AUC and UNOOSA to Organize Introductory Technical Advisory Mission Event During Africa Space Week
The African Union Heads of State and Government adopted the African Space Policy and Strategy on January 31, 2016, during their 26th Ordinary Session, and further adopted the Statutes of the African Space Agency in 2018, establishing the Agency as an Organ of the African Union. These are the first concrete instruments towards realizing an African outer-space programme of the AU Agenda 2063,
The Commission through the African Space Dialogue identified the need for an annual Africa Space Week as an annual high-level forum for African Space policymakers, leaders, industry, academia and users to engage on the pertinent matters regarding space in Africa. The inaugural Africa Space Week is a hybrid event to be held on 6-10 September 2021, in Nairobi, Kenya in collaboration with the Kenya Space Agency. The event is preceded by the Virtual Introductory Technical Advisory Mission and Training for policymakers in Africa co-organized with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) on 4th September 2021.
UNOOSA is the secretariat of the Global Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) which harmonizes international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, monitors and discusses developments related to the exploration and use of outer space as well as the technical advancements in space exploration, geopolitical changes, and the evolving use of space science and technology for sustainable development. COPUOS is the custodian of the Outer Space Treaty (OST) of 1968 that governs activities in outer space and serves as the foundation of international space law.
Owing to the expanding global space economy, and the need for newly-faring and non-space faring Nations to be aware of space governance, AUC and UNOOSA will provide awareness with a focus on international space law in the small satellites regime.
The Introductory Technical Advisory Mission will be a one-day event held online on 4 September 2021 focusing on the regulation of small satellites. This event will take place during the African Space Week 2021 to raise awareness, promote adherence to the five United Nations treaties on outer space and assist States in building their capacity in space law, and examine and compare various contemporary legal issues arising from the technology advancement focusing on the regulation of small satellite activities.
Delegates are nominated by countries and they are supplied with a separate registration link.