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

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6provide <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> application <strong>of</strong> international lawand <strong>the</strong> promotion <strong>of</strong> international cooperationand understanding in space activities, <strong>the</strong>dissemination and exchange <strong>of</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mationthrough transnational direct televisionbroadcasting via satellite and <strong>the</strong> sharing <strong>of</strong> dataand in<strong>for</strong>mation from satellite observations <strong>of</strong>Earth’s resources, and general standardsregulating <strong>the</strong> safe use <strong>of</strong> nuclear power sourcesnecessary <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> exploration and use <strong>of</strong> outerspace.4. The Committee on <strong>the</strong> Peaceful Uses <strong>of</strong> <strong>Outer</strong>Space and its Legal Subcommittee are currentlyconsidering <strong>the</strong> question <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> review andpossible revision <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> principles relevant to <strong>the</strong>use <strong>of</strong> nuclear power sources in outer space;matters relating to <strong>the</strong> definition and delimitation<strong>of</strong> outer space and to <strong>the</strong> character and utilization<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> geostationary orbit, includingconsideration <strong>of</strong> ways and means to ensure <strong>the</strong>rational and equitable use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> geostationaryorbit, without prejudice to <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> ITU; and areview <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> status <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> five international legalinstruments governing outer space. It isimportant to highlight <strong>the</strong> developments indealing with some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se topics, <strong>for</strong> examplerelative to <strong>the</strong> geostationary orbit, in <strong>the</strong> light <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> recommendations by UNISPACE 82, thathave been reflected in legal instrumentsdeveloped in o<strong>the</strong>r bodies in <strong>the</strong> <strong>United</strong> <strong>Nations</strong>system. This is true <strong>for</strong> ITU with regard to <strong>the</strong>implementation <strong>of</strong> guaranteed equitable access inaccordance with what has been established ininternational conferences and in <strong>the</strong> constitutionand norms <strong>of</strong> ITU. It is also true <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> progressthat has been made in studying <strong>the</strong> topics on <strong>the</strong>basis <strong>of</strong> recent proposals and agreements in <strong>the</strong>Committee on <strong>the</strong> Peaceful Uses <strong>of</strong> <strong>Outer</strong> Space,in particular on <strong>the</strong> statement that <strong>the</strong><strong>of</strong> 10 December 1982; <strong>the</strong> Principles Relating to RemoteSensing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Earth from <strong>Outer</strong> Space, resolution41/65, annex, <strong>of</strong> 3 December 1986; <strong>the</strong> PrinciplesRelevant to <strong>the</strong> Use <strong>of</strong> Nuclear Power Sources in <strong>Outer</strong>Space, resolution 47/68 <strong>of</strong> 14 December 1992; and <strong>the</strong>Declaration on International Cooperation in <strong>the</strong>Exploration and Use <strong>of</strong> <strong>Outer</strong> Space <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Benefit andin <strong>the</strong> Interest <strong>of</strong> All States, Taking into ParticularAccount <strong>the</strong> Needs <strong>of</strong> Developing Countries,resolution 51/122, annex, <strong>of</strong> 13 December 1996.geostationary orbit is an integral part <strong>of</strong> outerspace.5. O<strong>the</strong>r intergovernmental organizations, inparticular those <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>United</strong> <strong>Nations</strong> system, arealso contributing to <strong>the</strong> legal regime governinginternational cooperative space activities. Among<strong>the</strong>m are ITU, WIPO, WMO and <strong>the</strong>International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Inaddition, multilateral and bilateral treaties andagreements have secured <strong>the</strong> establishment andoperation <strong>of</strong> international and regional spaceorganizations and bodies, such as ESA <strong>the</strong>International Telecommunications SatelliteOrganization, <strong>the</strong> Arab Satellite CommunicationsOrganization, <strong>the</strong> European Organization <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>Exploitation <strong>of</strong> Meteorological Satellites(EUMETSAT), Inmarsat and <strong>the</strong> InternationalOrganization <strong>of</strong> Space Communications(Intersputnik), and <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong>cooperative programmes, such as <strong>the</strong> Council onInternational Cooperation in <strong>the</strong> Study andUtilization <strong>of</strong> <strong>Outer</strong> Space, <strong>the</strong>COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue satellitesystem and <strong>the</strong> International Space Station.Some individual States and groups <strong>of</strong> States havealso added to <strong>the</strong> corpus <strong>of</strong> space law through <strong>the</strong>adoption <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir national laws and agreementswithin <strong>the</strong> groups governing <strong>the</strong>ir activities inouter space and <strong>the</strong>ir goals <strong>for</strong> internationalcooperative ventures.(b) Issues and objectives6. The <strong>United</strong> <strong>Nations</strong> has succeeded inprogressively developing and elaborating (inaccordance with Article 13 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Charter <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><strong>United</strong> <strong>Nations</strong>), in <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>m <strong>of</strong> treaties anddeclarations, a body <strong>of</strong> principles and normsrelating to space activities which is considered awell-established branch <strong>of</strong> international lawgoverning space activities. In recent years, <strong>the</strong>increase in space activities has given rise to new,highly technical issues such as, inter alia, spacedebris, <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> nuclear power sources in spaceand <strong>the</strong> protection <strong>of</strong> intellectual property rights.Those subjects pose many challenging legalquestions that call <strong>for</strong> creative solutions throughinternational cooperation if international spacelaw is to keep pace with <strong>the</strong> rapid advances inspace technology and activities. Such solutions

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