Journal of Space Law
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JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW VOLUME 22, NUMBERS 1 & 2 1994 JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW A journal devoted to the legal problems arising out of human activities in outer space VOLUME 22 1994 NUMBERS I &2 EDITORIAL BOARD AND ADVISORS BERGER, HAROLD GALLOWAY, Ell.ENE Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Washington, D.C. B6CKSTlEGEL, KARL-HEINZ GOEDHUIS, D. Cologne, Germany London, England, BOUREr.. Y, MICHEL G. HE,QIZHI Luzille par Blere, France Beijing, China COCCA, ALDO ARMANDO JASENTULIYANA, NANDASIRI Buenes Aires, Argentina Vienna, Austria DEMBLING, PAUL G. KOPAL, VLADIMIR Washington, D. C. Prague, Czechoslovakia DlEDERIKS-VERSCHOOR, I.H. PH. MCDOUGAL, MYRES S. Baarn, Holland New Haven, Connecticut FASAN, ERNST VERESHCHETIN, V.s. Neunkirchen, Austria Moscow, U.S.S.R. FINCH, EDWARD R., JR. ZANOTTI, ISIDORO New York, N.Y. Washington, D.C. STEPHEN GOROVE, Chainnan University, Mississippi All correspondance should be directed to the JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW, P.O. Box 308, University, Mississippi 38677. Tel. 601-234-2391. Fax: 601-232-7010. The subscription rate for 1994 is $74.45 (doinestic) and $79.95· (foreign) for two isSues combined. Single issues for other years may be ordered at $40 per issue (postage and handling included). Copyright © JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW 1994 Suggested abbreviation: J. SPACE L. JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW A journal devoted to the legal problems arising out of human activities in outer space VOLUME 22 1994 NUMBERS 1 &2 CONTENTS Announcement iv Judge Manfred Lachs: An Obituary (I.H.Ph. Diederiks-Verschoor) 1 ARTICLES Regulation of Space Salvage Operations: Possibilities for the Future (N. Jasenruliyana) 5 The International Telecommunication Union and Development Francis Lyall) 23 Judge Manfred Lachs and the Principle of Jus Cog/ms (Carl Q. Christal) 33 Human Settlements on Planets; New Stations or New Nations (Dr. Ernst Fasan) 47 Some Considerations on the Legal Status of Aerospace Systems (Vladimir Kopal) 57 Liability of Aerospace Manufacturers: MacPherson v. Buick Sputters into the Space Age (Phillip D. Bostwick) 75 The Role of ESA in the Evolution of Space Law (Gabriel Lafjerranderie & Paul Henry Tuinder) 97 SPECIAL FEATURES Events of Interest 115 A. Past Events 115 Reports The 1994 Session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of UNCOPUOS Takes Place in a Constructive Attnosphere - Space Debris Issue for the First Time on its Agenda (Matthew W. Sanidas) 115 1994 Session of U.N. Legal Subcommittee on Space Reasonably Successful (Jitendra S. Thaker) 120 Issues of Supreme Authority and Sovereign Rights Arising out of Space Activities (Stephen Gorove) 126 Space-Related Legislative Initiatives and Policy Developments (Pamela L. Meredith & William D. English) 132 United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Holds Annual Meeting in Vienna, Austria (Mathew W. Sanidas & Jitendra S. Thaker) 135 Case Notes Alpha Lyracom Space Communications, Inc. v. Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) 141 Smith v. United States & Hughes Aircraft Co. v. U.S. 142 Short Accounts Implementation of the ESA Convention - Lessons From the Past (Elisabeth Back Impal/omeni) 144 Asia Booms in Space! (Frans G. von der Dunk). 147 Legal Questions Regarding Commercial Activities in Outer Space (Dr. Ernst Fasan) 149 Congressional Notes. 152 Executive Developments 152 International Developments. 153 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition 154 Other Events 154 Brief News 155 B. Forthcoming Events 156 Book Reviews/N otices 159 Diederiks-Verschoor, I.H. Ph., An Introduction to Space Law (Stephen Gorove) 159 van Traa-Engelman, H.L., Commercial Utilization of Outer Space (Stephen Gorove). 159 Masson-Zwann, Tanja L./Mendes de Leon, Pablo M.J., Air and Space Law: de Lege Ferenda - Essays in Honour of Henri A. Wassenbergh 1 6 1 Santy, Patricia A., Choosing the Right Stuff: The Psychological Selection of Astronauts and Cosmonauts 161 Stuhlinger, Ernst/Ordway III, Frederick I., Wernher von Braun - Crusader for Space 1 6 2 ii United States Space Foundation, Proceedings Reports on the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Space Symposiums 162 Mauldin, John H., Prospects for Interstellar Travel 163 Recent Publications 164 Books 164 Contributions to Books 164 Articles 165 Reports 166 Notes/Comments 167 Case Notes 167 Short Accounts 167 Book Reviews/Notices 168 Official Publications 169 Cases 171 Miscellaneous 171 Current Documents 175 Guidelines for U.S. Implementation of the Agreement Between the U.S. and the Russian Government Regarding Inter national Trade in Commercial Space Launch Services 175 Status of International Agreements Relating to Activities in Outer Space <as of March 1994) 183 U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation - Joint Statement on Space Station Cooperation 20 0 Index to Volume 22 202 iii Announcement