This volume is about the sweeping technical and regulatory changes which have moulded the regulatory framework of space communications. WARC-92 introduced the LEO systems, WRC-5 confirmed the access of large international corporations to negotiating tables with member state representatives, and WRC-97 saw the first exchanges of rounds between North America and Western Europe in the global quest for new business markets. The forthcoming conferences of the 21st century promise to be challenging. The legal and institutional process, which charts such unprecedented technical revolution, is still primarily in the domain of international law experts. However, several other legal specialities also tackle space-based communications - trade, air navigation, culture, education - in intimate contact with legitimate profit-making concerns and strategic interest considerations. The text is organized around the traditional distinction between international satellite regulations (Part One) and regional satellite regulations; this second level deals with North American and Western European regulations (Parts Two and Three).
The outcome of this research is, first, to present the evolution of the regulatory framework of space-based communications, second, to underline the mounting importance of administrative regulations which tend to be granted a de facto status of standard laws and, third, to draw the attention of the public to the win-lose type of trans-Atlantic competition that is taking place on the global stage, that should change into a win-win scenario in the end.