International arrangements on whatever scale (bilateral, multilateral, regional, near-global or global) would appear to give the SPS program a substantial boost both psychologically (prestige-wise) and materially, particularly if developed countries like West Germany and Japan participate. As intimated beforehand, it would also take off the edge of the charge of injustice and inequity advanced by the equatorial countries. Also, once such agreements are negotiated, it is unlikely that countries would create difficulties in relation to the use of geostationary orbit by invoking claims of sovereignty or the 'common heritage' principle or with respect to frequency allocation or perhaps even exposure standards. All in all, a cooperative program on the international level would likely speed up rather than retard the development of the SPS. Should an international cooperative effort for the development of the SPS prove completely unsuccessful—which appears somewhat unlikely—the United States could still continue its own development program and put its conscience to rest in the firm knowledge that current practices and recognized principles of international law are fully supporting the principle of freedom of use of outer space, that the geostationary orbit area is in outer space, that it is not subject to claims of sovereignty or national appropriation, and that the United States has made a good faith effort to attempt to implement in a concrete manner what has been up to now only a very broad statement of policy, namely the 'common interests' principle.
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