United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Vienna International Centre, P. O. Box 500, Wien (2026)

27/12/2025

At number 4️⃣ of our highlights: a major year for UN-SPIDER and its global work using space-based solutions to strengthen disaster resilience.🌍🛰️

📘In 2025, UN-SPIDER launched a landmark publication, “Mapping Disaster Resilience: GeoAI Best Practices from the UN-SPIDER Network,” unveiled at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva.

This first-of-its-kind compendium brings together insights from UN-SPIDER Offices and 27 Regional Support Offices, showcasing how satellite data and Geospatial AI are transforming climate action and disaster risk reduction.

🔗Read the publication: https://shorturl.at/3Nm5N

💼 On the ground, 2025 marked a strong year for UN-SPIDER’s field engagement through technical advisory missions and capacity-building activities worldwide. UN-SPIDER supported disaster and emergency response by rapidly mobilizing satellite-based disaster mapping and damage analysis for crises such as the 2025 Sri Lanka floods and emergencies in Myanmar and Afghanistan.

🌐And in a significant leadership development, Lóránt Czárán, Head of UN-SPIDER, was appointed Chair of the CEOS Working Group on Disasters, strengthening the Office’s ability to coordinate space-based emergency support worldwide.

Whether using AI to map flood risk in Accra, supporting earthquake recovery in Afghanistan, or helping Caribbean nations with hurricane-related disaster management and recovery efforts, UN-SPIDER shows how space saves lives and builds resilience where it’s needed most.

26/12/2025

At number 5️⃣ of our 2025 highlights, we celebrate a landmark year for Africa’s leadership in space and UNOOSA’s deepening partnerships across the continent.

🌍🚀A historic milestone was reached with the official inauguration of the African Space Agency in 🇪🇬Egypt. The Agency is set to help unite African nations in harnessing space technologies for sustainable development and Agenda 2063.

🤝In parallel, UNOOSA strengthened its engagement with the Commonwealth Secretariat with a Joint Declaration, signed in London by Director Aarti Holla-Maini and Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey. This partnership focuses on expanding access to satellite data, building capacity in space law, technology and policy, and supporting participation in global space governance and COPUOS.

These 2025 achievements build on years of UNOOSA support across Africa:
✅ Kickstarting national space ecosystems
✅ Developing space laws and policies to enable investment
✅ Enhancing disaster preparedness, from sea-level mapping in 🇬🇭Accra to satellite-based early warning
✅ Training thousands of students via our Regional Centres in 🇳🇬Nigeria and 🇲🇦Morocco
✅ Supporting the launch of satellites for 🇰🇪Kenya, 🇲🇺Mauritius, 🇨🇮Côte d’Ivoire, 🇹🇿Tanzania, and 🇹🇳Tunisia

🌐 As Africa’s space sector accelerates, UNOOSA stands as a trusted partner for inclusive, sustainable growth—on Earth and in orbit.

🔗 Read about the Joint Declaration: https://shorturl.at/NzAAz

24/12/2025

At number 6️⃣ of our highlights: space meets the ocean, lifeline of our planet and essential to the survival of many Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

🏝️SIDS cover 16% of the world’s Exclusive Economic Zones, hold 20% of its biodiversity, and host 40% of all coral reefs. Yet they face rising seas, pollution and climate threats, with limited access to the space-based tools needed for action.

🌊🛰This year saw the launch of the Space4Ocean Alliance, a global coalition uniting space agencies, marine experts, governments and innovators to:
✅ Identify pressing ocean data gaps
✅ Deliver tailored satellite data and services
✅ Build capacity where it’s needed most

The Alliance held its first Steering Committee meeting in Oslo, electing UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini as Chair, alongside Vice-Chairs from 🇲🇻 Maldives Space Research Organisation (MSRO) and 🇫🇷Direction générale des affaires maritimes (DGAMPA) . Members set priorities focused on impact and inclusion, from capacity-building to operational services.

🌏The momentum carried into the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2025 in Sydney, where UNOOSA co-hosted the UN/International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Workshop “Resilient Oceans, Resilient Earth.” Our engagement with Indo-Pacific partners and SIDS delegations spotlighted tools like GeoAI, digital twins, and satellite-derived insights that can inform real-world solutions for coastal states.

💧Satellites now generate over 60% of oceanographic data, supporting disaster preparedness, climate monitoring, and the rule of law at sea.

🔗 Learn more about the Space4Ocean alliance and UNOOSA’s role: https://shorturl.at/i2UZD

UNOC 📸: Bianca Otero

23/12/2025

At number 7️⃣ of our highlights: the growing global membership of COPUOS! 🚀

2025 was a landmark year for international cooperation in space. 🇱🇻Latvia and 🇩🇯Djibouti took active roles in COPUOS after joining in 2024, reinforcing the Committee’s relevance across regions. Latvia also marked a key milestone by becoming the 116th State Party to the Outer Space Treaty.

