VIENNA, 4 October (UN Information Service) – A new satellite landed at the United Nations in Vienna today: the Russian Federation has donated a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) satellite model for display at the permanent Space Exhibit at the Vienna International Centre (VIC). Anatoly Shilov, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, unveiled the model together with the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) Yury Fedotov.

Mr. Fedotov thanked the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations (Vienna) Vladimir Voronkov for the generous donation. “Effective satellite navigation benefits users worldwide. While many of us are familiar with satellite navigation systems for cars, this is just one of the many applications of this technology. Satellite navigation-related technology supports many civil, scientific and commercial functions. It is widely used in the areas of telecommunications, transportation, meteorology and disaster forecasting,” Mr. Fedotov said.

The donation of the satellite came on the first day of World Space Week, which the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) celebrates every year from 4 to 10 October. Mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1999, “this Week has become a world-wide celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. UNOOSA, together with its partners, has been working to bring the benefits of space to Earth, to make the seemingly remote and abstract world of outer space of concrete use to people worldwide,” UNOOSA Director Mazlan Othman emphasized.

Also on display at the VIC during World Space Week: a series of spectacular images taken by a fleet of Earth-observing satellites that form part of the Landsat programme, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Landsat monitors changes caused by natural processes and human practices, for example marine algal blooms and desertification, and is managed jointly by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the US Geological Survey.

For photos of the event please see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/unisvienna/

For further information, please contact:
Romana Kofler
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-4962
Email: romana.kofler[at]unoosa.org
or
Regina Rohrbach
United Nations Information Service (UNIS)
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-3898
Email: regina.rohrbach[at]unvienna.org

United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS Vienna)
P.O.Box 500
1400 Vienna
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Tel.: (+43-1) 26060-4666
Fax: (+43-1) 26060-7-5899
Email: unis@unvienna.org
Website: http://www.unis.unvienna.org