Space Technology, Marine Data Collection and UNCLOS

Abstract

Space technologies and their implications for Law of the Sea did not come under serious discussion during the UNCLOS III negotiations. The disagreement between space faring States and the majority of sensed States, as to the potential uses of remote sensing data, led to the exclusion of the issue from the negotiations. It was therefore decided that any further discussion should take place within the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

However, the technological advancement since the 1970s, the growing demand for access to remote sensing data and the broadening of uses for it, have once more put the issue of remote sensing and its Law of the Sea synergies in the spotlight. Data use relating to maritime security, marine environment protection and national security have raised the importance of remote sensing activities and created difficult and interesting questions as to the rights and limits of both sensing and sensed states. This paper will try to pinpoint the rules connecting LOS and space conducted remote sensing, the potential uses of such data and the contemporary approach to its regulation.

Keywords: Remote sensing, Law of the Sea, Maritime Security, Space Technologies, Marine Environment Monitoring, National Security

JEL Classification: K33