ABSTRACT
Appropriation of outer space must be distinguished from ownership of objects launched into outer space. A well-organized system for registration of objects may be essential to the development of space stations. In 1968, the subcommittee produced the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space. The international law applicable to operations in space is mostly the product of the United Nations and its Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (CPUOS). CPUOS and its Legal and Scientific and Technical Subcommittees have together produced several applicable international documents. Dispute has arisen regarding the minimum standard of universality that would determine whether an international organization would be implicitly exempted from the rule of nonappropriation. The nonappropriation principle is likely to affect the activities associated with space stations that involve either consumption of space resources or utilization of the geostationary orbit.
