the Convention entered into force on September 15, 1976, were Bulgaria, Canada, France, and Sweden. The Convention provides the international community with a central, public, and current registry of objects launched into outer space. The registration process is made mandatory for the parties. Launching states are required to submit specified information to the U.N. Secretary-General regarding objects which they launch into Earth orbit or beyond. The system is built on the foundation of a voluntary system of notification to the U.N. Secretary-General by U.N. member states, in operation since 1962. The Registration Convention provides also that states launching space objects into Earth orbit or beyond will establish and maintain a national registry of such objects. The contents of such registries are left to the discretion of the states of registry, but the Convention requires that such states inform the Secretary-General of certain facts with regard to each space object they carry on their respective registries. It encourages the publication of additional facts at the discretion of the state of registry. Ronald F. Stowe, Assistant Legal Adviser for United Nations Affairs, Department of State, in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 15, 1976, stated, in part: * * * An important aspect of the negotiations of the Registration Convention was the desire of many states for a central, international registry which could assist in identification of space objects both for scientific and legal purposes. In the latter instance, for example, it is felt that the existence of such a registry may assist, in particular, states without sophisticated national space tracking facilities or scientific expertise to identify the launching state of space objects which may have reentered within their territories and caused damage covered by the Liability Convention [TIAS 7762; 24 UST 2389]. The Convention deals with space objects "launched into Earth orbit or beyond." By this it is agreed that we are referring to all space objects launched into Earth orbit and all objects launched for the purpose of deep space probes. Such probes would of course include missions designed to orbit around or land on other celestial bodies as well as those designed to pass through or beyond the solar system. Although it is not required by the Convention, the United States intends to continue the practice of informing the SecretaryGeneral about objects, launched toward orbit or beyond but which failed to achieve orbit. The Convention does not require nor has the practice of voluntary registration included, the transmission of information relating to objects which may briefly transit areas beyond air space, such as sounding rockets or ballistic missile test vehicles. The United States will, however, plan to register the flights of the space shuttle when it becomes available. Space Technology The Agency for International Development (AID) announced on December 16, 1976, that the United States was prepared to offer space-age technology assistance to help developing countries, and planned to establish regional training and utilization centers for communications software satellite application, one each in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. AID also announced that it was contemplating remote sensing interpretation facilities in Latin America, West Africa, East Africa, and Asia, and that it was already providing training in remote sensing techniques for foreign technicians at the Earth Resources Observation Systems Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and in several universities. The purpose of the program is to apply the cluster of technologies associated with Earth satellites in developing countries in the battle against poverty, disease and disaster, and help developing countries make a scientifically accurate national assessment of the natural resources available for development. The AID Space Age Technologies (AIDSAT) operation which began August 1, 1976, used the National Aeronautics and Space Agency's Applications Technology Satellite No. 6. The ATS-6 beamed the program as it moved westward to a new position over the Pacific Ocean from India where it had been used to provide educational, health and agricultural information to 5,000 villages. AID Press Release 76-127, Dec. 16, 1976. Peaceful Uses of Outer Space The U.N. General Assembly's main Political Committee, during the thirty-first session of the General Assembly, reviewed the work of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and approved by consensus a draft resolution cosponsored by 40 states which, in essence, recommended that high priority be given to continued work on a Moon treaty, principles governing the use of artificial Earth satellites for direct television broadcasting, the legal implications of remote sensing of the Earth from space, and that the Committee pursue its work on questions relating to the definition of outer space. This resolution was approved by consensus by the General Assembly on November 8, 1976 (Res. 31/8). Ambassador W. Tapley Bennett, Jr., speaking in the First Committee debate, reviewed U.S. individual space accomplishments during the year, U.S. cooperative activities with other nations in the peaceful use of outer space, and the work done by the Space Committee: During the past year, the United States has continued to participate cooperatively with other nations in the exploration of outer space. We have, for example, launched Helios-2, built by the Federal Republic of Germany, the second scientific satellite to investigate the properties of interplanetary space close to the Sun. In January we launched the CTS, an experimental high-powered communications satellite, developed jointly with