The UN General Assembly declared the week between October 4 and 10 as „World Space Week” to celebrate each year internationally the contribution of space science and technology to the advancement of the human condition. This week is the world’s premier annual event on space applications and technology. Its goals are to create tomorrow’s workforce by inspiring students, demonstrating public support for the space program, educating the public about space activities, and fostering international cooperation in space and education.
Each year, the Board of Directors of the World Space Week Association Selects a topic in close coordination with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. The theme provides general guidance to World Space Week participants on the content of their programs. The theme was chosen to increase the impact of World Space Week across society and is used globally.
Space and Entrepreneurship
The theme of World Space Week 2023 is “Space and Entrepreneurship”. Recognizing the growing importance of the commercial aerospace sector, Opportunities for space entrepreneurs and new benefits of space created by entrepreneurs in the field. With miniaturization and decreasing launch costs, it is now possible for a small company to build and launch a small satellite and develop new products that provide valuable data to entrepreneurial governments and industry.
World Space Week 2023 will encourage students around the world to study STEM and businesses, and will provide space companies with the opportunity to hire the workforce needed by the growing commercial space industry. It will also serve as a forum for important discussions on the transition from a low Earth orbit to a more entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Space science and technology and their applications are increasingly used to support a wide range of United Nations operations.. At least 25 organizations from the United Nations and the World Bank Group regularly use these types of applications. These applications make important, and sometimes essential, contributions to the work of the United Nations, including the recommendations of major world conferences and the recommendations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes (UNISPACE III). , efforts to achieve sustainable development and the implementation of the Millennium Declaration (General Assembly resolution 55/2 of 8 September 2000).
Coordination, cooperation and synergy are therefore necessary for the United Nations to carry out these activities effectively. Annual sessions of the Inter-Agency Meeting on Space Activities are the primary means of achieving such coordination. Since 2004, the effectiveness of the meeting has been enhanced by holding an informal open session immediately after the conclusion of the meeting, which allows Member States to participate, directly and informally, in key space-related events. United Nations Organization. The program of the inter-organizational meeting is reviewed at each session and modified according to the operational needs of each moment.
UN and space
Since the dawn of the space age, the United Nations has recognized that space has added a new dimension to the existence of mankind. The United Nations family continues to strive to harness the unique advantages of space for the betterment of all mankind.
Recognizing everyone’s common interest in the research process and Peaceful use of space And seeking to answer questions about how outer space can benefit Earth’s people, the General Assembly adopted its first resolution on outer space, Resolution 1348 (XIII), entitled „The Question of the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.”
Likewise, in October 1967, the Agreement on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (General Assembly Resolution 2222 (XXI)) entered into force.
Currently, The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is responsible for promoting international cooperation In peaceful use of space. UNOOSA serves as the secretariat of the only commission of the General Assembly that is exclusively responsible for international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space: the United Nations Commission on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
UNOOSA is also responsible for implementing the Secretariat’s responsibilities under International Space Law and maintaining the United Nations Register of objects launched into outer space.