Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

States, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Republic of Viet Nam, Yemen Arab Republic. Only
Iraq was not represented.
Observers were sent from the following twenty-nine non-member countries:
Afghanistan, Barbados, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Congo (K), Costa Rica,
[4] Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, Finland, Ghana, Hungary, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Maldive
Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Somalia
Republic, Southern Yemen, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Uruguay, Yugoslavia,
Zambia. In addition, observers attended from the United Nations and the International
Telecommunication[s] Union. Thus a total of ninety[-]eight delegations attended the first
session of the Conference.
A complete list of participants is attached as Annex A, including a list of the United
States Delegation.
Among the non-member observer countries, a substantial number spoke during various
meetings of the Conference. Particularly the USSR, Poland, Romania and some of the
African observer delegations presented substantive comments and views on questions
being considered by the Working Committees of the Conference.
IV. Organization of the Conference
The United States, as host Government, provided the secretariat and physical facilities
for the Conference. The conference facilities in the State Department Building were
used. In addition, the main auditorium of the Pan American Health Organization
Building was used for several committee meetings. Administrative and secretariat support
from the Office of International Conferences was outstanding throughout the
Conference and won deserved praise from many delegations at the final plenary session.
In addition, the Federal Communications Commission, the Office of the Director of
Telecommunications Management, and the Communications Satellite Corporation made
available secretarial and administrative support staff and equipment which contributed
further to the efficiency of the overall operation.
The Conference was formally opened by the Acting Secretary of State, Elliot L.
Richardson. The names of the elected Conference officers and Committee Chairmen and
Vice Chairmen are set forth in Annex B. All Conference officers and Committee
Chairmen and Vice Chairmen were unanimously elected and there were no objections to
the [5] composition of any of the Conference Committees. The established Working
Committees of the Conference and their subject matter were the following:
Committee I Structure and Functions of INTELSAT Consortium, with
particular regard to questions of membership, scope of services,
organizational structure including structure of major
organs, their functions and voting.
Committee II Legal and Procedural Questions, including definitions, legal
status, entry into force, duration, amendment, withdrawal,
settlement of disputes.
Committee III Financial Arrangements.
EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN 111
Committee IV Other Operational Arrangements, including procurement
policy, inventions and data, technical and operational matters.
All four of these Committees were constituted as committees of the whole, i.e. open
to participation by all member country delegations, and all committee sessions, though
not the sessions of working groups, were open to observers. Most of the work of the