Proceedings of the Workshop - United Nations Office for Outer ...

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132 THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN PRIVATIZATIONAND COMMERCIAL USE OF OUTER SPACEEurope for the provision of telecommunications servicesthrough its space segment. It was not conceived as aglobal organization like INTELSAT and Inmarsat but asa regional organization. The European Space Agency(ESA) played an active role in the creation ofEUTELSAT.INTERSPUTNIK was founded in 1971 to establishand develop an international satellite communicationsystem. At its inception, it was composed of members ofthe Eastern block but its membership has now beenexpanded to countries like Yemen, Laos and Nicaragua.Finally, the Arab Satellite CommunicationsOrganization, which is composed of Arab countries fromthe Middle East and the area around the Mediterraneansea, was created in 1976.As an additional comment on existingintergovernmental satellite organizations, this paperexcludes both the European Space Agency, as it is notinvolved in operational services in space, and theEuropean Meteorological Satellites Organization(EUMETSAT), as it does not offer services in the fieldof telecommunications, radio or television but, rather inthe field of meteorological data where the economic,competitive and regulatory environment is totallydifferent. Like ESA and EUMETSAT, the only currentmembers of INTERSPUTNIK and ARABSAT areStates that are responsible for taking all decisions (notonly of a political, strategic or institutional nature butalso operational and financial).As far as INTELSAT, Inmarsat and EUTELSATare concerned, each was built on the same model; thesame legal form of intergovernmental organizationcreated on the basis of an international treaty(Convention for Inmarsat and EUTELSAT, Agreementfor INTELSAT) signed and ratified by member states(the Parties) complemented by an Operating Agreementsigned by the Telecommunications Operators, one percountry, designated by their respective Party to be the"Signatories". These constituent instruments are closelyinter-related. In addition, as for any intergovernmentalorganization, there is a Headquarters Agreement and aProtocol on Privileges, Exemptions and Immunities, thesame internal structure with:an Assembly of Parties in charge of decidingprimarily on the general direction of the organization,its relations with States and other internationalorganizations, on matters affecting policy or the longtermfuture of the organization and applications foraccession by new members,a Board where Signatories, as investors, take alloperational, financial and commercial decisions.Signatories voting rights are linked to investmentshares,an executive organ headed by a Director Generalwhich is the permanent organ of each organization. Itimplements the Board’s decisions and submitsproposals to it,the same or substantially the same provisions in theConvention/Agreement and in the Operating Agreementin each of the three organizations,application of the same principles of nondiscrimination in the three organizations, same tariffsand equitable access to the space segment from theterritories of the members, irrespective of theirgeographical location or the level of their investmentshare,the same purpose, i.e. not to make a profit but, inaccordance with their charter to operate on a soundeconomic and financial basis,basically, the same members as far as EuropeanStates are concerned,procurement policy on an international competitivebasis,a system like a cooperative where Signatoriescontribute financially to the system in proportion totheir investment shares calculated in accordance withtheir use of the space segment and provision of servicesby the Signatories in competition with each other usingspace segment capacity leased at cost.Since the date of inception of these organizations,it can be said that they have fulfilled their mission and
THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN PRIVATIZATION 133AND COMMERCIAL USE OF OUTER SPACEdemonstrated that the sharing of risks andresponsibilities at international level and under publiccontrol within public/private hybrids for huge long-terminvestments has proved to be of paramount importancefor the development of the commercial use of OuterSpace.The procurement of a very large number of satellitesand launchers has given industry a unique opportunityto develop a new and very important market withimproving competitiveness. The services provided viathe space segment of the organizations have developedconsiderably into the telecommunications sector(telephony, data and mobile services, radio andtelevision, etc.).As for the relevance of public space law to theseintergovernmental satellite organizations, suffice to saythat they are committed to act for peaceful purposes andthat they follow the procedures established by theInternational Telecommunication Union for frequencycoordination. With regard to the internationalconventions on Outer Space, only ESA and EUTELSAThave declared their acceptance of the rights andobligations provided for in the Convention onInternational Liability for Damage Caused by SpaceObjects of 25 March 1972. ESA has also declared itsacceptance of the Convention on Registration of ObjectsLaunched into Outer Space of 14 January 1975. Up tonow, EUTELSAT has not been in a position to do thesame even if a declaration of acceptance has alreadybeen approved by the Assembly of Parties, because thecondition of majority under Article VII of theConvention on Registration has not yet been fulfilled asonly twenty two of the forty seven EUTELSAT memberstates are Parties to the Convention on Registration. Forthe time being, practical arrangements have been madewith the French government for the temporary inclusionof the relevant satellite data, once the satellites havebeen launched, on the register of France.It is worth noting that because of their size, it ismuch more difficult for INTELSAT and Inmarsat thanfor ESA or EUTELSAT to follow the acceptanceprocedure for these Conventions because of thecondition of majority. In any case, following analysis,these two organizations did not see any immediatepurpose in making efforts towards acceptance of therights and obligations of these Space Conventions.The development of the commercialuse of Outer Space has contributedto the restructuring process of theinternational satellite organizationsAt the beginning of the nineteen nineties, changesoccurred in the market place with dramatic growth incompetition together with a progressive liberalization ofthe telecommunications sector. Consequently, under thepressure of the Parties and Signatories which, astelecommunications operators, were becomingprogressively privatized, the international satelliteorganizations more or less at the same time started tostudy how they could accommodate their operationalactivities to the competitive environment of satelliteservices and adapt their structure accordingly.A gradual process was initiated as early as 1991 inorder to define through a number of extensive studiesand meetings of specialized working groups how thelegal structure of these organizations could be adapted.As a first step for change, INTELSAT, Inmarsat andEUTELSAT endeavoured to ensure that theorganizations evolved in two areas:Relaxation of the consultation procedures relatingto economic harm in the case of a space segmentseparate from that of these organizations beingestablished or used to provide international publicservices: INTELSAT and Inmarsat, decided onprogressive increases in the ceiling of traffic beyondwhich this consultation procedure was needed.EUTELSAT decided to eliminate de facto theapplication of this procedure as from 1992. Suchrelaxation gave more opportunities for new entrants onthe market for satellite communication services.Improved access to the space segment:arrangements were set up to admit “non-Signatoryentities”, that is to say entities having direct access tothe space segment and investing directly, subject to anagreement at national level between the relevant Party
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ST/SPACE/2Office for Outer Space Af
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IntroductionThe Workshop on Space L
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CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS OF THEWOR
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3between public and private law and
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6provide for the application of int
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8obstacles that impede ratification
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SESSION ONEExisting United Nations
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EXISTING UNITED NATIONS TREATIES: S
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EXPANDING GLOBAL LAUNCH SERVICESSES
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36 EXPANDING GLOBAL LAUNCH SERVICES
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48low earth orbit. This commercial
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EXPANDING GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS SER
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182 POSSIBLE INTERNATIONAL REGULATO
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POSSIBLE INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY F
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SESSION EIGHTMaintaining the Space
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MAINTAINING THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT 1
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220Session 3: Wednesday. 21 July. 1
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223Annex IITHIRD UNITED NATIONS CON
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225No Name Address E-Mail27. Ersfel
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227No Name Address E-Mail57. Koloso
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