1989 achievements in space noted by UN committee.

Among them were:

The launching in May by the United States of the Magellan spacecraft headed for Venus, and in October, the Galileo spacecraft travelling to jupiter.

The completion in August 1989 of the 12-year journey of the United States Voyager 2 spacecraft, circumnavigating Neptune and completing reconnaissance of the four largest planets of the solar system-jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

* A 22-week mission-involving the first American experiment aboard the Soviet orbital station MIR, conducted by two Soviet cosmonauts-was concluded safely on 19 February 1990.

* The successful docking in December 1989 of a new Kvant 2 module with the Soviet space complex MIR, significantly increasing its research capabilities.

* A series of successful launchings in 1989 by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Ariane programme.

In reviewing national space prospects, Mr. Carver noted a number of other new or continuing efforts by the two main space Powers-the United States and the Soviet Union.

For example, in 1989, the United States had launched expendable launch vehicles, some placing satellites into orbit for other countries. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also launched the scientific satellite Cosmic Background Explorer to investigate remnant radiation from the early stages of the universe.

The USSR launched some unmanned spacecraft for communications, meteorology and remote sensing, including a satellite to operate as part of the COSPAS/ SARSAT search and rescue satellite system. To date, that system had been credited with saving more than 1,350 lives throughout the world.

The USSR also placed the "Granat" orbital observatory-its first dedicated X-ray and gammaray satellite, also an international laboratory-into a high ellipical orbit for artificial earth satellites. It carried scientific instruments from the USSR, France, Denmark and Bulgaria.

Also in 1989, 11,120 kilos of payload were launched into orbit; and more than 5,000 experiments were carried out. In 1990, apparatus were tested to enable cosmonauts to walk in space.

The USSR in 1989 also launched a bio-satellite, engaged in biological projects involving two monkeys, including a study on how the body adapts to weightlessness.

Also, the United States and the USSR reached agreement on efforts to initiate co-operative medical and life-sciences research on both the space shuttle and the MIR space station. Other strides

Other countries also reported strides in space activities. Austria continued a joint project called AUSTROMIR with the USSR, and it was participating in the ESA remote-sensing satellite ERS-1 follow-up programme.

ESA was to launch in late 1990 or early 1991 a radar-mapping satellite to facilitate remote sensing in all types of weather.

Czechoslovakia in 1989 launched the MAGION-2 satellite, a project in co-operation with the USSR and some other countries.

The Federal Republic of Germany was completing plans for a station in the Antarctic region to directly receive data from ERS-1.

The German Democratic Republic, since October 1989, had regularly launched meteorological rockets from a ground station at Zingst, to determine temperatures and winds at altitudes of up to 75 kilometres. It also focused on comet Halley-related investigations, scientific interpretation of data from Phobos missions, and on preparation of the Aktivny" experiment.

On 14 February 1989, japan launched the scientific satellite Akebono to study the earth's magnetosphere, and on 5 September, it launched the dedicated meteorological satellite Himawari 4.

japan's MUSES-A satellite, launched in january 1990, provided data for new technologies necessary for future interplanetary missions. A joint project to construct a permanently manned space station was under way with the participation of the United States, japan, Canada and European nations.

On 1 March 1989, Canada announced the creation of a new national space agency.

China in 1989 conducted experiments involving remote-sensing to monitor flooding of the Yellow and Yangtze River areas. It continued development of remote sensors for use in resource and environmental investigation, and set up some 10,000 television ground receiving stations. Plans for a joint China-Brazil earth resource satellite were in progress.

India's remote-sensing satellite IRS-lA, launched in March 1988, was to mark its second anniversary in orbit. India and the USSR continued their collaboration on the Dynamics Adapted Network for Atmospheric Research (DYANA), measuring meteorological parameters and ozone concentrations in the middle atmosphere using balloons and rockets.

In late 1989, INTELSAT-the International Telecommunications Satelite Organization-launched and deployed the first INTELSAT VI satellite, scheduled to be fully operational by April 1990. Its aim is to provide unrivalled capacity and lifetime for voice, video and data transmission through advanced digital modulation techniques. Future projects

Future projects were also discussed in the Sub-Committee.

Beginning in April 1990, using the "Crystal" module, Soviet cosmonauts on the MIR complex were to carry out experiments involving weightlessness. Cosmonauts from the United Kingdom, Austria and japan are scheduled to participate in space flights on board MIR in 1991 and 1992.

The United States reported that nine shuttle launches were scheduled for 1990 and eight for 1991. Work continued on an advanced solid rocket motor, and on an extended duration orbiter, to increase the shuttle's on-orbit time from 7 to 16 days.

The United States was also developing, in co-operation with Italy, a tethered satellite system to conduct electrodynamic and atmospheric missions in difficult-to-reach areas of space. Work also proceeded on an orbital maneuvering vehicle OMV)-a small, versatile craft designed to deliver payloads to higher altitudes. The first OMV launch is scheduled for early 1995.

A Gamma-ray observatory and the Roentgen satellite mission were to be launched in 1990, and the Extreme Ultra-Violet Explorer in 1991. The Ulysses mission, scheduled for 1990, was to encounter jupiter "for a gravity assist on its way to the Sun". The spacecraft for Ulysses has been provided by ESA.

The Hubble Space Telescope, a joint project with the ESA, scheduled for launch in April 1990, was described as the most advanced instrument ever made to observe distant objects in the universe. The Mars Observer spacecraft, to be launched in 1992, would spend one Martian year-or 687 Earth days mapping the planet's surface, measuring gravity and magnetic fields, and assessing weather patterns from a "close-in" low polar orbit.

A Mariner Mark 11 spacecraft the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby CRAF)-was scheduled for launch in 1995, to study and photograph a main belt asteroid and ultimately a rendezvous with the Comet Kopff' in August 2000.

A second Mariner Mark Il mission-Cassini-also in cooperation with ESA-was planned for launch in 1996, to journey to Saturn. Its arrival date is scheduled for October 2002. Environmental

projects

The USSR, which conducts a scientific programme to monitor ozone changes, particularly over the polar regions, has proposed development of an international space laboratory and invited interested States to participate in that endeavour. In 1989, it had employed a supply module to deliver space equipment and carry out scientific experiments aimed at measuring particle flows from outer space towards earth and at calculating spectral characteristics of earth, particularly with regard to its ozone level.

NASA was planning a series of missions with ESA and japan as part of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Programme. The objective is to track solar energy from its source through space as it reaches and passes Earth.

The United States continued to procure, operate and maintain the spacecraft and ground system components of two operational environmental satellite systems: a polar-orbiting satellite system to collect and distribute global environmental data and a geostationary system to provide near continuous observations of the earth's western hemisphere in support of weather warnings, forecasts and other applications.

To assure future global environmental coverage, the United States was planning co-operative projects with European nations and japan. The United States was also funding continued operation of Landsat satellites 4 and 5 and a launch of Landsat 6. Landsat-type imagery data is used in global change research, environmental monitoring and natural resources management.