Legal aspects of aeronautical mobile satellite services

This thesis deals with the technical and legal aspects arising out of the envisaged implementation of Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Services (AMSS) for civil aviation purposes, such as communication, navigation and surveillance.After a short introduction to the subject, Part A of this thesis will deal with the technical side of the subject and will introduce the reader to the current CNS/ATM-concept and its deficiencies (Chapter 1), and to the future CNS/ATM-concept and its benefits (Chapter 2).Part B will discuss the legal aspects of the implementation of AMSS for civil aviation purposes. Starting from the legal aspects of AMSS with respect ot the law of outer space (Chapter 3), it will explain the current regime of telecommunications developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and its impact on AMSS (Chapter 4). Then, the legal aspects of AMSS with respect to international public air law (Chapter 5) will be examined and some predominant issues with respect to the appropriate institutional framework to implement AMSS will be discussed (Chapter 6). Finally, the findings will be summarized in a conclusion