INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T02051R000200380010-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 7, 2011
• Sequence Number: 10
• Content Type: MISC

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VII.8 International and Foreign Policy Considerations
The following section has been drafted with the understanding a is mandatory
for a bidder to propose development and operation of a follow-on earth remote sensing
s tem to the present Landsat 4/D'. Acquisition and operation of the Landsat 4/D'
sTstem is optional.
Transfer of the Landsat program will require the U.S. Government and the future
private operator to address three broad problem areas: (1) conformity of private
operation with applicable laws (I.E. international treaty obligations and export control
legislation). Such conformity will be required of private operators of both the Landsat
4/D' and follow-on earth remote sensing systems: (2) availability of data for
international use. This issue will also apply to operators of both the Landsat 4/D' and
follow-on earth remote sensing system (See Section VII.8.2.B. i-iii below); (3) relations
with foreign Landsat ground station operators. Differences in approach to this issue
between private operation of the present Landsat 4/D' system and follow-on systems are
set forth in Section VII.8.3.B. below
1. Applicable Laws
A. International Treaty Obligations
Current United States policies and practices regarding the Landsat systems and
programs are embodied in a number of international obligations. Principal among these
are:
(i) The 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of
States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space ... which stipulates, inter alia, that
member States shall be responsible for all activities in outer space of their nationals,
whether Government agencies or non-governmental entities;
(ii) The 1973 Convention on International Liability for Damage
Caused by Space Objects. Which makes member Governments fully liable for damage
caused by space objects under their registration, whether such objects are
launched/operated by Government agencies or non-governmental entities;
(iii) The 1976 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into
Outer Space. Which holds member States responsible for notifying appropriate
international authorities of all objects launched into space by their nationals, whether
Government agencies or non-governmental entities, and holds member States responsible
for seeing that such objects are properly registered with appropriate international
authorities.
B. Export Control Legislation
(i) Arms Export Control Act of 1976. Which authorizes the Chief
Executive and his designees to control articles in furtherance of world peace and the
foreign policy and national security of the United States. All satellites, related ground
support equipment, and related technical data are subject to the export controls
established under the 1976 Act, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations on
international traffic in arms. Therefore, should an American private operator of earth
remote sensing systems wish to export to foreign countries equipment and technologies
ILLEGIB
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relating to the satellite portion of the system/program, he would require licensing
approval from the Office of Munitions Control, Department of State. If the private
operator wished to export to foreign countries equipment and trechnologies relating to
the ground segment of the earth remote sensing system, he would require licening
approval from the Department of Commerce.
C. Obligations
(i) Private owner(s)/operator(s) of the Landsat and/or follow-on
earth remote sensing systems shall be (a) United States firm (s) as set forth in sections III
and V above;
(ii) Private owner(s)/operator(s) shall obtain the prior
approval/concurrence of the U.S. Government on all matters involving:
(a) overall U.S. space and export control policies, and
international treaty obligations;
(b) relations of the private owner(s)/operator(s) with foreign
governments, agencies, or international bodies;
(c) other m atters specifically identified in this section VII.8.
(iii) Private owner(s)/operator(s) shall provide 30 day advance
notification of negotiations with foreign governments, agencies or business entities as
well as international bodies so that the U.S. Government may advise him (them) of
relevant foreign policy concerns and/or provide such assistance as may be deemed
appropriate;
(iv) All notifications and requests for approval/concurrence,
concerning matters governed by this Section VII.8 shall be directed to the Goverm ent's
Contracting Officer identified in SectionV. Government decisions shall be made or
communicated through the mechanism set forth in Section III.
(v) To ensure that the proposer understands the issues involved,
each proposal shall include, in addition to the matters required elsewhere in this Section,
the plans and procedures to address the international and foreign policy issues mentioned
herein, as well as when and how the proposer will provide the required notifications or
requests for approval/disapproval.
2. Data Availability for International Use
A. Background
Since the inception of the U.S. Government Landsat program over a decade ago,
data have been provided to international users on an equal, open, non-discriminatory
basis. At the time of the launch of ERTS (Landsat) 1, concerns were raised
internationally about the potential of countries with land remote sensing capabilities to
derive and exploit exclusive information concerning the natural resources of lesser
developed countries. These concerns led to discussions in the United Nations and other
organizations of mechanisms which might be used to restrict or restrain certain aspects
of remote sensing from space. In response, the United States took the following steps
which have muted international efforts to restrict land remote sensing from space:
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(i) Declared that Landsat data were available to anyone who
wished to use them. To implement this declaration, a central depository for all U.S.
processed data was established at the EROS Data Center and data were sold to any
person or nation without discrimination as to timeliness or price;
(ii) Promoted and encouraged other nations to build and operate
their own facilities to receive and process Landsat data, and agreed to turn on the
transmitter (subject to technical limitations) whenever the satellite was within range of
such foreign ground stations in exchange for a yearly access fee;
(iii) Further encouraged regional distribution of Landsat data by
making it a condition of the agreement to turn on the satellite's transmitter over a
foreign ground station so that these stations would also distribute processed data to other
nations without restriction;
(iv) Encouraged participantion of foreign nationals in U.S. research
programs and, in some cases, funded research by foreign nationals and provided financial
support for operational applications demonstrations. Scientists and technicians from
developing nations were trained to understand the use of Landsat data and to support
research or economic/social objectives of each interested nation;
(v) Set fees to purchase Landsat data from the EROS Data Center
at the cost of reproduction. This had the effect of not preventing poorer nations from
purchasing and using Landsat data.
