A Strategy For International Cooperation To Promote Space Benefits For Humanity

The Third United Nations Conference on the Exploitation and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) was held from 19 to 30 July 1999 in Vienna. The UNISPACE III report is an action plan to harness the power of outer space activities for the benefit of all humankind in the twenty-first century. It calls for specific actions , and describes issues and concerns related to eight main themes: protecting the Earth's environment, global communications, the Global Positioning System (GPS), education and training opportunities for youth, spin-offs and commercial benefits, the promotion of international cooperation, information needs and the global approach, and furthering knowledge and building capacity.

The realization that available funding for large-scale space programs is rapidly moving beyond the financial reach of any single nation has fostered arguments that innovative international collaboration is becoming a necessity. It may even be that cooperative arrangements have become the only way to initiate & sustain the more ambitious space projects of the future. In addition, enhanced international cooperation may well be the preferred & most effective approach to carrying out some projects already on the space agenda. Starting from an analysis of the difficulties & benefits of space cooperation, this report recommends the changes in international space relations needed to enable the major spacefaring nations, which carry out the bulk of humanity's activities in space, to band together so as to afford the future large scale space programs that are needed to expand their knowledge, to explore new frontiers, & to guarantee their common security. To order: Send check or money order to U.S.-Crest, 1840 Wilson Blvd., Suite 204, Arlington, VA 22204. $18.00 plus $2.00 shipping & handling.

These twelve background papers have been prepared as part of the preparatory work for UNISPACE III. They look at: the earth and its environment in space; disaster prediction; the management of earth resources; satellite navigation and location systems; space communications and applications; basic space science; commercial aspects of space exploration; information systems for research and applications; small satellite missions; education and training in space science and technology; economic and social benefits of space activities; the promotion of international co-operation.

Lessons learned in the last several years have given clear indications that the prediction and efficient monitoring of disasters is one of the critical factors in decision-making process. In this respect space-based technologies have the great potential of supplying information in near real time. Earth observation satellites have already demonstrated their flexibility in providing data to a wide range of applications: weather forecasting, person and vehicle tracking, alerting to disaster, forest fire and flood monitoring, oil spills, spread of desertification, monitoring of crop and forestry damages. This book focuses on a wider utilisation of remote sensing in disaster management. The discussed aspects comprise data access/delivery to the users, information extraction and analysis, management of data and its integration with other data sources (airborne and terrestrial imagery, GIS data, etc.), data standardization, organisational and legal aspects of sharing remote sensing information.

This book examines the tremendous benefits that come when we think beyond the boundaries of national interests and consider the venture and adventure into space as a matter of shared ambition, shared knowledge, shared risk, and shared benefit across all of humanity. In our previous books on the meaning and significance of space we have explored a broad range of these themes and topics, starting first in Beyond Earth with a broad examination of many different issues, and then in our second volume with a collection of writings about the challenges and opportunities that Living in Space will present. In the third volume in this series we examined the future of business in space, Space Commerce. The underlying premise of each of these books is that space is not only an irresistible lure for our imaginations, but also an inevitable destination for our serious goals and ambitions. Collectively, the many authors who have contributed their works to this series are committed to the realities of life, science, culture, and business in space, and we all agree that extending civilization into space is both a valid destination that will ultimately be home to millions and billions of us, and so in a very real way it also will become humanity's destiny.

This volume deals with key issues of the space economy, defined as the full range of activities and the use of resources that create value and benefits for human beings in the course of exploring, researching, understanding, managing and utilizing space. These topics are treated from an economic perspective, with particular attention paid to the development of knowledge, as well as the set-up of technologies with high industrial impacts. The book, thus, provides a new and wider interpretation of the space economy, focusing on the (tangible) returns of the investments made in the space industry since the Space Race. It will particularly appeal to scholars, researchers and PhD students, as well as those in the space community.

This book, edited by the European Space Policy Institute, is the first international publication, following UNISPACE+50, to analyze how space capacity building can empower the international community towards fully accessing all the economic and societal benefits that space assets and data can offer. New innovation models are increasingly spreading across various sectors and disciplines, including space, which is becoming an integral part of many societal activities (e.g. telecoms, weather, climate change and environmental monitoring, civil protection, infrastructures, transportation and navigation, healthcare and education). The book helps readers construct their own space capacity building roadmaps, which take into account key stakeholders and also new private actors, NGOs and civil society. Starting from a policy and strategy perspective, it addresses key aspects of capacity building, including innovation and exploration, global health, climate change and resilient societies. It outlines the available options and summarizes the ideal programmatic conditions for their successful implementation. Showcasing reflections from a range of senior space professionals around the world, with their unique perspectives and solutions, it provides a rich mosaic in which various cultural and policy approaches to space are translated into actionable programs and ideas so that space may truly benefit all of humankind.

This new edition fills more than 200 pages with the many benefits of conducting research on the orbiting microgravity laboratory and includes new assessments of the economic value, as well as greater detail about the scientific value, of the International Space Station. In the more than 18 years of crewed operation, thousands of researchers on the ground in more than 100 countries have conducted more than 2,500 experiments in microgravity, and that number continues to grow. This book provides examples of research accomplishments in areas of economic development of space, innovative technology, human health, Earth observations and disaster response, and global education. Each member of the International Space Station Program Science Forum provides their unique perspectives about the benefits of research and technology development, market innovation, and the ongoing support of a sustainable space-based economy.