An international regime for remote sensing-problems and prospects

Abstract The question of an international regime for the regulation of remotesensing activities has been under active consideration for a number of years. The main problems that seem to preclude agreement at the United Nations seem to be national security, sovereignty and commercial considerations of the developed and developing countries. The main issues on this relate to the ‘right to sense’ and ‘the right to disseminate’ the data obtained from sensing. The underlying reasons why these are outstanding issues (even though they are never openly stated) are the ‘sensitivity aspects’ of remote sensing. In the 1980sthis complex problem is bound to be further complicated due to higher resolution, commercialization and the increase in the number of countries launching remote-sensing satellites. A critical analysis of existing international law seems to indicate that there are two kinds of remote sensing–active sensing and passive sensing. While in a strict legal sense passive sensing may be construed as legiti...