Regulation of space activities: 1958-1963

Thus, once again it was pointed out that "The activities of States in the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried on in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations..." (paragraph 4) [11].

At the same time, it was also indicated that "The State on whose registry an object launched into outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, and any personnel thereon, while in outer space. Ownership of objects launched into outer space, and of their component parts, is not affected by their passage through outer space or by their return to the earth" (paragraph 7) [11].

Therefore, based on this Declaration, the jurisdiction of States was extended to objects belonging to them in outer space - that is, beyond their territories on planet Earth.

However, it is worth noting that this rule does not regulate relations among astronauts outside the space vehicle as well as relations among private and non-governmental entities of space activities. Moreover, this rule does not apply to any relations on the territory of celestial bodies.

At the same time, it should be noted that at last the UN General Assembly has established one of the most important conditions for space activities, namely, the responsibility for space activities:

"States bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, whether carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried on in conformity with the principles set forth in the present Declaration... When activities are carried on in outer space by an international organization, responsibility for compliance with the principles set forth in this Declaration shall be borne by the international organization and by the States participating in it"(paragraph 5) [11].

It was also found that "Each State which launches or procures the launching of an object into outer space, and each State from whose territory or facility an object is launched, is internationally liable for damage to a foreign State or to its natural or judicial persons by such object or its component parts on the earth, in air space, or in outer space" (item 8) [11].

According to this condition, States and international organizations that carried out space activities in violation of the principles of this Declaration as well as States that caused damage by their space activities could be held liable. However, it should be noted that this Declaration completely lacks responsibility for space activities related to celestial bodies.

The following was also established: "If a State has reason to believe that an outer space activity or experiment planned by it or its nationals would cause potentially harmful interference with activities of other States in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, it shall undertake appropriate international consultations before proceeding with any such activity or experiment. A State which has reason to believe that an outer space activity or experiment planned by another State would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment" (paragraph 6) [11].

In turn, it is necessary to understand that all of the above rules will work only if all States openly and honestly report on their space activities.

However, the most significant moment of the Declaration of Legal Principles can be called the provisions which read as follows "States shall regard astronauts as envoys of mankind in outer space" (paragraph 9) [11].

The UN General Assembly and the States that signed the Declaration, by this provision, secured for the astronaut the legal status of a subject of space activity, which does not fall under the jurisdiction of any State (and, accordingly, does not fall under the jurisdiction of the UN), but is "envoys of mankind".

As a result, such an astronaut status implied further development of elements for the settlement of relations among astronauts in outer space. However, at that time, this had not been performed.

Conclusion

Tasks of space activity. In the process of developing space activities, States under the auspices of the UN gradually formed a list of tasks, the solution of which was necessary for the implementation of further international space activities.

Probably, the first and most important task at this stage may be the task of forming international bodies and organizations on the regulation of space activities.

Although this task was not announced directly in the resolutions, its implementation was carried out constantly, through the creation and/or involvement in space activities of many international bodies and organizations.

First of all, based on the UN GA Resolution 1348, the "Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space" (hereinafter referred to as the Committee on Space Research, COSPAR) was established.

Further, based on the UN GA Resolution 1721, such international organizations as the "Economic Council", "The Social Council", "The Special Fund", "The Expanded Program of Technical Assistance", "The World Meteorological Organization", "The International Telecommunication Union" were involved in space activities.

Also, it was proposed to participate in the space activities of a scientific non-governmental organization, namely, the "International Council of Scientific Unions".

The task of continuing activities on the research, exploration, and use of outer space may be referred to as the second most important task, which in various variations is repeatedly mentioned in all the UN General Assembly Resolutions.

Also, already at the initial stage, in the UN GA Resolution 1348, the UN General Assembly declared the need for "the development of programmes of international and scientific cooperation", "organization of the mutual exchange and dissemination of information on outer space research", "co-ordination of national research programmes for the study of outer space" [8].

Thus, the third task of space activity was formed, which in general can be designated as international cooperation in outer space activities.

Later, it was repeatedly noted in various UN General Assembly Resolutions and the Declaration of Legal Principles.

And of course, one should not obscure the fact that already in the UN GA Resolution 1348, the UN General Assembly pointed out the need to establish "the nature of legal problems" [8]. Subsequently, under the UN GA Resolution 1802 (which was mainly devoted to legal issues), the necessity to "elaborate of basic legal principles governing the activities of States in the exploration and use of outer space" [14] was stated.

In addition, it should be noted that the states quickly realized the threat posed by space vehicle and their parts for the population and aircraft performing passenger and commercial flights. In this regard, the UN GA Resolution No. 1802 indicated the need to establish "liability for space vehicle accidents" [14]. Thus, it became necessary to create legal elements of responsibility for space activities.

