إشكالية استخدام المدار الثابت في القانون الدولي العام

Abstract

The problem of the legal regime of the outer space is related directly to the legal regime governing the geostationary orbit situated on the Equator, and which is far from Earth surface about thirty six thousand (36000) kilometer. This position allows the geostationary satellites to orbit the Earth with its same rotation speed, and remaining stationary to this latter and fixed in the same point. As one satellite situated in the geostationary orbit may cover a quarter of Earth surface, three of them are enough to cover the whole planet. To understand the legal and political importance of this orbit, it should be noted that one of the most uses of the outer space, at present, are those intended for telecommunication. The majority of satellites used for this purpose are fixed in the geostationary orbit. The advantages of this position to these satellites are obvious, so the bands of the used geostationary orbit are more required. As a first step to determine the legal regime of the geostationary orbit, the international community was divided, in the seventies, into two blocs. On one hand, the equatorial countries which affirmed their sovereignty over the segment of the orbit situated on their territories. On the other hand, the spacefaring countries and other countries, considering the geostationary orbit as a part of the outer space. The legal regime of the geostationary orbit remains a challenge in the Public International Law. This is due to the overall legal principles of which it is subject to, and which seem contradictory for some. The fact that it is a limited natural resource should be understood, without prejudice to its advantage as common heritage for mankind, along with stressing the necessity to restrict its use for peaceful purposes, and for rational, just and effective exploitation. Besides, telecommunication and direct dissemination through satellites, as two excellent uses of the geostationary orbit, face two principles of the International Law, namely, the State Sovereignty on its territory, and the free flow of information as one of the fundamental rights of human being. Finally, as other outer space uses, the geostationary orbit uses are subject to the international responsibility rules. The users of this space shall respect the international responsibility provisions stipulated by the international legal texts in this field. As regards the last tackled problem, it should be noted that this huge number of space debris in the geostationary orbit constitutes a big threat, not only on space missions’ security, but on human life on Earth as well.