UN and NASA to promote peaceful use of outer space

Luxembourg, 18 December 2020. – The United Nations and NASA want to work together to support the peaceful use of outer space, the organisations announced.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the U.S. space agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding “pledging cooperation in areas of science and technology to support the peaceful uses of outer space”, UNOOSA said.

The memorandum “brings together NASA’s wealth of open-source spacecraft data, tools, and expertise and UNOOSA’s unique position as the only UN entity dedicated to outer space affairs, to expand global opportunities to leverage the benefits of space”, it said. The partners want to design capacity-building programmes, particularly for institutions in countries that do not yet have or that are developing space capabilities, to help them access space.

UNOOSA and NASA also want to “develop ways to leverage the Artemis programme as part of UNOOSA’s Access to Space 4 All Initiative, which offers opportunities for international researchers and institutions, especially in developing countries, to acquire space research and exploration capabilities and take part in this unprecedented journey of discovery”.