APPENDIX THE BOGOTA DECLARATION* Representatives of the States situated on the Equator met in Bogota, Republic of Colombia, from 29 November to 3 December 1976 for the purpose of studying the situation with regard to the geostationary orbit corresponding to their national land, sea, and island territory, considered as a natural resource. After an exchange of information and having studied in detail the different technical, legal and political aspects involved in the exercise of national sovereignty by States over this orbit, they reached the following conclusions: 1. The geostationary orbit as a natural resource The geostationary orbit is a circular orbit in the equatorial plane in which the period of sidereal revolution of the satellite is equal to the period of sidereal rotation of the Earth and the satellite moves in the same direction as the Earth's rotation. When a satellite describes this particular orbit, it is said to be geostationary; such a satellite appears to be stationary in the sky when viewed from the earth, and is fixed at the zenith of a given point on the Equator, whose longitude is by definition that of the satellite. This orbit is located at an approximate distance of 35,871 km above the Earth's Equator. The equatorial countries declare that the synchronous geostationary orbit is a physical fact arising from the nature of our planet, because its existence depends exclusively on its relation to gravitational phenomena caused by the Earth, and that for that reason it must not be considered part of outer space. Therefore, the segments of the synchronous geostationary orbit are an integral part of the territory over which the equatorial States exercise their national sovereignty. The geostationary orbit is a scarce, natural resource whose importance and value is increasing rapidly with the development of space technology and with the growing need for communication; therefore, the equatorial countries meeting in Bogota have decided to proclaim and defend on behalf of their peoples the existence of their sovereignty over this natural resource. The geostationary orbit represents a unique facility which it alone can offer for telecommunication services and other uses requiring geostationary satellites. The frequencies and orbit of geostationary satellites are natural resources fully accepted a,s such under the current rules of the International Telecommunication Union. Technological progress has caused a continuous increase in the number of satellites using this orbit, which could lead to saturation in the near future. *For a text of the Declaration, see EL ESPECTADOR (Columbia), December 7, 1976, p. 13A. For the English translation, see ITU, Broadcasting Satellite Conference, Doc. No. 81-E (Jan. 17, 1977), Annex 4.
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