SPS International Agreements - Detailed

2025. However, only one satellite would suffice to "generate very substantial power for use on Earth." Structures as large as those identified above will be subjected to "orbital perturbations." Stationkeeping and attitude control will be obliged to meet clearly identified legal standards. The distance between such space objects will depend on their size and the methods available to manage their positions. Viewed in this light, and depending on the scientific and technological capabilities brought to bear on the subject, the contention that the orbital position is a limited natural resource becomes somewhat less meaningful. The issue then turns to the effective management of spectrum and orbit resources. A principal goal in the management of spectrum resources is to avoid radio interference. Techniques have been devised so that "radio systems can employ the same operating frequencies without mutual interference provided their radio signals are adequately distinguished by location, orientation and breadth of transmission paths, polarization of radiated energy or type of modulation . . . [as well as by] operating at different times."15 u.N. Doc. A/AC. 105/203, p. 17, August 29, 1977. Hearings, op. cit., p. 3. Ibid., p. 17. For a basic assessment of spectrum management, see The Radio Frequency Spectrum, United States Use and Management, Office of Telecommunications Policy, Executive Office of the President (1975). The study notes constraints on spectrum management including the fact that the spectrum is limited, it is not elastic, it is not flexible, and it does not follow national boundaries, pp. A-4-6. Walter R. Hinchman, "Issues in Spectrum Resource Management," in The Future of Satellite Communications, Resource Management and the Needs of Nations, The Twentieth Century Fund, p. 34 (1970).

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