Promoting research and education in basic space science: the approach of the UN/ESA workshops

UN-affiliated regional centres for space science and technology education are being established or are in operation in Africa (Morocco, Nigeria), Asia and the Pacific (India), Latin America and the Caribbean (Brazil, Mexico), and Western Asia (Jordan). Education curricula at the university level, embracing remote sensing, satellite communications, satellite meteorology, and space science have been developed for these centres. This article briefly reports on the structure of the most recent updated education curricula in the four disciplines that have been made available for implementation in 2002 and 2003, in the six official languages of the United Nations. This is also an effort to bridge the gap between such education curricula as they vary significantly between nations and among educational institutions in nations.     

Registration of the 12 December 2012 satellite launch by North Korea: Should UNOOSA have accepted it?

The transmittal letter from North Korea to the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs in January 2013 of the registration of the placement in orbit of the North Korea satellite, Bright Star 3-2, in December 2012 raised a number of interesting legal issues. Specifically, the United Nations Security Council had adopted Resolution 2087 on the 22nd of January 2013 that condemned that North Korean launch due to the use of ballistic missile technology and that the launch was in violation of two prior UN Resolutions. The status of the satellite itself was not addressed in Resolution 2087, and the question of whether the satellite should be registered by the UNOOSA was unclear. This note concludes that the UNOOSA was legally bound to register the satellite under the terms of the Outer Space Treaty and the Registration Convention.     

Space Agency Forum prepares UNISPACE III

On 19-20 May 1998 the German Aerospace Center (DLR) hosted the Space Agency Forum (SAF) at Berlin. The meeting was dedicated to the preparation of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), which will take place in July 1999. It was attended by 16 space agencies and international organisations from Europe, North- and South America as well as Asia. In this report, first UNISPACE III will be introduced and then the results of the SAF meeting will be reported.     

United Nations Human Space Technology Initiative (HSTI)

The Human Space Technology Initiative was launched in 2010 within the framework of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications implemented by the Office for Outer Space Affairs of the United Nations. It aims to involve more countries in activities related to human spaceflight and space exploration and to increase the benefits from the outcome of such activities through international cooperation, to make space exploration a truly international effort.     

The UN and space — 1990 review

In its 44th session the United Nations passed resolutions endorsing International Space Year and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, both scheduled for 1992. Together they provide for global efforts to understand and protect the Earth and its environment. N. Jasentuliyana, Director of the Outer Space Affairs Division at the UN, outlines their significance.     

Aiding astronomy in developing nations: Japanese ODA

In order to promote education and research in developing nations, the Government of Japan has been providing developing nations with high-grade equipment under the framework of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) cooperation programme since 1982. Under this successful cooperation programme, 24 astronomical instruments have been donated to 19 developing nations up to the end of the Japanese fiscal year 2003. The instruments donated included university-level reflecting telescopes, as well as modern planetaria used for educational purposes, together with various accessories. This paper reports on a continuation of the previous ODA donations and the subsequent follow-up programmes provided with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the cooperation with the Programme on Space Applications of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA). It also describes how aid applications should be pursued.     

Committee on the peaceful uses of outer space

The first artificial earth satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched on 14 October 1957 and proceeded to orbit the Earth blithely unconcerned with the political boundaries below. It was apparent that space activities had international implications. In the United Nations, the question of space activities was first raised in 1957 in the context of the debate on disarmament. In 1958, the ‘Question on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space’ was placed on the agenda of the General Assembly, which adopted a resolution establishing an Ad Hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).     

Keeping the peace in outer space: a legal framework for the prohibition of the use of force

Outer space is an area of growing economic and technological importance. It is also a developing theatre of military defence and warfare. Against this backdrop, development of a legal framework on the use of force in outer space is of critical urgency. This paper proposes a framework for the development of international law in this area and also assesses the effectiveness of the current state of international law governing the prohibition on the use of force in the context of outer space. It expands upon a proposed role for the United Nations and outlines a proposed enforcement mechanism for the law on the use of force in outer space. This proposed framework rests on a three-tiered system involving an International Tribunal for Outer Space, an International Space Surveillance Agency and an International Space Inspection Agency, co-ordinated through a Secretariat under the auspices of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs. The paper also provides a proposed Protocol on International Peace and Security to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty as a means of establishing the proposed enforcement mechanism. Finally, the paper looks at the complexities involved in developing the law, and moots immediate steps for its development.     

