Spatio-Temporal Ontologies and Attention

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a new proposal for the design of spatio-temporal ontologies which has its origin in cognitively motivated spatial semantics. It is shown that selective attention not only plays a central role in the characterization of spatial relations but that the representation of attentional aspects also leads to the possibility of defining an ontological upper structure which systematically covers both the spatial and the temporal domain.     

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.     

History and impact of the 1996 UN declaration on ‘space benefits’

At its 1996/1997 session, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus Resolution 51/122, containing a Declaration on international cooperation in space. This Declaration finalizes the agenda item which has become known as ‘Space Benefits’ in the UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee. It provides an authoritative interpretation of the cooperation principle in Article I of the Outer Space Treaty and should thereby put an end to North-South confrontation over the question of shaping the international order for space activities. This article traces the history of the run-up to adoption of the Resolution, analyses how it came to be accepted by all sides and examines its likely impact.     

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.     

Governance of national space activities

Senior political and space agency personnel joined representatives of industry and other space-related institutions for a conference, held in Budapest in January 2009, on how best to structure national and European space governance. Four sessions examined the subject of the conference from a top-down European, a bottom-up national, a theoretical and actor-based and a discursive–participative perspective. The themes and outcomes of the conference are reported below.     

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.     

A Franco–German view of Europe's ambition in space for the 21st century

Europe has at last started to integrate the assets of its broad set of actors into a comprehensive European Space Strategy. But will this first approach be ambitious enough to strengthen Europe as a global actor? In this contribution, the individuals responsible for strategy in the French and German space agencies seek an answer to this question. They do so by reviewing the historical background to European space efforts, and its role in shaping present-day activities; setting forth a vision of how Europe should proceed in space, and measuring current progress in drafting a European space strategy against this vision.