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von der Dunk, Frans --- "International trade aspects of space services" [2015] ELECD 261; in von der Dunk, Frans (ed), "Handbook of Space Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015) 814

Book Title: Handbook of Space Law

Editor(s): von der Dunk, Frans

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781000359

Section: Chapter 15

Section Title: International trade aspects of space services

Author(s): von der Dunk, Frans

Number of pages: 60

Abstract/Description:

With the increasing commercialization, even privatization, of substantial sectors of space activities the inherently international aspects of those activities also start to touch upon issues of free trade and market access in the global arena. In the context of satellite communications, as part of the larger sector of telecommunications, this has already given rise to inclusion into the GATS regime underpinned by the WTO, whereby in many cases the cross-border provision and consumption of satellite communication services is now subject to free trade provisions under that regime. In other space sectors, however, the GATS/WTO regime has not (yet) been made to apply, even as gradually similar issues arise as regards a global level playing field. In the launch services sector, in particular, for some time bilateral agreements were drafted amongst the few relevant states to address market access issues; at the same time, disputes about unfair government subsidies in the sector continue to arise. As very high resolution data may push for a truly commercialized market environment to arise in satellite remote sensing, as satellite navigation services may in some instances also turn into a viable commercial business sector, and as private commercial spaceflight operations may soon involve a number of potential spaceports around the world, the same or similar issues regarding the need for, alternatively desirability, of a global level playing field need to be addressed. Chapter 15 consequently addresses the various relevant space sectors from this perspective: respectively to what extent has such a global level playing field already arisen, should it arise, and to what extent could the appropriate legal instruments to achieve it be found within the GATS/WTO framework – as opposed to separate multilateral or bilateral arrangements, and unilateral initiatives achieving such results ‘bottom-up’. Finally, it should be understood that, whilst trade in services (as much as trade in goods under the GATT) obviously concerns terrestrial activities, at least for the foreseeable future only indirectly touching upon the satellite operations, those space operations in an increasingly commercialized and privatized environment depend more and more upon the feasibility and viability of such downstream activities. In other words: increasingly the terrestrial international trade regimes under GATT/GATS/WTO law have a distinct impact also on the upstream space operations, and therefore should not be left out of a comprehensive analysis of the law relevant for space activities. The origins of substantial aspirations and efforts to establish a global regime regulating international trade, and in particular trying to liberalize such international trade, go back to the worldwide economic crises of the late 1920s and 1930s, the Second World War, and their aftermath, including the gradual evolvement of the opposition of capitalist and communist ideologies and systems. On the one hand, there was the concern that competition for markets and the desire to strive for economic autonomy had to a considerable extent fuelled the belligerence of several nations playing a key role in igniting the Second World War. On the other hand, at least on the Western side of the Cold War divide, two more general perceptions played a major role: that international trade would be a major tool both to help avoid the poverty and economic crises which had also contributed to the war breaking out, and at an even more ideological level, to generate the global understanding which should hopefully heighten the barriers to racism, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination which rose to such shocking levels in the course of the Second World War. Finally, though this remained largely implicit, international trade, in particular its liberalization, would help to counteract the communist ideology which was taking hold on the Eastern side of the fence, soon to turn into the major opponent in a Cold War determining geopolitics for the next four decades.