delegations were of the opinion that a conventional boundary should be necessary, namely, a boundary established by a multilateral international convention. Some of these delegations expressed support for the proposal made by the delegation of the U.S.S.R. concerning the establishment of a conventional boundary at an altitude not higher than 100-110 km above sea level. Other delegations convinced that a conventional boundary was necessary, stated that definition and/or delimitation of outer space should also contain provisions on the geostationary orbit. But there were also delegations who were not in favour to establish a definition and/or delimitation. They mentioned that till now the absence of it had not given difficulties and moreover an arbitrary definition and/or delimitation could lead to complications because of the inability of most countries to observe and control a designated boundary and could impede further developments in space science and technology. A few delegations favoured the functional approach. About the geostationary orbit various opinions were expressed. As these are very recent opinions it may be interesting to cite them. One of the views was that the geostationary orbit, due to its physical characteristics and technical attributes, was a limited natural resource of a sui generis character and that equatorial states exercised sovereign rights over these segments of the orbit which were above their territories. Therefore the geostationary orbit should also be taken into account in a definition and/or delimitation of outer space. Another view expressed was that an equitable legal régime ought to be established to ensure that the geostationary orbit, which was a limited natural resource, was utilised for the benefit of all countries and in particular the developing countries. Some delegations stated that the geostationary orbit was an integral part of and inseparable from outer space and was thus not subject to claims of national sovereignty. Others stated that the question of equitable access to the geostationary orbit in the light of the needs of all countries was a matter to be provided for through international machinery such as the ITU. The question of the geostationary orbit is under consideration in the Scientific and Technical SubCommittee and the discussions of that sub-committee should also be taken into account. Some delegations referred to resolution BP of the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference of the ITU which, inter alia, stated that “attention should be given to relevant technical aspects concerning the special geographical situation of particular countries.” In the opinion of some of these delegations, the relevant parts of that resolution were meant to refer to polar and certain tropical and desert countries where geographical conditions affected signals from satellites, and that they were not meant to give any preferential rights to equator countries. Others said that the provisions of that resolution did seek to provide for the special interests of equatorial states (15). As is clear from the aforementioned, the subject of the geostationary orbit is quite a complicated one and it will take some time before the different views can be unified into an acceptable legal structure. To continue with the tracing of legal rules around our subject in the different space treaties it is quite evident that the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts etc. is not relevant to our subject. But the Third Space Treaty on Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects is certainly of great importance. This could be applicable regarding the liability for injury and damage caused by energy transmission from solar satellites. According to this treaty the launching state will be liable in conjunction with the state that has constructed the engine and the state from whose territory the satellites have been launched. The liability is based on the principle of absolute liability, so the state is liable regardless of fault. This is done with the view that space activities could
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