Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-10-13

TONS jurisdiction ouer the
space above it goes. This dis
cussion OF the legal background
and current thinking on the
question is condensed, NTH per-
mission, from the United States
Ndrdl Institute Proceedings.
BY PHIL YEAGER
and JOHN STARK
One hundred and nifty years
have gone by since Stephen De-
catur demonstrated that:
The secs beyond reasonable coostol
oFeos ore free and subject to eoatFOl
By no single despot or notion. end
The sponsors Of ships OF SEQ must be
responsible Tor the eoadUet Of their
vessels.
The forces which motivated De-
eatur are once again the source Of
uncertainty. this time in relation
to an infinitely greater channel of
eommunication-outer space!
Much controversy exists not
only on questions of national con-
troll of airspace, which may be
hkened to territorial waters. but
on the boundaries and laws Of
outer space itself Yet as the
scientifically sophisticated nations
Of today join in launching the
first man-made satellites into
space. while in other arenas they
perfect their space-traveling pilot
less missiles Of war. the lessons
taught by Decatur have not been
forgotten.
The most influential contem-
porary thinking. in fact. leads in
eScapably to the conclusion that
basic maritime and naval princi-
pies. as they now apply TO the
high seas. must eventually be
: transferred to space. 1t is a propo-
sition which may appear at first
glance to be a matter Of natural
extension and simple logic.
The unacceptable" conclusion
may seem really just "foregone"
one. But this is not the case. Up
to now. there has been nothing
like agreement on any matter
pertaining to outer space. More
over. up to now only a small
minority was aware that the prob
lens Of space behavior are imme-
date
The problems are not simply
those OF the technicians. the engi-
neers. and the physicists. enor-
nous as their tasks may be. They
are the equally elusive and even
more dangerous problems Of hui
man relationships. Of national
military policies, Of international
rules. and Of world understanding
Cor misunderstanding as related
to mans first ventures into space.
Grove leeoI Hiotus
John C. Cooper. director Of the
Institute Of International Air Law
at McGill University, recently
stated the issue this way:
Flight instrumentoIities, such os
rockets, satellites, and other spoeseroft
do not foil within existing notionol or
international regulatory provisions. Nor
is there ony oereement oS to vhot. Il
ony, notionoI or international Feeula-
ton is applicable to Spoes obove the
atmosphere, where such rockets and
satellites will normally be used This
existing legal hiotus can leod TO grove
international misunderstanding II per-
mitted to continue TOO long"
In certain analogous cases this
has already happened. Many ma
tions. perhaps most Of them. are
extremely touchy about foreign
objects passing overhead.
Is the habitat Of the earth satel-
lite free space? Nobody knows
because the question of how far
"up" the territory Of any nation
extends has never been settled.
How shall the matter be deter
mined? On what basis? And by
whom?
All of these problems are be-
ginning to come TO head. More
over. they relate TO many points
in addition to that Of third dimen-
sional sovereignty. 1t must soon
be decided, for instance, just what
nations mean when they speak Of
aircraft" "airspace. "atmos-
phere." flight" territory" and
so on. Rights Of transit will have
to be defined and determined. as
will the nationality Of pilotless
aircraft or spacecraft and the LA
bility Of parent nations for their
conduct.
The latest international effort
toward working out air rights was
the Chicago Convention on Inter-
national Civil Aviation in 1914.
Most nations. including the United
States, are parties TO the Chicago
Convention. but Russia. China,
and other major Communist coun-
tries are not.
The significant part OF the Chi
cago pact says:
THE contracting states recog-
r that every state has complete
exclusive sovereignty of the
6 ace above its territory"
rcraft are given all the attri-
b of nationality by the Chicago
c Jention. But, and this is I'M
portant. neither the term "air-
space" nor the term aircraft" is
defined.
The present status Of space