Res Communis

Pacific Rim National Space Law Summit: United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The Work of the U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs as it Relates to the Pacific Rim was presented by Dr. Mazlan Othman, Head, U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs.

Dr. Othman began with a brief overview of the U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), and the various programs and responsibilities of the office. She said that the mission statement of the office was “To promote international cooperation in the use of outer space to achieve the developmental goals for the benefit of mankind.”

She then moved to the operational priorities of the Office which include 1) discharging responsibilities of Secretary-General, 2) Strengthening the intergovernmental process, 3) supporting sustainable development, 4) Securing global goods, 5) enhancing cooperation and coordination within the United Nations system, and 6) Increasing public awareness in space. Advancing space law and space policy falls under the priority of strengthening intergovernmental processes. She also noted that the Office supports regional mechanisms including those found in the Asia-Pacific region.

She then discussed recent highlights and recent achievements of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS). These include the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines; the Safety Framework for the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space; the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG); work on near earth objects; the International Heliophysical Year 2007; improved registration practice; and a new agenda item on Space and Climate Change.

She then discussed the United Nations space object register, which is now a web based database that is fully searchable. She noted that there are two registers one created under a General Assembly resolution and one created under the Registration Convention. She stated that the register still had some issues, for example USA-193 still appears on the register despite the fact that it was destroyed. This is because UNOOSA had not yet been officially notified by the United States that the satellite had been destroyed thus UNOOSA can not remove it from the register. She said that non-registration still occurs and arises for numerous different reasons such as a lack of coordination when there are multiple launching States; States failing to stay up to date with registrations; satellites launched by commercial entities; satellites launched by academic entities; satellites launched by international organizations; transfer of ownership of satellites; and simple administrative oversights. Despite these problem, she stated that the Office was taking proactive actions towards keeping the register up to date and as a result had seen a 10% increase in registration in the last 18 months.