Progress in basic space science education and research: The UNBSSI

This report describes recent progress in the UN Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI), which aims to facilitate space science education and research, and attendant resources in developing countries. In addition to holding workshops across the developing world, the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) successfully implemented the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) as a catalyst for improving understanding of the Sun and of solar-terrestrial physics. Building on this it is now preparing for the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI). Achievements of the former are discussed, as are the goals and anticipated activities of the latter.     

The origins of the “Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities” initiative at UN COPUOS

The success of space-based systems worldwide, providing services to society and satisfying defence and security needs, has led to a situation where outer space is increasingly crowded. In addition, the rapid proliferation of space debris threatens the safe utilization of outer space on the most commonly used orbits. Beyond the mitigation of the orbital debris threat, additional measures will be needed to ensure the safety and security of activities in outer space for the long-term. This article describes the initiative to introduce a new agenda item in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), first presented to COPUOS delegations in 2007, which led to a formal decision in 2009. This in turn led to the establishment of a dedicated Working Group of the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee in 2010, with a work plan leading to a report and associated recommendations in 2014. Some references are made to other initiatives affecting space security, such as the Russia–China draft treaty (PPWT) tabled at the Conference on Disarmament and the EU-proposed Code of Conduct.     

Recent and future activities of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs

This article discusses the development, and the current and future work, of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs. The Office is active both as a source of information, education and training on space and as a secretariat to COPUOS and its Subcommittees; it also performs a role in the monitoring and implementation of various space-related legal treaties. Presently—and as part of the drive to use space to improve life on Earth—the bulk of its work is guided by the Vienna Declaration produced at UNISPACE III.     

Space Debris at the United Nations

Rules for activities in outer space are agreed upon in the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space of the United Nations. Several international treaties have been adopted in the 1970s, that is, at a time before space debris became a concern for the international community. In the years 1979–1988 numerous documents were prepared by the UN Secretariat on space debris, but no official discussions of the problem were initiated by states members of the COPUOS. First proposals for introducing the matter to the UN appeared around 1988, after important studies on the subject were published by states and leading intergovernmental organizations. Also the International Telecommunication Union became concerned about the proliferation of space debris in the geostationary orbit and adopted in 1993 a recommendation to restrict the generation of debris and to re-orbit satellites approaching the end of their active lives into disposal orbits beyond the belt populated by active satellites. In 1994, the UN started discussing scientific and technical aspects of space debris. In the following years, with the assistance of experts from prominent space agencies, it elaborated a Technical Report on space debris. Legal aspects of the problem have not yet begun being discussed because the necessary consensus among states members of the COPUOS has not yet been achieved. Very recently, the UN received first information on a wider subject, space traffic management.     

Quo vadis COPUOS?

Since 1958, the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) has been an international forum working to build a body of space law by universal consensus, a method of working which has been essential to ensuring the enforce-ability of its decisions. This consensus has degenerated in recent years, slowing the progress of space law — which has now fallen dangerously behind the development of space technology. Some important recent decisions have had to be taken by majority voting rather than consensus, to overcome the paralysis of COPUOS. This, however, can only be a temporary solution. The author makes an urgent plea for a return to COPOUS and its methods.     

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.     

Assuring the sustainability of space activities

The growth of new space systems and the continued creation of orbital debris could in a few years make activities in Earth orbit unsustainable, so finding cost-effective ways to sustain space activities in Earth orbit is essential. Because outer space activities serve the needs of the military–intelligence, civil, and commercial communities, each with their own requirements, creating the necessary international agreements for reaching and maintaining a condition of sustainability will not be easy. This paper summarizes the primary issues for the international space community regarding our future ability to reap the benefit of space systems in Earth orbit. It explores several of the efforts to develop international agreements that would lead to or support the sustainability of space activities and examines the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. In particular, it reviews progress within the UN COPUOS, and examines the EU's proposal for an international Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. It also notes the need for states to establish or expand their own space legal infrastructure to conform to the UN treaties and guidelines for space activities.     

