Support asked for regional education centres.

Stronger support from UN Member States and international organizations for proposed regional space education centres in developing countries was sought by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at its thirtieth session (16-25 February, New York).

The new centres for space science and technology education would fulfil the "urgent need to develop capabilities at the local level through intensive education programmes", Adigun Ade Abiodun, UN Expert on Space Applications, told the body on 18 February.

Initial emphasis would be on in-depth education, research and applications programmes in satellite meteorology and remote sensing as they related to environmental monitoring and natural resources management.

The Subcommittee also suggested that its parent body--the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space--consider at its June 1993 session the holding of a third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE).

Varied agenda

Also under discussion were such matters as: remote sensing; the UN Programme on Space Applications; implementation of the recommendations of UNISPACE 82; use of nuclear power sources in outer space; space transportation systems; life sciences; planetary exploration: astronomy; Earth environment and space debris; the geosphere-biosphere programme on global change; and the geostationary orbit.

During its eight-day session, the Subcommittee also considered possible ways of revising the new Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space, including expanding their scope to cover other uses of nuclear power in space, criteria of acceptable risk, approaches to risk assessment, and further definition of terms. In adopting the Principles (resolution 47/63), the General Assembly recommended that they be kept under review as the related technology continued to develop.

Member States, it said, should report regularly on national and international research concerning the safety of nuclear-powered satellites, and further studies should be conducted on the problem of collisions between nuclear power sources and space debris.

Scientific and technical presentations were made by experts on human space flight, the Russian Space Agency, satellite radio broadcasting, and Sweden's scientific space programme.

A two-day scientific symposium was held at the outset of the session with the theme: "Space-based communication: the expansion of current services and increased understanding of new systems and the services they will make possible".

Important advances outined

Opening the session, Subcommittee Chairman John Carver of Australia made his traditional annual overview of national space activities.

Eight missions had been flown last year by the United States Space Shuttle programme, with a total of 44 men and 9 women on board, including 5 astronauts from other countries--Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Japan and Canada.

Permanent occupation by rotating crews of the Commonwealth of independent States' Mir space station had also continued. German and French cosmonauts had conducted scientific experiments on board. The latest crew, sent in February, was expected to work in orbit for six months.

Commercial space launching services were "steadily expanding", Mr. Carver said. The European launcher, Ariane, had placed 10 satellites into the geostationary orbit to serve communications systems in France, India, Japan, Spain and the United States, as well as those of Arabsat, Eutelsat and Inmarsat.

Satellite imagery from commercial Spot and Landsat spacecraft had been used by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to identify high-fertility farmland areas for the resettlement of some 3 7 5,000 Cambodian refugees. About 1,000 small communication ground terminals were employed by the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia to coordinate the refugees' return.

A small, low-cost Brazilian satellite, which relays environmental data on the Amazon River and the surrounding rain forests, had been launched by a United States Pegasus rocket released from an aircraft in flight.

Remote sensing satellites were used by the European Commission to extensively map Eastern Europe. Key environmental problems in the 1.2-million square kilometre area to be surveyed included: industrialization of national parks in Hungary; wind, tides and movement of sand dunes along Poland's Baltic coast; and deterioration of forests due to heavy industry and mining pollution in the "Black Triangle" area of northern Bohemia, south-western Poland and eastern Germany.

Space applications

Long-term, project-oriented, on-the-job training in space technology and in specific applications areas should continue to be the focus of the UN Space Applications Programme, the Subcommittee stated in its report (A/AC.105/543). It also called for emphasis on new developments in satellite systems, software for remote sensing, use of digital processing systems and training in the management and operation of ground stations.

Also stressed was the importance of regional and international cooperation in making available to all countries the benefits of space technology through such cooperative activities as joint payloads, dissemination of information on spin-off benefits, ensuring compatibility of space systems, and providing low-cost access to launch capabilities.

As for using satellite remote sensing for environmental and development-related activities, the Subcommittee wanted further space research on climate change, weather patterns, vegetation distribution, storm and flood risk, and other environmental factors.

Remote-sensing data should be openly available at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner, the Subcommittee stated, as should continuing free access to data from operational meteorological satellites.

Legal aspects of a possible revision of the Principles and such other matters as the definition and delimitation of outer space and its use for the benefit of all countries were considered by the Legal Subcommittee, which met at Headquarters from 22 March to 8 April. (More information on that meeting will appear in the UN Chronicle Issue 3, September 1993).