its technology impacts directly on this
issue. We are eager to share technology with those nations firmly committed to INTEL-
SAT. We do not, however, find it in the U.S. interest to provide the tools with which a foreign
nation can circumvent the INTELSAT agreements by contributing to the
establishment of competing regional systems.
B. Leadership in INTELSAT Administration and Management
At present the U.S., through the Communications Satellite Corporation, serves as
Chairman of the Interim Communications Satellite Committee, provides the Manager for
all technical operations of INTELSAT, and has [bolded passages were highlighted with a
marker in the original] a controlling voting interest of 54 percent in most decisions of the
Consortium. Many foreign nations feel that this is an unacceptable domination of INTEL-
SAT by the U.S. We are already experiencing pressure within the Consortium to reduce
the influence of the U.S. and to strip COMSAT of its administrative and technical control.
This will undoubtedly be an important point in the 1969 renegotiations.
A GENERAL DISORDER OF U.S. INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
A. Inadequate Responsiveness to Communications Needs of the U.S. Government
The serious conflicts of interest that have existed in recent years among U.S. international
communications common carriers have been greatly increased by the advent of
communications satellites. This situation has resulted in increased controversy and delay
in meeting new Government requirements. A recent Department of Defense requirement
for communication service to Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines to provide support for
operations in Vietnam has resulted in many conflicting filings with the Federal
Communications Commission. This conflict and others like it have raised serious doubts
within Government agencies concerning the ability of the U.S. international common carriers,
placed as they are in a constant conflict of interest, to provide assured and rapid
response to new or emergency communications requirements of the Government.
Such uncertainties create a growing incentive for the Government to reverse previous
trends toward increased use of international common carriers and to turn instead to
greater dependency upon and use of [9] Government owned communications satellite
systems. Since the U.S. Government is by far the largest single user of international commercial
communications channels, loss of any portion of this business by the carriers
could have a serious adverse effect on all the international carriers, but particularly on the
viability of international satellite communications.
B. Delays in U.S. Earth Station Construction
The continual controversy and divided system responsibility in U.S. international
communications have also adversely affected and delayed construction of an adequate
U.S. earth terminal complex to keep pace with the growing communications capacity of
the space segment. On the East Coast of the U.S. the system needs two full scale operating
terminals. One terminal is in operation but the authorization to construct the second