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SOVEREIGNTY AND OWNERSHIP IN RELATION TO OUTER SPACE …
of the International Space Station (ISS), based on the 1998 Intergovernmental
Agreement on Space Station Cooperation.
Concerning
the international legal regulation of the activities in space,
already
ten years after the first flight into Space, the basic
Treaty on Principles Governing
the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon
and Other Celestial Bodies
(Space Treaty of 1967) was concluded. Four other treaties
stemming out of this were signed under the UN framework, as well as four UN
General Assembly resolutions adopted in the 80s and 90s of the 20
th
century.
1. Freedom of exploration and use of outer space and celestial bodies
The Space Treaty is based on the concept of freedom of the space and celestial
bodies, which is expressed in its Article I, paragraph 2. In comparison to the
traditional concept of open sea as “res communis omnium”, however, it goes further.
According to Article I, paragraph 1 of the Space Treaty “the exploration and use of
outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the
benefit and in the interests of all countries … be the province of all mankind.” The
requirement of the benefit and in the interests of all countries goes beyond the frame
of narrowly individualistic interests of states which derive from the freedom of the
sea. This provision can be explained as saying that the activity in space is conducted
for the benefit of all mankind. In case exploration in space does not conform with this
requirement, it is in contradiction to this provision and therefore is an exploration
which is not allowed.
3
The provision expresses public interest; however, it should be
interpreted as a philosophical basis and not as a binding rule.
4
The interpretation of Article I of the Space Treaty is contained in the Declaration
on International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for the
Benefit and in the Interest of All States, Taking into Particular Account the Needs of
Developing Countries, Declaration
5
of 1996. It is only a general outline of the future
regulation. In its interpretation of the Space Treaty it is based on the concept of
freedom of exploration and use of space and celestial bodies. C. Q. Christol
6
thinks,
in relation to Article I, Paragraph1 of the Space Treaty, that states cannot assert any
claims on the results of the activities of other states. He states, for example, they
have no right to a share of the Moon rock samples, to data and information from
communication devices etc. Article I of the Space Treaty
does not exclude commercial
activities.
3
See Bockstiegel, K.H. Kramer, D.M, Polley, I. Patent Protection for theOperation ofTelecommunication
Satelite Systeme in Outer Space?
Zeitschrift fur Luft und Weltraumrecht
, 1998, No. 2, p. 167.
4
See Bockstiegel, K. H., Kamer, D. M, Polley, I.,
op. cit.
3, p. 168.
5
See Carpanelli, E., Cohen, B. A legal Assessment of the 1966 Declaration on Space benefits on the
Occasion of its Fifteenth Anniversary.
Journal of Space Law
, 2012, Vol. 38, No. 1, p. 1
et seq
.
6
See Christol, C. Q.,
The Modern International Law of Outer Space
, Pergamonn Press, New York, 1982,
p. 43.