Also, the issue of the return of the space vehicle and its parts that fell to Earth as well as the astronauts who landed outside the territorial jurisdiction of their states of registration began to be discussed almost immediately. In this regard, it became necessary to develop rules according to which states "assist to return of astronauts and space vehicles" [14] (the UN GA Resolution No. 1802).

All these actions testified to the emergence of a new most important task of space activities to develop space law.

The first result of solving this problem was the adoption of the Declaration of Legal Principles, which was signed by the majority of the UN member states.

Later on, the tasks acquired a more substantive character.

Thus, under the UN GA Resolution 1721, the UN General Assembly pointed out that "communication by means of satellites should be available to the nations of the world... on a global and nondiscriminatory basis" [13] as well as the need "to make allocations of radio frequency bands for outer space activities" [13] was outlined. At the same time, the UN GA Resolution 1802 said that the result of the available satellite communication would be "the expansion... and facilitating contact among the people of the world" [14].

Therefore, the UN General Assembly formed the fifth important task of space activities, the purpose of which was to create accessible satellite communication.

Unfortunately, despite the loftiness of this goal, the availability of satellite communication for all states does not mean that it is accessible to all people.

Moreover, this task was formulated by the UN General Assembly either inaccurately or not completely.

As a result, it remains unclear what the concept of "satellite communication availability" means. Perhaps this means that any state has the right to launch satellites and organize satellite communication, or maybe it means that any state has the right to use satellite communication created by other states. Although, to achieve the goal of "the benefit of mankind", this concept should mean that for every person on the planet, satellite communication should be either free or should cost the same price for all people (based on the payment possibilities of the population of the poorest state).

However, at this stage, this issue has not been resolved and remained only as an idea.

And of course, one cannot ignore the proposal of the UN General Assembly made in the UN GA Resolution 1802 to create a network of "rocket launching facilities" (polygons) on the geomagnetic equator of the Earth to launch sounding rockets under the leadership of the UN.

The solution to this task in the future would make it possible to achieve one of the most important goals of space activities - to make space activities accessible to everyone.

Separately, it is necessary to draw attention to some omissions of the UN General Assembly at this stage. For example, the task of determining the spatial and territorial jurisdiction of States in terms of the delimitation of the airspace of States and outer space has not been set. Also, the issue of regulating the relationship among astronauts, private companies, and nongovernmental organizations in outer space was not raised at all.

The concept of cooperation and mutual assistance in space activities.

At the same time, it should be noted that despite many differences in approaches to the organization and development of space activities, the UN managed to consolidate states at some point and begin the formation of one of the most important concepts in this area, which can be conditionally called the "Concept of cooperation and mutual assistance in space activities".

Thus, already in the UN GA Resolution 1348, the UN General Assembly drew attention to "the great importance of international co-operation in the study and utilization of outer space for peaceful purposes" [8], and to the fact "that such co-operation will promote mutual understanding and the strengthening of friendly relations among people" [8]. In this regard, the UN General Assembly stated that "the development of programmes of international and scientific co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space should be vigorously pursued" [8].

However, the most important proposal within the framework of this Concept was the proposal "to avoid the extension of present national rivalries into this new field" (preamble of the UN GA Resolution No. 1348) [8].

Further, to implement the "Concept of Cooperation and mutual assistance in space activities", the UN General Assembly adopted the decision to establish "an ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space" [8], which was immediately assigned many tasks for organizing international cooperation.

However, initially, there was virtually no cooperation in space activities. On the contrary, after the launch of the USSR space vehicle with Yuriy Gagarin on April 12, 1961, a new era in the space confrontation between the USSR and the USA called the "Moon Race" began [5, c. 355]. At the same time, the United States did not even hide the fact that NASA's international cooperation should be carried out only taking into account the interests and benefits of the United States, and no other countries [6, c. 120]. As reported by Kenneth S. Pedersen, NASA even developed its principles for organizing international cooperation in the interests of the United States, which, however, have never been codified and formalized [6, c. 121]. According to these principles, each party to the agreement develops and provides discrete pieces of hardware or clearly defined services using its technology, so that cooperation takes place across 'clean interfaces' [6, c. 121]. At the same time, each party finances its work and any exchange of funds is held to an absolute minimum, and NASA retains overall project management and operational control [6, c. 121].

Nevertheless, we shall pay tribute to the Assembly, who continued to promote the idea of cooperation and by December 14, 1962, presented its report with a list of promising international cooperation programs, including in the field of "atmospheric science research" as stated in the UN GA Resolution 1802.

Moreover, in the same Resolution, the UN General Assembly proposed that States create a network of "rocket launching facilities" (polygons) on the geomagnetic equator of the Earth for launching sounding rockets under the leadership of the UN, which would allow everyone to participate in the exploration of space and our planet.

This had its effect already in 1965 when the United Nations sponsorship was granted to the Thumb Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in India, and later, when United Nations sponsorship was granted to the Argentine Launching Station named CELPA Mar del Plata [5, c. 14].

