International Mobile Satellite Organization
The International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) is the intergovernmental organization that oversees certain public satellite safety and security communication services provided via the Inmarsat satellites. Some of these services concern:
- Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
- Search and rescue co-ordinating communications
- Maritime safety information (MSI) broadcasts
- Aeronautical mobile satellite (route) service, or AMS(R)S, through compliance with the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
- General communications
The International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMSO) was established under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization by the Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organization, signed at London on 3 September 1976 and entered into force on 16 July 1979. The Assembly of the IMSO decided to rename the organization to the International Mobile Satellite Organization (Inmarsat) in December 1994. The IMSO was reestablished by the Convention on the International Mobile Satellite Organization signed at London on 24 April 1998 and succeeded INMARSAT on 15 April 1999.
After the succession, the Inmarsat space segment and operational business were transferred to Inmarsat plc, a newly created private company based in the UK, with the IMSO overseeing the public services obligations of the company pursuant to an agreement concluded between IMSO and Inmarsat Ltd. An agreement between the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the IMSO was signed in Montreal, Canada, on 20 September 2000 and addresses the relationship between ICAO and IMSO.
As of 2014, Inmarsat has 98 state parties.
- Information on the activities of international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations relating to space law, United Nations General Assembly Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Legal Subcommittee, 49th session, 8 March 2010
- Amendments to the Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organization with Operating Agreement, 9 December 1994
- "Amendments to the Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organization with Operating Agreement".
- Proposed Amendments to the Convention on the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO), Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, 14 May 2003
- Member states.