ROOM
97
Opinion
nature of COPUOS with economics, business
and industry related ambitions of private and
commercial space community is not an easy task
and constitutes a significant barrier in efforts
to create new, better suited mechanisms for
governing space activities.
A significant part of the UN approach to outer
space is related to broader UN initiatives, specifically
the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda, where
space is being discussed as one of the tools to
achieve sustainable development goals.
When focusing more directly on space itself,
the UN space agenda also remains relatively
broad. Complicated diplomatic procedures and
large numbers of different agenda items at the
sessions of UN COPUOS and its subcommittees
may appear to some external observers as a
disorganised approach.
UNISPACE+50 has a significant role in defining
the future role of the UN Committee for Peaceful
Uses of Outer Space, which remains today the only
body in the international community suitable to
deal with high-level policy and regulatory issues of
the exploration and use of outer space.
The future role of the UN COPUOS will be
formed during the processes scheduled to play
out in forthcoming months. There is the potential
to create a solid foundation for multilateral
discussions with inputs from the civil, commercial
and military space sectors, with the participation
of existing space powers as well as emerging
actors from both the OECD group and developing
countries, while taking into account the constantly
changing nature of space activities.
But the questions that new space governance
mechanisms will have to address are seemingly
growing and include:
• How to adequately regulate the so-called
NewSpace movement so that commercial
and business rationales remain thriving in
private sector?
• How to address the future of space
exploration visions such as colonisation
of other planets or asteroid mining should
they become reality?
• What kind of regulatory model will
safeguard unlimited access to and free
exploration and use of space for new
space actors while at the same time
maintaining the long-term sustainability
of space activities?
Since space science and technology are undergoing
constant innovation, the governing law, regulatory
aspects and policy need to maintain an equal pace.
Having an imbalanced relationship between
innovation in space technology and regulatory
mechanisms will inevitably cause setbacks
It reminds me of the lasting historical struggle
between artillery on the one hand and shielding
on the other. When one innovated, the other had
to adjust, and vice versa. Having an imbalanced
relationship between innovation in space
technology and regulatory mechanisms will
inevitably cause setbacks. It is good therefore
that the international space community will
encompass discussions dedicated to space
governance over the next 15 months. Interim
outcomes, such as the initially agreed first set of
guidelines for long-term sustainablity of space
activities, seem promising but the long-term
results remain uncertain.
About the author
Tomas Hrozensky is a PhD student at the Matej Bel University
in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. His doctoral research at the
Security Studies Department of the Faculty of Political Science
and International Relations focuses on contemporary trends
and dynamics in the global space sector. He is chairman of an
NGO Slovak Space Policy Association, a member of the Space
Generation Advisory Council representing Slovakia and regularly
participates at sessions of the UN Committee for Peaceful Uses of
Outer Space and its subcommittees.
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Managing Editor -
Measures, so far not yet
legally binding, preventing
the growth of space debris
were included in the
UNCOPUOS Space Debris
Mitigation Guidelines back
in 2007 and are currently
part of discussions
regarding long term
sustainability guidelines.