🌍This momentum continued in June at the 68th session of COPUOS, which welcomed applications from six new Member States—🇨🇮Côte d’Ivoire, 🇬🇲The Gambia, 🇭🇳Honduras, 🇲🇹Malta, 🇲🇻Maldives, and 🇿🇼Zimbabwe—later confirmed at the UN General Assembly.

Plus, the Committee saw a surge in permanent observer requests and a record number of ad-hoc observer applications.

This wave of engagement reflects that more countries and organizations than ever are turning to space as a tool for development, climate action, disaster resilience, and global cooperation.

As COPUOS grows, so does our collective capacity to shape a safer, more sustainable, and inclusive future in space.🤝🌌

🔗 Check which space treaties your country is a party to here: https://shorturl.at/Qp9gZ

📸: UNIS Vienna

22/12/2025

2025 — you went cosmic. 🚀

You launched, learned, protected Earth, and joined a growing global space community.

Here’s your UNOOSA UN-wrapped.

20/12/2025

At number 8️⃣ of our highlights, we look to the Moon 🌕

Over 100 missions to the moon are expected in the coming decade. As space exploration accelerates, so must our cooperation.

A major milestone this year was the agreement of the Workplan of the Action Team on Lunar Activities Consultation (ATLAC). This multilateral process, under the umbrella of COPUOS, will deliver recommendations for an international mechanism to strengthen coordination for States and their commercial actors.

🤝 To break down silos between policymakers and industry, UNOOSA also hosted the first Conference on the Commercial Lunar Landscape and Policy Needs, bringing the space sector and COPUOS delegates together for open dialogue.

The message was clear: safe and sustainable lunar activity requires shared standards, interoperability, and strong public-private partnerships.

🛰️ Through initiatives like ATLAC, the ICG’s Lunar PNT work, and our “One Moon for All” program, we are helping shape tomorrow’s lunar governance frameworks.

Learn more about One Moon for All:
https://shorturl.at/nTp7Z

19/12/2025

At number 9️⃣ of our highlights, a landmark moment for planetary defence: the first time ever that the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) issued an official warning.

☄️🔭 At the very beginning of 2025, asteroid 2024 YR4 briefly passed the 1% impact probability threshold for notification, prompting IAWN to alert UNOOSA so that we could inform Member States and coordinate next steps.

Although follow-up observations confirmed the asteroid posed no threat, the case marked a first successful testing of global communication channels and demonstrated why international cooperation is essential to prepare for high-impact risks.

🌌Astronomers also focused on Comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third interstellar object ever detected. Though harmless, its unique path offered a rare scientific opportunity, prompting IAWN to launch a global observing exercise to refine astrometry methods from comet observations.

IAWN, coordinated through 's Planetary Defense Coordination Office, and its sister mechanism, the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG) chaired by the (ESA), were established by COPUOS. They work closely with UNOOSA to ensure the world can share information and respond collectively to potential asteroid or comet threats.

View our YouTube explainer on planetary defence: https://shorturl.at/hHjML

Read more about near-Earth asteroids, planetary defence, and the International Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence (2029) in our 2026 Global Catastrophic Risks Report article: https://shorturl.at/h5xds

18/12/2025

It’s that time of the year again! Yes, we’re celebrating our highlights of 2025!

⚖️At number 🔟, we celebrate a major year for international space law.

🚀We launched the UNOOSA Registration Toolkit to support States in implementing good practices as global launch rates soar: https://shorturl.at/aBFWh

📘We published the new UN Space Law Treaty Booklet, now including the LTS Guidelines and available in all six official UN languages: https://shorturl.at/0nF1C

🛰️The UN Conference on Space Law and Policy convened States, industry and legal experts to explore how legal frameworks can help deliver sustainable outcomes in space.

🌍💼 On the ground, UNOOSA delivered Space Law Technical Advisory Missions to Thailand, Ghana, Singapore and Viet Nam, helping governments develop national legal and policy frameworks aligned with international space law.

🎥 Last but not least, we released UNOOSA’s Space Law 101 YouTube series, making space law accessible to a global audience: http://bit.ly/4s5Lqbp

(Stay tuned for more in 2026!)

In 2025, UNOOSA worked to ensure that international space law remains a foundation for safety, sustainability, and opportunity for all.

17/12/2025

🚀Transforming Brazil’s space ecosystem: strategic roadmap completed! 🇧🇷🌍

UNOOSA is proud to announce a major milestone in our Space Economy Initiative: the completion of the Strategic Roadmap for the Brazilian Space Ecosystem, launched this month supported by a hands-on Roadmap Workshop for the Brazilian Space Agency (Agência Espacial Brasileira - AEB). This roadmap provides Brazil with a long-term vision to strengthen its space ecosystem, drive innovation, and enhance competitiveness in the global New Space era.

