Assessment of Existing Procedures. Procedures for dispute settlement in international space law are few and far in between. There are no provisions for compulsory dispute settlement. The 1968 Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space28 and the 1974 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space29 both do not contain any special provision for the solution of conflicts. The 1972 Convention on Liability for Damage Caused by Objects Launched into Outer Space30 constitutes an exception to this rule. For claims for compensation for damage, more elaborate regulations were consented to and a specific Claims Commission proceeding was instituted. This peculiarity of international space law can be explained in the light of the opinions and political preferences of many governments at the time of the elaboration of the UN space treaties.31 The majority of the delegations to UN COPUOS were averse to accepting undue or comprehensive obligations on this point of law. The original intention of the drafters of the UN space treaties was to outline general broad-spectrum principles and legal guidelines for future space activities.32 Space activities then, were still in an experimental embryonic phase. Upon the occurrence of disputes or conflicts, governments preferred to resort to the traditional confidential, non-legal means of diplomatic intercourse. Governments evinced a patent partiality in such circumstances to initiate direct negotiations. They would only resort to mediation, conciliation or other non-binding dispute settlement procedures when those first negotiation attempts had failed to reach a solution. There was an obvious reluctance to have recourse to any binding third party dispute settlement mechanism such as arbitration or adjudication.33 The rapid advancement of scientific discoveries and technological progress was another motive for the lack of enthusiasm to incur additional obligations with respect to compulsory dispute settlement procedures. Political and eco- 28Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space, (1968), adopted on 19 December 1967, opened for signature on 22 April 1968, entered into force on 3 December 1968. (1968) 672 UNTS 119, 29Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space (1974), adopted on 12 November 1974, opened for signature on 14 January 1975, entered into force on 15 September 1976, (1976) 1...