Canada. In cooperation with the Agency for International Development, using the ATS-6 satellite, NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] is currently conducting demonstrations of the applications of space age technology for the benefit of developing countries. These demonstrations will be seen in 27 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. During July the United States, as one event in the Bicentennial of American independence, made the first successful soft landing on the planet Mars with a Viking lander; this feat was repeated in September. Dissemination of early results of this historic program has already begun, adding further to our understanding of the universe... On July 31, 1975, India completed the one-year broadcast phase of the Indian Satellite Instructional Television Experiment using the NASA Applications Technology Satellite ATS-6 to transmit educational programs directly to some 2,400 villages in rural India. The TV programs, ground transmitting station, and village receiver sets were all funded and built by India. The social impact of the programs in the villages is still being analyzed, but the experiment has demonstrated the practicality of satellite-based instructional broadcasting for developing countries and has aroused interest throughout the world. . We share what appears now to be the general belief that all states, regardless of their stage of economic and technical development, can realize substantial benefits from an open system of Earth observation from satellites such as the Landsat system with which we are experimenting. The United States has already shared and continues to make available to all interested parties at least one-time coverage of over 90 percent of the Earth's land surface . . . Direct broadcast by satellite provides an illustration of the indispensable need of bringing together diplomats and experts from the scientific, technical, economic, institutional and legal disciplines in order to understand what can flow from prospective technologies. It is against this background of multi-disciplinary analysis that the Legal Subcommittee this year intensified its work of trying to draft principles that can be accepted by states and broadcasting entities for the conduct of satellite television broadcasting once this becomes technically feasible. The Subcommittee has drawn up statements of nine proposed principles. These deal with such matters as broadcasting purposes, international legal parameters, rights and benefits for states, international cooperation, state responsibility, consultation procedures and peaceful settlement, copyright and neighboring rights, and provision of information to the United Nations. This work has been undertaken on the basis of mutual benefit and conciliation. Extremely difficult issues remain for examination and negotiation. They involve such matters as participation by interested states and broadcasters and practical assistance to that end. Direct broadcast satellite technology can make a great contribution to the values proclaimed by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. In the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference, participating states stated that they consider "the development of contacts to be an important element in the strengthening of relations and trust among peoples" and that they "make it their aim to facilitate the freer and wider dissemination of information of all kinds, to encourage cooperation in the field of information and the exchange of information with other countries . . ." The participants further pledged "to develop the mutual exchange of information with a view to a better knowledge of respective cultural achievements" and "to seek new fields and forms of cultural cooperation." It is in this light that the United States will participate in the difficult but absorbing work of the Legal Subcommittee in 1977. Press Release USUN-191 (76), rev. 1, Dec. 22, 1976, pp. 125–128. § 1 Chapter 9 STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL CLAIMS Conditions and Procedural Aspects of Assertion of Claim of State Responsibility Claims of U.S. Nationals Against the German Democratic Republic On October 18, 1976, the President approved Public Law 94-542 (90 Stat. 2509; 22 U.S.C. 1644 et seq.), "To amend the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 to provide for the determination of the validity and amounts of claims of nationals of the United States against the German Democratic Republic." The legislation had been introduced at the request of the Department of State. Ambassador Robert J. McCloskey, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, in a letter dated June 22, 1976, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, described the draft legislation as follows: The draft bill proposes to add a new title to the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949, as amended (22 U.S.C. sec. 1621 et seq.), for the purpose of determining certain claims of nationals of the United States against the German Democratic Republic which arose out of the nationalization, expropriation, or other taking of, or special measures directed against property owned by nationals of the United States. The proposed claims program under the bill would be similar in many respects to the Czechoslovakian claims program under Title IV of the International Claims Settlement Act, and in certain respects to the Cuban and Chinese claims programs under Title V of the Act. The bill authorizes the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission to receive and determine the validity and amounts of claims by nationals of the United States against the German Democratic Republic for losses arising as a result of the nationalization, |