For information only - not an official document

UNIS/OS/418
6 June 2012

United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of
Outer Space Holds Its 55th Session in Vienna

VIENNA, 6 June (UN Information Service) - The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space will hold its 55th session in Vienna, Austria, from 6 to 15 June. Among topics discussed will be space and climate change, space and water, use of space technology in the United Nations system, in particular how to strengthen the relevance of space science and technology and their applications in meeting the outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).

The Committee will also discuss issues raised in the reports of its two Subcommittees - the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee - on their sessions earlier this year. Those include national space legislation, space debris, near-earth objects, global navigation satellite systems, use of nuclear power sources in outer space, space-system-based disaster management support, and capacity-building in space law.

A special panel discussion will be held to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Landsat - the first Earth-observation satellite mission, providing many countries with remote sensing data since 1972, on Wednesday, 6 June, from 3 pm to 6 pm in the conference room M1. A dedicated exhibit on Landsat and the worldwide evolution of remote sensing will take place from 6 to 15 June in the Rotunda of the Vienna International Centre (VIC).

On Friday, 8 June, the BeiDou/COMPASS model, a Chinese navigation satellite model will be donated to the Exhibit of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).

The four Expert Groups of the Working Group on the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities will meet on the margins of this Committee session. The Action Team on Near-Earth Objects will also meet on 11 and 12 June.

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For further information, please contact:

Romana Kofler (Ms.)
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-4962
Email: romana.kofler[at]unoosa.org