ASSIGNMENT

Q. Which theory of demarcation of space law supports of “common heritage of mankind” in

space and discourages state sovereignty?

Ans. The main innovation included in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Montego Bay in 1982,Unclos is the concept of common heritage of mankind. While other
important new aspects of the Unclos, such as the exclusive economic zone or the regime
relating to the protection of the marine environment, are the result of the natural evolution of
international law of the sea, the concept of common heritage of mankind has a revolutionary
character. It presupposes a third kind of regime which is different from both the traditional
regimes of sovereignty, applicable in the territorial sea, and of freedom, applicable on the
high seas. The idea of the common heritage of mankind was launched in a memorable speech
made at the United Nations General Assembly on 1 November 1967 by the representative of
Malta, Mr. Arvid Pardo. The practical opportunity for proposing a completely new regime
was given by the technological developments which were expected to allow in a relatively
short time the commercial exploitation of poly-metallic nodules lying on the surface of the
deep seabed and containing minerals such as manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper.

Space exploration is heating up. Governments and private interests are on a fast track to
develop technologies to send people and equipment to celestial bodies, like the moon and
asteroids, to extract their untapped resources. Near-space is rapidly filling up with public and
private satellites, causing electromagnetic interference problems and dangerous space debris
from collisions and earlier launches. The absence of a global management system for the
private commercial development of outer space resources will allow these near space
problems to be exported further into the galaxy. Moreover, without a governing authority or
rules controlling entry or limiting despoliation, outer space could turn into the “Wild West”
of the twenty-first century. Space treaties executed in the last century espoused the principle
that space should be developed for the benefit of all mankind and banned both private
ownership and militarization of space resources.

1. They left development of a system for managing non-military activities in outer

space to another day.
2. Private commercial interests, which would be absorbing the risks and paying the
high costs of space development, oppose any management scenario premised on that
principle, as it would enable less developed countries to free ride on their
investments.
3. These interests, unsurprisingly, support privatizing outer space.
4. But acceding to their wishes by establishing a system of property-based rules would
transport Earth’s current division between haves and have-nots into outer space, and
could lead to destabilizing hostilities—the exact consequences that the early treaty
drafters hoped to avoid.