For information only - not an official document

UNIS/OS/430
21 June 2013

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space concludes its 56th session in Vienna

VIENNA, 21 June (UN Information Service) - The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) concluded its deliberations over ways and means of maintaining outer space for peaceful purposes at its 56th session, held from 12 to 21 June. The goal is to ensure that space technology and its applications are used in support of the overarching global agendas for sustainable development.

The 2013 session of Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) marked the fiftieth anniversary of the first space flight by a woman, cosmonaut Valentina V. Tereshkova of the Russian Federation, using this unique opportunity to commemorate it from the perspective of women pioneers in advanced space and scientific endeavours. "A bird cannot fly with one wing only. Human space flight cannot develop any further without the active participation of women," Valentina Tereshkova said, encouraging more women to take part in space programmes.

At its session, the Committee endorsed the agreement for an enhanced international coordination to deal with potential asteroid threats. The Committee's Action Team on Near-Earth Objects will assist in the establishment of an international asteroid warning network and a space mission planning advisory group, which form a part of the recommendations for an international response to an asteroid threat. The Committee also endorsed a set of recommendations on national legislation relevant to the peaceful exploration and use of outer space that provide guidance and support for countries that are in the process of developing their own national space legislation, which will be submitted to the General Assembly for consideration at its sixty-eighth session as a separate draft resolution.

Under the new agenda item "Space and sustainable development", the Committee discussed contributions of space-technology-based data for sustainable development policymaking. In focus at the 2014 session of the Committee will be sustainable development in marine and coastal ecosystems. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) that serves as the Secretariat to the Committee will create a special webpage at www.unoosa.org containing documents related to the use of space technology for sustainable development.

Other highlights of the 56th session of the Committee included:

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