As a respectful follow-up to Professor Stephen Gorove's "In Memoriam" remarks' honoring the Late Judge Manfred Lachs, many of the Jndge's friends and admirers in the space law field wished to pay tribute to his memory by their writings. To accommodate all the contributions in a single commemorative volume, the JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW combined its 1994 issues in one joint publication . • 21 J. SPACE L. I (1993). iv JUDGE MANFRED LACHS: AN OBITUARY Manfred Lachs was one of those personalities whose intellectual abilities and engaging manner never failed to impress, and whose death caused much regret not only in a wide circle of international lawyers, but also among those who had the privilege of knowing him during his career as a diplomat or elsewhere. With his demise, on January 14, 1993, in The Hague, where he was still active as a Judge of the International Court of Justice, the community of international lawyers has lost one of its outstanding members. Manfred Lachs was born in 1914 in Stanislau, Poland. In 1937 he took his degree of Doctor Juris at the University of Cracow, did postgraduate studies in Vienna and Nancy and then went to London, avoiding and surviving the Nazi occupation of his native country, where all his family was killed. In London, Lachs attended courses at the London School of Economics, but he soon found himself engaged in other activities, doing his military service and joining the Polish Government in exile. It was during this period that he wrote his book on war crimes (1945). In 1946, he was appointed Legal Adviser to the Polish Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference. After World War II, Lachs's career can be clearly divided into several parts: the first as a diplomat, the second as a scholar and professor, lecturing and writing, and the third as a Judge of the International Court of Justice. As a diplomat, he served his country in the capacity of Minister Plenipotentiary during the late Fifties, and as Legal Adviser to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1960-1966. The second part of his career saw him as a Professor of Political Science· and International Law at the University of Warsaw. He also went lecturing at universities all over the world, many of them honoring him with a degree honoris causa. What attracted his special attention to the field of international law were the settlement of disputes and arbitration. As early as 1949, he was already a member of the Arbitral Tribunal for the Interpretation of the Constitution of UNESCO, and since 1956 a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He also devoted a great deal of his attention and energy to the work of the United Nations and when the start of the space age captltted his imagination, he took a keen interest in space law right from the beginning. From 1962-1966, he was Chairman of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, where he exercised considerable influence during the drafting of the Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies of 1967, the Treaty that is the cornerstone of space law. More than 20 years later his book, 'The Law of Outer Space' (Leiden, 1972), has lost little or none of its actuality, not only because of the philosophical elements it contains, but because of his prognostics of future developments. In 1992, not long before 1 2 JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW Vol. 22, Nos. 1 & 2 his death, he told me that he intended to write another book on space law, but with a special emphasis on its unique characteristics and structures and on mapping out policies for the future. In 1967, yet another important function was taken on by Lachs when he was nominated as a Judge of the International Court of. Justice. He was President from 1973-1976 and served the Court with great distinction for many years, becoming its longest-serving judge. A skillful and experienced man, he provided most valuable comments, and his opinion was very influential. One of the cases I would like to mention was the dramatic Lockerbie case in which he expressed a dissenting opinion and made it clear that he wished political and legal issues would be handled separately. In addition to all his other activities Lachs was also Vice-President of the Curatorium of the Hague Academy of International law. There, in 1980, he gave a memorable 3-week course on International Public Law which brilliantly reflected his profound knowledge of the fundamentals of international law. Among the subjects he treated during that fascinating course were the interpretation of law, customary law, the axiomatic 'pacta sunt servanda' rule, the origins of 'jus cogens', (Collected Courses 1980, Vol. IV, p. 201), the peaceful settlement of disputes, gentlemen's agreements of the equality of States, and even the danger of chemicals. The very variety of subjects provides some measure of the range of his powerful intellect. Finally, to conclude the long list of functions held by this extraordinary scholar, it may be recalled that during the Congress.