The Joint AEROSAT Evaluation Programme

Abstract

The Joint AEROSAT Evaluation Programme has been established by several European States, the United States and Canada in response to recommendations of the 7th Air Navigation Conference of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (IACO) held in April 1972 in Montreal. This group of 11 States has agreed to conduct a single international progranne of experimentation and evaluation in order to facilitate the application of satellite technology to international civil aviation needs. The institutional arrangement devised for such a joint international programme is defined in a Memorandum of Understanding, which was executed in 1974 between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Space Agency (ESA), representing the European States, and Canada, with provisions for participation by other countries in the future. An AEROSAT Council was established to oversee this international cooperative effort. The authority and responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of the Coordinated Programme rests with the AEROSAT Coordination Office (ACO), which was established in June 1975.