Further, the Declaration of Legal Principles also stated the need to carry out "the exploration and use of outer space in interest of maintaining international peace and security and promoting international co-operation and understanding" [11].

Moreover, the initiative of the UN General Assembly on international cooperation was enshrined in the form of one of the legal principles in this Declaration, namely, "In the exploration and use of outer space, States shall be guided by the principle of co-operation and mutual assistance and shall conduct all their activities in outer space with due regard for the corresponding interests of other States" [11].

At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that none of the proposals for international cooperation take into account celestial bodies. As can be concluded from the above documents, the UN General Assembly and the Member States stubbornly did not discuss the issue of cooperation in the field of research and the use of celestial bodies.

Hence, it can be assumed that the leaders of the states specifically avoided such cooperation, hoping to colonize celestial bodies on their own. That is, they continued to act based on colonial remnants of the past and did not learn to act for the benefit of all mankind.

Taking into account the above, as of the end of 1963, this "Concept of cooperation and mutual assistance in space activities" could be formulated as follows:

"The exploration and use of outer space should be only for peaceful purposes, in the interest of maintaining international peace and security, the strengthening of friendly relations among peoples, and promoting international cooperation and mutual understanding. In the exploration and use of outer space, States shall avoid the extension of national rivalries, shall be guided by the principle of co-operation and mutual assistance, and shall conduct all their activities in outer space with due regard for the corresponding interests of other States".

In essence, compliance with this Concept was supposed to lead to global international cooperation and free States from competition in the space race. At the same time, as Yun Zhao correctly noted, such a cooperation should have been carried out on conditions of genuine justice and took into account the real technical potential of developing and underdeveloped states and the assistance that technologically developed states can provide them [16].

However, unfortunately, despite the noble initiatives of this Concept, no global cooperation, except for some aspects, has been observed to this day. Moreover, competition in space activities has only intensified. States often do not exchange technologies, but trade them or close access to them. As Jonathan F. Galloway correctly noted, the cooperation of most states has turned into a side game, while the main technologically advanced states are playing a zero-sum game in which there must necessarily be a winner and a loser [4]. Perhaps the reason for such actions of states was the strategy of the behavior of the United States, which eventually turned into the principle of the space race: "Who controls low-Earth orbit controls near-Earth space. Who controls near-Earth space dominates Terra. Who dominates Terra determines the destiny of humankind" [18, c. 6-7].

Thus, this Concept has remained a concept without turning into real principles, conditions, and rules, except for attempts to organize mutual assistance and interaction in space activities.

At the same time, within the framework of this Concept, an uncertain attempt was made to build a Model of mutual assistance in the implementation of space activities by States.

The first step was a statement about the return of the landed astronauts, which was stated only in 1963 in the Declaration of Legal Principles, namely, "States shall regard astronauts as envoys of mankind in outer space, and shall render to them all possible assistance in the event of accident, distress, or emergency landing on the territory of a foreign State or on the high seas. Astronauts who make such a landing shall be safely and promptly returned to the State of registry of their space vehicle" [11]

In the same Declaration of Legal Principles, it was also indicated the return of "objects launched into outer space", namely, "Such objects or component parts found beyond the limits of the State of registry shall be returned to that State, which shall furnish identifying data upon request prior to return" [11].

In general, this model can be formulated as follows:

"States shall render to astronauts all possible assistance in the event of accident, distress, or emergency landing on the territory of a foreign State or the high seas. Astronauts who make such a landing shall be safely and promptly returned to the State of registry of their space vehicle. Objects launched into outer space or component parts found beyond the limits of the State of registry shall be returned to that State, which shall furnish identifying data upon request prior to return".

However, this is all that has been done on this topic. The terms of mutual assistance were not drawn up in the form of treaties and had neither a mechanism for execution, nor deadlines for execution, nor a mechanism for compensating the costs of such execution. These statements sounded more like requests not as terms of cooperation, and assumed only voluntary assistance, without observing any procedures and deadlines.

At the same time, it is interesting that this model reported the need for mutual assistance only among states and only about "objects launched into outer space or parts" and "astronauts" that landed on the territory of other states or the high seas. That is, it did not provide for the processes of interaction and mutual assistance among states in outer space about the same "objects launched into outer space" and "astronauts", and also did not provide for the process of interaction and mutual assistance among the astronauts. Moreover, this model did not consider at all the issue of participation in the interaction and mutual assistance of private and non-governmental space activities participants.

3.3. General conclusion. According to the results of this study, it is necessary to say that as of the end of 1963, the UN General Assembly had taken many steps in the field of regulation of space activities. Although not all ideas were implemented and not all proposals had a positive context for the development and welfare of mankind, all these actions can be considered an important attempt to resolve relationships in outer space and on celestial bodies.

It can be concluded that, in fact, during this period considering the international community it was already possible to speak about the existence of understanding of the main tasks and concepts of space activities as well as the contradictions and unresolved issues in this area.

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