Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations of UNISPACE III Adopted and Space and Water Discussed

VIENNA, 15 June (UN Information Service) — During its 47th session,
which was held in Vienna from 2 to 11 June, the United Nations Committee on
the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) adopted a report on the
implementation of the recommendations of the Third United Nations
Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE
III), for the General Assembly’s five-year review in October 2004 of the
progress made in carrying out those recommendations.

“This Committee has a unique and vital responsibility for highlighting
the role that space science and technology can play in assisting the United
Nations in achieving its economic and social development goals,” the
President of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly, Julian
Robert Hunte, stressed to the Members of the Committee in his opening
statement.

The topics of discussion included space and society, ways and means
of maintaining outer space for peaceful purposes, spin-off benefits of
space technology as well as the issues raised in the Scientific and
Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee earlier this year. Those
issues included, among other things, the use of nuclear power sources in
outer space, space debris and space-system-based telemedicine. The
Committee also examined a preliminary draft protocol for registering
property interests in space assets.

The Committee endorsed the activities of the United Nations Programme
on Space Applications for the second half of 2004 and for 2005. It also
reviewed the activities of the International Satellite System for Search
and Rescue (Cospas-Sarsat). The United Nations Programme on Space
Applications holds training courses on satellite-aided search and rescue.

Implementation of the Recommendations of UNISPACE III

In its report on the implementation of the recommendations of
UNISPACE III, the Committee proposed a set of actions to be undertaken,
based on the recommendations submitted by action teams established by the
Committee to implement high priority UNISPACE III recommendations.

UNISPACE III was held in Vienna in 1999. It adopted “The Space
Millennium: Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development,” which
included a strategy to address global challenges in the twenty-first
century through the use of space science and technology. The Vienna
Declaration called for actions, among other things, to protect the Earth’s
environment and manage its resources; use space applications for human
development and welfare; advance scientific knowledge of space; enhance
education and training opportunities and increase public awareness of the
importance of space activities.

Draft General Assembly Resolution on the Concept of the “Launching
State”

The legal concept of the “Launching State” is important because some of
the existing United Nations treaties governing outer space activities
include obligations and responsibilities of the State that launches an
object into outer space. A review of the concept has become particularly
relevant in light of increasing international cooperation in space
activities, as well as the involvement of non-governmental entities in
launches. The Legal Subcommittee, earlier this year, agreed on the text of
a draft General Assembly resolution on the concept of the “Launching
State”. The Committee approved the draft resolution and will forward it to
the General Assembly for its consideration later this year.

Implementation of an Integrated, Space-based Global Natural Disaster
Management System

Based on the report of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, COPUOS
discussed the implementation of an integrated, space-based global natural
disaster management system. Space technology has already proven to be
useful for disaster management. For instance, remote sensing satellites can
be used to map features of interest in regions where disasters are likely
to occur, and following a disaster, they can provide up-to-date images of
the affected area. Satellite communications help connect regions affected
by disasters to the outside world, when ground infrastructure is damaged or
destroyed.

As part of the Committee’s consideration of this matter, an industry
workshop on “Satellites for Disaster Communications: Saving Lives from
Natural Disasters” was held on 7 June. The presentations were made by
industry representatives. The workshop participants emphasized that it was
important for Governments to have advanced disaster response preparedness
in their countries and to create a better regulatory environment to
facilitate the use of telecommunications, including via satellite, in
response to disasters.

Space and Water

The Committee addressed a new topic of space and water. Space technology
can help better manage water resources by providing data and information on
the availability of water resources and water use. Satellites can also
provide up-to-date and accurate information, for example, on levels of sea
and river water and approaching storms and rainfall. Such information is
important for preventing and mitigating the consequences of floods. The
Committee agreed to continue its discussion of this topic next year.

Space and Education

Under the agenda item on space and society, the Committee focused its
discussions on space and education. The Committee benefited from the
presentations made by the regional centres for space science and technology
education, established in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America
and the Caribbean, affiliated to the United Nations, on the activities of
the centres. The Committee also welcomed the invitation from the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to
develop a few small education pilot projects within UNESCO’s Space and
Education Programme. The Committee agreed that the United Nations Programme
on Space Applications should establish contact with UNESCO to launch these
projects within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development.

New Members

The Committee agreed to recommend to the General Assembly, at its
fifty-ninth session later this year, that Libya and Thailand should become
members of the Committee.

Membership

COPUOS has the following 65 Member States: Albania, Algeria,
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina
Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic,
Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia,
Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian
Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Africa,
Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United
States, Uruguay, Venezuela and Viet Nam

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The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was set up by
the General Assembly in 1959 to review the scope of international
cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, to devise programmes in
this field to be undertaken under United Nations auspices, to encourage
continued research and the dissemination of information on outer space
matters and to study legal problems arising from the exploration of outer
space. COPUOS and its two Subcommittees each meet annually to consider
questions put before them by the General Assembly, reports submitted to
them and issues raised by the Member States. The Committee and the
Subcommittees, working on the basis of consensus, make recommendations to
the General Assembly.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) implements the
decisions of the General Assembly and of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses
of Outer Space and its two Subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical
Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee. The Office is responsible for
promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space,
and assisting developing countries in using space science and technology.
Located in Vienna, Austria, OOSA maintains a website at
http://www.oosa.unvienna.org.