Page:The Air Force Role In Developing International Outer Space Law (Terrill, 1999).djvu/50

 earlier been circulated in preliminary form. The Air Doctrine Branch study group members recommended that their conclusions form the basis for Air Force policy on the question of sovereignty over outer space. In February 1959 General White reiterated the continuum doctrine in testimony before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics when he stated, “Since there is no dividing line, no natural barrier separating these two areas (air and space), there can be no operational boundary between them. Thus air and space comprise a single continuous operational field in which the Air Force must continue to function. The area is aerospace.” Because he used the term aerospace, General White received some sharp criticism from members of the other services, in the press, and from Congress. He never retracted the term and the criticism eventually subsided. Clearly, the Air Force had dug in its heels on defining where outer space began. While recognizing that international conventions regarding outer space law might be forth-coming the Air Force was not, about to encourage their adoption. The struggle between those desiring to see the development of outer space law based on custom and precedent and those seeking resolution