76. Action Memorandum From the Director of the Bureau of
Politico-Military Affairs (Spiers) to the Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs (Porter)1
2
Washington, March 26, 1973
Registration of Space Objects
Following your approval of the proposal to introduce a new US draft Space Registration Convention early
in the March 26–April 20 session of the UN Outer Space Legal Subcommittee (LSC), action officers in PM,
IO, L
and USUN have informed interested
governments of our intentions and sought support for the US draft. In particular, we have taken pains
to be open and forthright with the Canadians and French since their
draft Registration Convention (which contains provisions unacceptable to
the USG) is currently before the LSC.
We have also instructed USNATO and our
Embassies in NATO capitals to make a
pitch. This tactic was adopted as a means to alert the
political-military officials in NATO
capitals to the military/intelligence implications of the Space
Registration Convention and to generate support by NATO allies both in and outside the LSC for the US draft. That this gap needed to be bridged became
apparent after our first encounter with the Canadians. Follow-up
consultations with the Canadians have insured that the
military/intelligence officials in the Canadian Government, who share
our concerns re the extensive reporting requirements in the
Canadian-French draft and who understand how such requirements might
jeopardize US military space interests,
are aware of our proposal and will make an input in the Canadian policy
making process.
There is a very good chance that the same lack of internal interchange we
discovered in Canada exists in the case of France. To date the
Registration Convention issue appears to have been handled primarily by
the lawyers in the French Foreign Ministry, with the concurrence of the
Service des Pactes. If we are to obtain a sympathetic, or perhaps even
favorable response to the US draft from
the French, we should seek support from the French Defense Ministry
which may some day face the same security issues now confronting us.
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Recently, the French Minister of Defense, M. Debre, said that future
French defense interests will require a military reconnaissance
satellite capability. Possibly the Defense Ministry would share many of
the same defense-related concerns that the USG has with regard to the Canadian-French draft
Registration Convention, and might be persuaded that the US draft is more in tune with overall,
long-term French national security interests than the present
Canadian-French proposal.
Recommendation:
That you call in the French Ambassador, M.
Kosciusko-Morizet, immediately after the US tables its draft Registration Convention
on March 27, and ask him (along the lines of the attached talking
points) to make sure that M. Debre and other senior French officials
concerned with broad national security considerations are aware of the
problems posed by the current Canadian-French draft Registration
Convention to military space programs in general. You should, on the
basis of these points, solicit French support for the US draft (which, incidentally, borrows
heavily from the Canadian-French text).
Approve _____________
Disapprove ___________
[Page 3]
Tab A
Suggested Talking Points for Meeting with
French Ambassador, M.
Kosciusko-Morizet on Space Registration
Convention
After welcoming amenities, it is recommended that you make the
following points to Ambassador Kosciusko-Morizet:
- —The UN Outer Space Legal
Subcommittee, which is currently in session in New York,
once again has space registration as a priority item on its
agenda>.
- —A combined Canadian-French draft Space Registration
Convention is before the Legal Subcommittee.
- —The Government of France is well aware that certain
provisions in the Canadian-French text are unacceptable to
the USG.
- —The USG is principally
concerned with some of the detailed reporting requirements
contained in the Canadian-French text which could seriously
compromise certain US
military space activities.
- —The technical and highly classified nature of certain
US military space
activities make it extremely difficult for the USG to debate its case in an
open, international forum such as the Legal
Subcommittee.
- —This inability to articulate its case fully makes it
difficult if not impossible for the USG to delete the unacceptable provisions of
the Canadian-French text through negotiations in the Legal
Subcommittee. Thus, the USG
decided it could best protect its vital military space
interests by introducing a revised draft Registration
Convention at the opening of the Legal Subcommittee.
- —A Space Registration Convention as such would not benefit
the USG substantially.
However, the USG
acknowledges the legitimate concern of many other countries
less experienced in the space field who desire some legal
mechanism to link to the launching state and to identify
space objects which have caused damage or injury. Indeed,
the USG believes that the
one justifiable purpose of a Registration Convention is to
fill the gap in the present legal framework, thus
facilitating the processing of claims under the Space
Liability Convention.
- —The USG is not prepared
to accept a Registration Convention with a broader scope,
and, in particular, is opposed to using a Registration
Convention as a mechanism to extend international control in
outer space.
- —Recently M. Debre has stated in press interviews on a
number of occasions that future French defense interests
will require a reconnaissance satellite capability. Thus,
the France Defense Ministry may find that it shares many of
the same defense-related concerns that the USG has with regard to the
Canadian-French draft Registration Convention. Indeed, M.
Debre and his defense colleagues might find the US draft more in tune with
overall, long-term French national security interests than
the present Canadian-French proposal.
- —The US draft Registration
Convention borrows heavily from the Canadian-French text.
The USG is not interested in
identifying its draft as a unilateral, US initiative. Given the
extensive French effort to produce a Space Registration
Convention, the USG would
particularly welcome French support for and, if possible,
co-sponsorship of the revised US draft.
If Ambassador Kosciusko-Morizet asks about the specific provisions
in the Canadian-French text which the USG finds unacceptable, it is recommended that you
respond:
- —The USG objects to the
provision (Article IV of the Canadian-French draft) on
marking of space objects. US
objections are based more on economic and technical grounds
rather than on security considerations. To mark all space
objects (which by definition includes all component parts)
with the designated object number is not only impractical
from a technical point of view, but would require
significant expenditures as well. Such an effort would not
be commensurate with the marginal utility in identifying
space objects which may have caused damage or injury.
- —On security grounds, the USG objects to certain provisions contained in
Article V of the Canadian-French draft. For example, certain
military space activities could be compromised by revealing
such things as “physical characteristics” of the satellites
(V. 1. (F)) or description,
including
[Page 5]
identifiable features, of components likely to withstand
reentry (V. 1. (G)). Also, we
would not wish to furnish reentry data on military systems,
which present virtually no threat to population areas, but
could be compromised if precise information on timing and
impact area were in unfriendly hands, (V. 1. (I)). Some of these requirements go far
beyond what is necessary to meet the legitimate
identification concerns of many states.
[Page 6]
During your meeting with M. Francois de La Gorce (who will be Charge
at the time of the meeting), it is recommended that you make the
following additional points after covering the points prepared for
Ambassador Porter to use with
the French Ambassador:
- —we have received word from the US Mission to the UN that the French representatives have
indicated that they did not intend the Canadian-French draft
Registration Convention to apply to French military space
activity. We find this report astonishing.
- —the broad body of space law that has been developed over
the past decade does not distinguish between civilian and
military space activity. No such distinction is made in the
Outer Space Treaty, the Astronaut Rescue and Astronaut and
Space Object Return Agreement, or the Space Liability
Convention. We do not believe such a distinction should be
made in a Space Registration Convention either; nor that it
is indeed possible given tenor of UN discussion over the years.
- —indeed, the US and USSR, as well as others, have
reported all space launches (i.e. objects which have gone,
into earth orbit or beyond) under the voluntary system which
had been in operation for the past ten years. The USG would object to the
conclusion of a space registration convention which would in
effect be a step back from the current practice.
- —the US draft Registration
Convention was specifically designee to take US military space interests into
consideration. Since it would seem likely that the French
military would be required to observe the provisions of what
ever Registration Convention emerges from the UN Legal Subcommittee (assuming
of course that the GOF decides to participate in the
Convention), we believe it would be useful for the Ministry
of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take
another look at the US draft
with French military space interests specifically in
mind.