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?     

Pakistan's space programme

Space research in Pakistan is conducted by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco). Suparco's programmes consist of the launching of sounding rockets and satellite applications, especially remote sensing and communications. Its long-term goals are to develop communications and remote sensing satellites and to launch lightweight scientific satellites in near-Earth orbits. To train its scientific staff at postgraduate level, Suparco is establishing an Aerospace Institute. The Commission is very active in international forums such as the UN COPUOS, Cospar, IAF and IUCN.     

Preventing the weaponization of outer space: Is a Chinese-Russian-European common approach possible?

Preventing the weaponization of outer space is one of the most relevant issues of the current space law debate. In recent years discussions on this issue have significantly increased in international fora, such as the UN Conference on Disarmament and the COPUOS. While it has not been possible to arrive at an agreed solution on how to efficiently deal with the problem of possible weaponization of outer space so far, several valuable proposals have been put forward. China and Russia, on the one side, and the European Union, on the other, have taken the lead in this respect. While the former have submitted a proposal for a draft treaty on the demilitarization of outer space, known as the PPWT, the latter has issued a Draft Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. Despite the differences between the two proposals, this paper proposes the development of a Chinese, Russian and European common approach aimed at preventing the weaponization of outer space. Although such a goal is undoubtedly challenging, some political and legal factors may enable such cooperation in the not-too-distant future.     

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).     

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。     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Space nuclear power and the UN: A growing fiasco

The work of the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space was intensified following the accidental re-entry of the Soviet Cosmos 954 nuclear-powered satellite in 1978. But anyone thinking the purpose of the Committee's activity was to prevent the recurrence of such an accident will have been disabused by the USA's recent repudiation of the guidelines for the safe use of nuclear power supplies. The UN is good for political manoeuvring, argues the author of this Viewpoint, but real progress towards the safer use of nuclear power in space will originate elsewhere.     

Ensuring equal access to the benefits of space technologies for all countries

There is a concern in the developing world that industrialized countries have not done all they might under Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty to make the benefits of space technology available to all countries; some are now seeking codification of rights and responsibilities in this sphere. This article discusses recent debate on the issues by COPUOS and its Legal Subcommittee on whether an additional legal framework is necessary to ensure a fairer distribution of benefits. G77 countries were strongly in favour of some form of technology and information transfer, while industrialized countries favoured the existing practice of developing international cooperative space projects. The author believes that a new set of principles will be formulated in the next few years and that organizations like Intelsat and Inmarsat can provide valuable models for ensuring access through cooperative programmes.     

Space agencies and the UN system: the Space Agency Forum (SAF) 10th Plenary

The Space Agency Forum (SAF) met for its 10th plenary meeting in Bremen on 30 September 2003. Its motto was “Space Agencies and the UN System”. Following various presentations on relevant issues, including the UN Space Applications Programme and the follow-up of UNISPACE III, SAF members discussed their participation in these fields. The meeting resulted in a number of inputs to these issue areas and coordinated approaches vis-à-vis policy questions.     

Cutting the bread

Why the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects (PPWT) will not work - whereas the Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities may.     

Capacity building in space technology development: A new initiative within the United Nations programme on space applications

Since 1971 the UN Programme on Space Applications, implemented by the Office for Outer Space Affairs, has been organizing workshops, symposiums and expert meetings and providing training opportunities in the practical applications of space technology. In 2009 the Office launched the Basic Space Technology Initiative (BSTI). The BSTI encompasses a range of activities in support of capacity building in space technology development in response to the growing interest of academic and governmental organizations in many countries to establish basic, indigenous capabilities to develop nano- and small satellites. Considerations such as the education and training of experts, the creation of required testing and building infrastructure, opportunities for international cooperation and the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks are therefore of particular interest to these organizations. The BSTI aims to assist them with their efforts. This paper describes the origins of the initiative, the activities that have been conducted to date and the work planned for 2011 and beyond.