FAQS about an ISS Authority
By Bob Werb

Discussions with numerous people have led to a number of questions about the ISS Authority that need answers.

1. Must the Authority be international?
2. Can the Authority be limited to utilization?
3. What are the high level goals of the Authority?
4. How is the Authority to be governed?
5. What are the limits of the Authority's authority?

6. How does this Authority differ from NASA's proposed NGO?
7. Are Authorities subject to patronage deals, corruption, etc?
8. How does this differ from the International Seabed Authority?
9. How will the taxpayers recover their investment in the ISS?


1. Must the Authority be international?

Some people have proposed that it would somehow be easier for each of the space agencies to form their own governing Authority to run their own parts of the ISS. This would create more problems than it solves.

This is an International Space Station and its management must be international!

An authority that does not embrace all the elements of the ISS raises some very hard questions that its proponents must answer before they can be taken seriously. Some of these are:
- Who sets the visiting vehicles rules?
- Who determines schedules?
- What laws apply?
- How are contracts enforced?
- How are prices set?
- Are these new landlords bound by all the previously negotiated international barter agreements?
- What are the relationships between the various landlords?
- What is the relationship with the PCT (international body administering and enforcing patent law between countries)?

These are easy questions to answer for a newly formed International Authority.

2. Can the Authority be limited to utilization?

An Authority limited in this way would really be little more than an exclusive broker and would address none of the basic problems that the authority is being formed to solve. Only by embracing all of the activities conducted on and near the facility as well as all of its physical elements can the Authority be in a position to prevent conflicts from arising among the various stakeholders. This in no way precludes any or all of the users of the station from forming organizations that are empowered to represent them in their dealings with the Authority. Nor does it preclude the Authority from assigning any of its rights and responsibilities to other people or organizations in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors.

3. What are the high level goals of the Authority?

The fundamental reason for forming the ISS Authority is that it will better serve the goals of the governments and citizens of those countries that have invested large amounts of resources in the ISS. The big goals of the program are scientific, diplomatic and commercial. Our interpretation of how to translate those goals into a mission statement for the authority follows.

- Ensure safety in and around the ISS for all participants in ISS-related activities.
- Enforce the rule of law in and around the ISS, as per international agreements.
- Promote the greatest possible productive use of the ISS and its environment to benefit the citizens of partner nations, and all humanity.
- To achieve efficiency in ISS operations, foster a free and competitive marketplace for ISS-related goods and services.
- Promote and facilitate the improvement and expansion of the International Space Station and its capabilities.
- To promote peaceful cooperation among all humankind.
- To start the process of insuring the long-term survival of our species.

4. How is the Authority to be governed?

The various transportation, environmental and research authorities around the world are governed in a wide variety of ways. It is too soon to determine the precise form that the Authority should take. The ISS partner nations are quite capable of negotiating a format that would serve all their interests as well as the interests of the ISS.

The key here is that the authority governs itself in a manner that is both fair to the citizens of the various nations involved and efficient. The nature of the ISS requires the ability to make quick and clear decisions without a lot of second-guessing by the member governments. It is also essential that the governing structure be independent of the various owners, tenants, brokers, contractors, suppliers and customers.

5. What are the limits of the Authority's authority?

One of the greatest strengths of an Authority as an organizational form is its enormous flexibility. At the same time, it is essential that clear limits be imposed on the ISS Authority to assure that it continues to serve the interest of the nations that created it in the first place. One possible list of three follows:

- The Authority shall not own stock or participate in the financial or business operations of any ISS tenant, customer, contractor or supplier.

- The Authority shall not expand into businesses not directly related to its responsibilities.

- The Authority shall not conduct non-safety ISS operations, but instead shall contract them out.

6. How does the proposed Authority differ from NASA’s proposed NGO?

NASA’s proposed NGO is essentially an outsourcing of the US portion of science and commercial activity on board the ISS. It is designed to address a completely different set of concerns than the proposed International Space Station Authority. The proposed NGO is not international and it does not control operations. The NGO would seem to be a step in the right direction because it would create a quasi-private customer focused on US funded ISS science and commercial activities.

7. Are Authorities subject to patronage deals, corruption, etc.?

Yes. Authorities are government/public entities that are set up to provide the opportunity for private entities to do things, such as run airlines, explore space, etc. As such, their employees are subject to the same temptations as government employees and if an Authority is created it will need to impose the same sort of constraints on the activities of those employees. Because this particular Authority will receive an unusual amount of public scrutiny, it should be less prone to these sorts of problems than some other Authorities.

8. How does this differ from the International Seabed Authority?

The only things that this proposal has in common with the International Seabed Authority are the words "International" and "Authority." The International Seabed Authority was set up to promote "the equitable utilization of [seabed] resources, the conservation of their living resources, and the study, protection and preservation of the marine environment." It "solemnly" declares "that the area of the seabed and ocean floor and the subsoil thereof, beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, as well as its resources, are the common heritage of mankind, the exploration and exploitation of which shall be carried out for the benefit of mankind as a whole, irrespective of the geographical location of States." The effect of this has been to effectively prevent any private use of the international seabed (which depending on your point of view is either a good or a bad thing.)

The proposed ISS Authority would not operate for the common heritage of mankind but for the joint interests of the states that created it and there are no living resources to protect in Earth's orbit. The ISS Authority would hopefully promote peaceful cooperation among all humankind but it would do so by promoting the greatest possible productive use of the ISS and its environment.

9. How will the taxpayers recover their investment in the ISS?

There is no realistic possibility of a near term, direct recovery of any significant part of the development costs of the ISS. Just like government funding for the development of freeways and airways the motivation for government spending is that it stimulates the economic and cultural development of society. Over the long term as our civilization moves out into the solar system a wide variety of new human activities will become important, new energy and material resources will become available and the tax base will expand.


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Contents copyright © 2001 James Muncy, Rick Tumlinson, Bob Werb