UNOOSA and Avio united at the UN General Assembly to provide Access to Space for All

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and Avio S.p.A. (Avio) have joined forces at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly to announce an agreement to cooperate on providing institutions from UN Member States, in particular developing countries, with the opportunity to apply to use, free of charge, satellite slots for 1UCubesat or aggregates on a planned launch vehicle scheduled for October 2020. 

Applications for this Announcement of Opportunity will go through a selection process and the winners will have the chance to accommodate their payload on the launch. Avio has made available for the project satellite slots on the VEGA launcher for a maximum of three separate launches. Each launch will provide the institutions selected with room for the equivalent of a total of three 1U Cubesats.

As part of UNOOSA’s Access to Space 4 All initiative, this agreement provides developing countries with no or emerging space capabilities, with the opportunity to launch their satellites in orbit free of charge, fostering technological learning and capacity-building.  

UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo said: “We are pleased to announce this latest addition to the portfolio of orbital opportunities under the Access to Space 4 All initiative that UNOOSA offers to UN Member States, and in particular to developing countries, together with strategic partners that are leaders in the space sector, such as Avio. This project will provide selected institutions with a unique opportunity to launch their space technology free of charge, expanding access to the benefits of space. This is also thanks to the agreement of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space with the endorsement of the General Assembly that UNOOSA should pursue greater engagement with industry and private sector entities, for example for Access to Space 4 All. After the successful deployment last year of the first Kenyan 1U Cubesat from the International Space Station, thanks to UNOOSA’s partnership with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, which allowed Kenya to become a space nation, we are proud to announce another partnership under this Initiative, which already includes several space agencies, private companies and a research centre.”

Giulio Ranzo, Chief Executive Officer of Avio, said: “Avio’s commitment to structured collaboration with the United Nations highlights its focus on supporting, through business excellence and Research and Development, the use of the resources offered by space to benefit the entire international community.  We will therefore contribute – through launching micro and nano-satellites and against a backdrop of constant technological innovations – to making the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals more achievable.”