地球静止轨道空间碎片的处置

介绍了国际机构间碎片协调委员会提出的关于地球静止轨道（GEO）空间碎片问题的研究结果和碎片处置的建议，主要内容包括：GEO与GEO环的概念、EGO上物体现状，EGO空间碎片处置的基本原则和8条具体处置措施建议。该建议已于2000年2月提交联合国和平利用外层空间委员会科技小组委员会第37届会议。     

Trends in the global space arena – Impact on Africa and Africa's response

Since the establishment of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Exploration and Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in 1959, many actions that affect the advancement of the space frontier have been taken, within and outside COPUOS, in the interest of the global community, but without much input from Africa. Yet a number of African countries have joined those with assets in space, albeit without the necessary infrastructure on the ground. These actions vary in scope, in importance and in participation; however, they affect us all. Examples include the legal instruments that are in operation today for the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space, sustainability of the outer space environment and the Global Exploration Strategy– Framework for Coordination (GES–FC), conceived by 14 spacefaring nations; this laid out the details needed for an active global space exploration programme. This paper reflects on existing space-related regional cooperation arrangements at the inter-governmental level, including the African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development (ALC). Noting that, despite UN General Assembly endorsement of the need for developing countries to have access to the International Space Station (ISS), almost all in Africa have not, it asks what Africa might gain from such an experience. The paper concludes with an examination of where and why Africa needs to focus its immediate space-related efforts – on the ground here on Earth or in outer space?     

A European view on UNISPACE III follow-up

Preparations for the third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) were intense. The conference itself was a success. But what forms will the follow-up take? Just reading the 150-page report is an effort in itself. Having played a central part in the preparations and organization, Europe fully appreciates the need to build on the spirit of cooperation which emerged from UNISPACE III. In November 1999, the European States gathered to analyze the results of the conference and to set a course for their future participation in the United Nations Programme on Space Applications (UNPSA), which is mainly done through ESA, and for their participation in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), which is done through coordination among ESA Member States. This article presents the authors’ personal accounts of the results of the European efforts around UNISPACE III and shows how ‘European foreign policy’ can work in international space policy. It also seeks to illustrate Europe's commitment to putting space technology to work for the benefit of development throughout the world.     

Developing countries and remote sensing: how intergovernmental factors impede progress

Developing countries lag significantly behind more advanced nations in the local adoption and application of satellite remote sensing technology. Narrowing this gap through appropriate international cooperation is, however, often constrained by national interests and priorities. The paper presents an overview of several of these inter-governmental constraints using as its main basis the outcomes of recent regional and international conferences hosted by the United Nations. Future enhancement of international cooperation in remote sensing will occur best within settings where both developing and technologically advanced countries are sensitive and responsive to each other's concerns.     

Decision program on asteroid threat mitigation

The Association of Space Explorers Committee on Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and its Panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation have prepared a decision program to aid the international community in organizing a coordinated response to asteroid impact threats. The program is described in the ASE's report, Asteroid Threats: A Call for Global Response, which will be considered by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in its 2009 sessions. The findings and recommendations of this report are presented here as well as some of the major implications of the complex decision-making involved in developing a coordinated international response to the challenge of protecting the Earth from NEO impacts.     

International Heliophysical Year 2007: Basic space science initiatives

The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, through the IHY Secretariat and the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI), assists scientists and engineers world-wide to participate in the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) 2007. A major thrust of IHY/UNBSSI is to deploy arrays of small, inexpensive instruments such as magnetometers, radio telescopes, GPS receivers, all-sky cameras, etc. around the world to allow global measurements of ionospheric and heliospheric phenomena. The small instrument program is envisioned as a partnership between instrument providers and instrument hosts in developing nations, with the former providing the instruments, the host nation the manpower, facilities and operational support, typically at a local university. Funds are not available through IHY/UNBSSI to build the instruments; these must be obtained through the normal proposal channels. All instrument operational support for local scientists, facilities, data acquisition, etc. will be provided by the host nation. The IHY/UNBSSI can facilitate the deployment of several of these networks and existing databases and relevant software tools will be identified to promote space science activities in developing nations. Extensive data on space science have been accumulated by a number of space missions. Similarly, long-term databases are available from ground-based observations. These data can be utilized in ways different from those originally intended for understanding the heliophysical processes. This report provides an overview of IHY/UNBSSI, its achievements, future plans and outreach to the 192 member states of the United Nations.     

