TheDeclaration of the First Meeting of Equatorial Countries,also known as theBogota Declaration,is a declaration made and signed in 1976 by eightequatorialcountries, and was an attempt to assertsovereigntyover those portions of thegeostationary orbitthat continuously lie over the signatory nations' territory.[1]These claims have been one of the few attempts to challenge the 1967Outer Space Treaty,but they did not receive wider international support or recognition. Subsequently, they were largely abandoned.[2]
Background
editThe Outer Space Treaty is atreatythat forms the basis of internationalspace law.The treaty was opened for signature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on 27 January 1967, and entered into force on 10 October 1967. In this time period, many countries in Africa and Asia were either newly independent or still in the process ofdecolonizationfrom its former European colonizers.[3]The treaty's ban on claims of sovereignty in space was interpreted differently by some of the newly independent countries, who saw the great powers of the time using their power to shape the laws that governed extraterritorial domains to their benefit.[3]
Bogota Declaration
editRepresentatives ofEcuador,Colombia,Brazil,Congo,Zaire(in 1997 renamed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo),Uganda,Kenya,andIndonesiamet inBogotá,Colombia in 1976 and signed the declaration, thereby claiming control of the segment of the geosynchronous orbital path corresponding to each country,[4]and argued that the segments above thehigh seaswere the "common heritage of mankind"and ought, therefore, to be collectively governed by all nations.[3]They claimed that the space above their territories did not fall under the definition of "outer space" by the 1967Outer Space Treatyand was, therefore, a "natural resource".[5]This would have led to a space ownership issue of practical importance, seen the satellites present in thisgeostationary orbit,whose slot allocations were managed by theInternational Telecommunication Union(ITU). These claims were seen as violating the 1967Outer Space Treatyand did not receive wider international support or recognition. Subsequently, they were largely abandoned.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"Text of Declaration of the First Meeting of Equatorial Countries".Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.2007-01-23.Retrieved2013-06-04.
- ^abGangale, Thomas (2006),"Who Owns the Geostationary Orbit?",Annals of Air and Space Law,31,archived fromthe originalon 2011-09-27,retrieved2011-10-14.
- ^abcDurrani, Haris (19 July 2019)."Is Spaceflight Colonialism?".The Nation.Archivedfrom the original on 9 April 2022.
- ^Representatives of the States traversed by the Equator (December 3, 1976),"Declaration of the first meeting of equatorial countries",Space Law,Bogota, Republic of Colombia: JAXA,archivedfrom the original on November 24, 2011,retrieved2011-10-14.
- ^"The Outer Space Treaty has been remarkably successful – but is it fit for the modern age?".27 January 2017.
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