8 June (UN Information Service) – The 59th session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) started at the United Nations in Vienna today, with a focus on the role of space in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and on UNISPACE+50.

Items on the agenda include the links between space and sustainable development, water and climate change, as well as the use of space technology in the United Nations system. With David Kendall of Canada chairing the Committee for the first time, the participants will also discuss the importance of space technology and its potential spin-off benefits and the question of maintaining outer space for peaceful uses, as well as the future role of the Committee itself.

Looking ahead to UNISPACE+50 – a special session of the Committee set to take place in 2018 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space – the Committee is set to agree on the thematic priorities proposed by its Scientific and Technical and Legal Subcommittees for the event. UNISPACE+50 will be an opportunity for the international community to assess the status and chart the future of the contribution of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in global space governance.

On Friday, 10 June the first Annual Report of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) will be presented to the Committee by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, Yury Fedotov, and UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo.

COPUOS will also receive a report from the 10th anniversary conference of UN-SPIDER, the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response. The report will outline what has been achieved in the past decade and how UN-SPIDER will develop in the future.

Further information on the 59th session of COPUOS can be found here.

You can also follow @UNOOSA on Twitter for updates.

For further information, please contact:

Daria Brankin
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Telephone: (+43- 1) 26060-8718
Email: daria.brankin[at]unoosa.org