The role of the united nations in promoting international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was established in 1959 by the United Nations General Assembly in order to review and foster international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space and to consider legal issues arising from the exploration of outer space. Since its establishment, the Committee has addressed such issues as benefits from space activities, the definition and delimitation of outer space and the use of the geostationary orbit, implications of remote sensing, space sciences, space-based communications, navigation and meteorological systems, as well as use of nuclear power sources in outer space, space debris and spin-off benefits of space technology. At its session in 1996, a symposium on the ‘Utilization of micro- and small satellites for the expansion of low-cost space activities, taking into particular account the needs of developing countries’ was organized by COSPAR and IAF to complement discussions on this theme. It was noted at the symposium that the increasing number of small satellites, in particular the proposed introduction of multi-satellite ‘constellations’ at low orbits, would result in concentrations of satellite mass at certain regions of space around the Earth. Special provisions would be needed to minimize the probability of satellite breakups and collisions which might create more space debris and compromise the future of spaceflight.     

Review of the work of COPUOS in 2009

This report summarizes recent activities of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space as carried out by its two subcommittees on scientific and technical, and legal, matters, respectively. Deliberation covers the whole range of civil space activity, with an emphasis on implementing the recommendations of Unispace III and promoting the use of space-based services in developing countries. Discussions expected in the second half of 2009 are also reviewed.     

Space debris and the world community

In the early years of space flight the United Nations rapidly developed the principles which now govern outer space activities. In contrast, international agencies have during the 1980s proved reluctant to confront the escalating problem of space debris, presumbly for fear of the likely expense of remedial action. The author of this Viewpoint argues that not all the necessary measures need be expensive, and even the most unpalatable would be cost effective in the long run. But concerted action is urgently needed before the problem becomes unmanageable. International discussions must be initiated through the Committee on the peaceful Uses of Outer Space without delay.     

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute's education and public outreach program: Working toward a global 21st century space exploration society

Space Exploration educators worldwide are confronting challenges and embracing opportunities to prepare students for the global 21st century workforce. The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), established in 1997 through a NASA competition, is a 12-university consortium dedicated to space life science research and education. NSBRI's Education and Public Outreach Program (EPOP) is advancing the Institute's mission by responding to global educational challenges through activities that: provide teacher professional development; develop curricula that teach students to communicate with their peers across the globe; provide women and minority US populations with greater access to, and awareness of science careers; and promote international science education partnerships.A recent National Research Council (NRC) Space Studies Board Report, America's Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Program with National Needs, acknowledges that “a capable workforce for the 21st century is a key strategic objective for the US space program… (and that) US problems requiring best efforts to understand and resolve…are global in nature and must be addressed through mutual worldwide action”. [1] This sentiment has gained new momentum through a recent National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) report, which recommends that the life of the International Space Station be extended beyond the planned 2016 termination. [2] The two principles of globalization and ISS utility have elevated NSBRI EPOP efforts to design and disseminate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational materials that prepare students for full participation in a globalized, high technology society; promote and provide teacher professional development; create research opportunities for women and underserved populations; and build international educational partnerships.This paper describes select EPOP projects and makes the case for using innovative, emerging information technologies to transfer space exploration knowledge to students, engage educators from across the globe in discourse about science curricula, and foster multimedia collaborations that inform citizens about the benefits of space exploration for life on Earth. Special references are made to educational activities conducted at professional meetings in Austria, Canada, France, China, Greece, Italy, Russia, Scotland and Spain.     

The United Nations Programme on Space Applications: Status and direction for 2010

The United Nations Programme on Space Applications was established in 1971 to assist countries in making full use of the benefits of space technology and its applications for social and economic development. Since its inception the programme has organized numerous training courses, workshops, seminars and conferences and provided funding support for more than 10?000 experts, mainly from developing countries, to participate in those activities. The programme has continuously evolved over four decades, taking into account the latest developments in the field of space activities, to best serve the capacity-building needs of countries and to help ensure that space-based solutions contribute to improving life on Earth. This report describes the status and direction of the UN Programme on Space Applications as recommended for approval by the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) Scientific and Technical Subcommittee at its 47th session held in Vienna in February 2010.     

The new debate on the working methods of the UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee

The 2014 session of the Legal Subcommittee (LSC) of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) saw a particularly extensive and thorough debate on the working methods of this forum, which has the status of the highest body in space law making. By discussing the working methods it also became apparent how delegations actually regard the LSC and what expectations they have from it. In a time of considerable changes in space activities and space diplomacy alike, it was only a matter of time that such a comprehensive discussion arose. And while it did not immediately lead to decisions, it provided numerous signals for the future of the LSC.