(vi) Established a cooperative arrangement with France, Japan and
the European Space Agency (ESA) through the CLOS (Coordination on Land Observing
Satellites) to coordinate international research and development and maximize technical
parameters in land remote sensing.
B. Obligations
In order to encourage and promote private commercial operation of the L andsat
system/programs, the U.S. Government is willing to grant (the) potential private
owner(s)/operator(s)/vendor(s) the following:
(i) Exclusive ownership of all data produced by the Landsats under
his (their) management; acknowledging the copyrightable character of this data and the
right of (the) owner(s)/operator(s) to protect his (their) copyright interests;
(ii) Subject to the obligations with regard to foreign Landsat
ground stations set forth below, exclusive right to distribute data internationallly from
Landsats under his (their) management, including the right to enter into
data/pricing/finance systems contracts of his (their) own determination with any foreign
ground station operators (this shall include the right to negotiate with foreign Landsat
ground station operators limits of liability, definitions of terms under which contracts
shall cease, procedures for the settlement of disputes, and other miscellaneous
provisions);
(iii) The above provisions will extend fully to any follow-on earth
remote sensing system to Landsat D' developed by the private owner(s)/operator(s) during
the lifetime of the contract, with the stipulation that (the) private owner(s)/operator(s)
comply fully with the provisions regarding U.S. Government consultation and approval set
forth in Section VII.8.1.C above.
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The private owner(s)/operator(s)/vendor(s):
(i) Shall conform their earth remote sensing programs (both
Landsat 4/D' and follow-on systems) as closely as is commercially possible to traditional
U.S. Government practices of providing civil land remote sensing satellite data to all
users on an open, equal, non-discriminatory basis;
(ii) Shall consult with and obtain the approval of the U.S.
Government before instituting major changes in intermational data processing and
distribution practices, to ensure that sure that changes are in conformity with the
international obligations and foreign policy objectives of the U.S.;
(iii) Shall recom mend the ways and means, terms and conditions
under which U.S. Government agencies shall obtain sufficient Landsat (and follow-on
earth remote sensing systems') data to ensure those agencies adequate data to meet their
space technology assistance and other international program m atic/research needs. The
agencies will endeavor to inform (the) private owner(s)/operator(s) of forthcoming
requirements through the Government oversight mechanism described in Section III.
Additionally:
(i) (The) private owner(s)/operator(s) may wish to suggest ways
and means by which he (they) may obtain maximum informational flow and
operational/technical benefits from continued U.S. Government participation in the
CLOS.
3. Foreign Ground Receiving Stations
A. Background
The U.S. Government presently has or is negotiating agreements with a dozen
foreign Landsat ground receiving/processing/transmission stations around the world. The
specific provisions of these agreements are set forth in the draft standard Memorandum
of Understanding between N O A A and foreign Landsat ground station operators at
Appendix (copies of specifically concluded M 0 U's with several foreign Landsat
ground station operators may be found in the SE B Library at N B O C 11420, Rockville,
Maryland).
The current international Landsat ground station network has provided the U.S. and
foreign station operators with measurable benefits and has enhanced U.S prestige and
foreign policy objectives in outer space, while providing U.S. Landsat operation agencies
(NASA, N OAA) with significant annual revenues in the form of yearly access fees from
the foreign ground station operators.
B. Obligations
(i) During the lifetime of private operation of the current L andsat
program, the private operator is not required to retain existing U.S. Government
arrangements with foreign Landsat ground stations. However, it is in the U.S. interest to
encourage relations between a private U.S. earth remote sensing operator and foreign
ground receiving/processing/transmission stations. (The) private Landsat
owner(s)/operator(s) shall obtain the concurrence of the U.S. Government before
terminating or initiating agreements with an existing or prospective foreign Landsat
ground station operator, and must obtain U.S. Government concurrence prior to making
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changes in operational procedures which could adversely affect U.S. foreign policy
interests.
(ii) Federal Government review of private operators' applications
to make changes in relations with foreign ground stations during the lifetime of Landsats
4 and/or D' is not susceptible to hard and fast guidelines and criteria. In general,
responsible Federal agencies would have to balance existing foreign policy
considerations-including m aintance of U.S. technical leadership and mutually benificial
relations with foreign Landsat ground station operators--with the objective of promoting
resonable c o m m ercial returns for the private operator.
(iii) In proposing operation of a follow-on system to Landsat D',
bidders are encouraged to propose ways and means by which the present international
network of foreign earth remote sensing ground receiving/processing/transmssion
stations can be continued during the remainder of the lifetime of the contact.
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