Brazil’s space sector has a strong foundation and rich history but has faced challenges in coordination, commercialization and private sector growth. Recognizing the immense opportunity to harness space as an engine for growth and cross-sector impact, UNOOSA — in partnership with UNDP and AEB — provided tailored technical assistance to support the nation’s strategic development.

What we delivered:
✔️ Comprehensive assessment of Brazil’s current space economy, including sector analyses and stakeholder engagement.
✔️ National workshops to deepen understanding of global space economy trends and identify priorities.
✔️ Capacity-building masterclasses on capturing opportunities in the global space economy.
✔️ A Strategic Roadmap co-created with Brazilian stakeholders, guided by our SPEED Framework (SPace Economy and Ecosystem Development), 8 guiding principles, and a risk matrix. This outlines phased actions to strengthen governance, boost commercialisation, expand international partnerships, nurture talent, and foster innovation across the space ecosystem.

This roadmap isn’t just significant for Brazil: it underscores the power of collaboration between national agencies and international partners, and serves as a blueprint for other emerging and developing space economies to accelerate innovation, attract investment, and integrate space solutions into national growth strategies.

👉Learn more about this strategic roadmap and the Space Economy Initiative: https://shorturl.at/L6976

📩 Let’s connect! If you're interested in technical advisory or training to inform policymaking and ecosystem development, contact us to explore collaboration.

15/12/2025

🚀Just launched: The Global Catastrophic Risks Report 2026!

The Global Challenges Foundation has released its annual report examining risks with the potential to severely impact humanity.

UNOOSA is proud to contribute to this year’s edition, highlighting near-Earth objects (NEOs) like asteroids as a global catastrophic risk. Asteroid impacts are rare, but their consequences could be devastating. Managing them requires early detection, accurate risk assessment, and coordinated international response.

🪐 Fortunately, planetary defence is not science fiction. UNOOSA facilitates collaboration with two key international mechanisms:
The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN), which shares early warnings
The Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG), which coordinates potential mitigation responses.

🌍 These mechanisms ensure that all countries, including those without space capabilities, are part of global decision-making in the event of a credible asteroid threat. Recent cases, such as the monitoring of asteroid 2024 YR4 and the upcoming flyby of asteroid Apophis in 2029, offer opportunities to strengthen global preparedness.

👉Read the report for more about asteroid 2024 YR4, outlining UN-endorsed planetary defence mechanisms and how UNOOSA supports and coordinates these efforts: https://shorturl.at/zu7kv

👉Learn more about the International Year of Asteroid Awareness & Planetary Defense, 2029: https://shorturl.at/gDM8s

12/12/2025

🌌✨ Touchdown after an inspiring four days at the UN/SKAO Workshop on Dark & Quiet Skies for Science and Society.

Top takeaways:

💡 With a booming space sector, the impacts are growing. Satellite constellations are now visibly and measurably affecting both optical and radio astronomy. This challenges our ability to run wide-field surveys, spot transient astronomical events, and observe radio signals from the universe.

🛠️ Mitigation measures are under way: materials reducing satellite brightness, attitude maneuvers, radio boresight avoidance, data-sharing protocols— the sector is innovating. The progress is encouraging, but mitigation standards need to be defined, and the cumulative effects of increasing numbers of satellites remain a concern.

⚖️ Governance is evolving, with COPUOS at the centre of efforts to translate treaty principles like due regard and harmful interference into practical guidance. Through its workstreams and expert discussions, and with UNOOSA supporting implementation and capacity-building, momentum is building toward clearer, more operational international guidance.

🌍 Above all, Dark and Quiet Skies are bigger than science: indigenous traditions, astrotourism, education and cultural heritage all depend on them. This is a societal issue, not just a scientific one.

🙏 A sincere thank you to SKAO for co-hosting and helping make this multistakeholder dialogue possible. Onward to STSC 2026— the work continues!

11/12/2025

UN Champion for Space Brian Cox reminds us that the night sky is a shared natural resource, a source of wonder, inspiration, and scientific discovery for humanity since the beginning. Astronomy laid the foundations of modern science and continues to shape our understanding of the universe and ourselves.

🏛️ UNOOSA plays a key role in safeguarding this resource. After years of collaboration with Member States, astronomers, and the wider space sector, COPUOS has added “Dark and Quiet Skies, astronomy and large constellations” to the STSC agenda through 2029, ensuring the issue receives sustained global attention.

🔭 This week, these themes have taken center stage at the UN/SKAO Workshop on Dark and Quiet Skies in Vienna, where experts from industry, government, and astronomy are examining impacts, sharing solutions, and advancing responsible practices to preserve the night sky for future generations.

✨ Stay tuned for more on the workshop here at UNOOSA!

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

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