SpaceTech 2023 - Banner

Omran Sharaf from UAE to chair UN’s COPUOS

The Hope probe was built by 150 Emirati engineers, researchers and scientists, which resulted in a successful Mars mission. Credit: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre

Edinburgh, 3 June 2022. – The UAE has been chosen to lead the United Nation’s Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) committee with Omran Sharaf Emirati engineer serving as director of COPUOS in 2022 and 2023, the UAE reported. 

COPUOS has 100 member states and has been in operation since 1959. It plays an important role in encouraging international co-operation and recommending laws and policies that support the peaceful exploration of space. The work of the Committee is based on the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 outlining peaceful uses of space.

Mr Sharaf was involved in the UAE’s successful Mars mission and previously represented the country on COPUOS and the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

His appointment comes in a time when the militarisation of space is on the increase with anti-satellite weapons and cyber attacks on satellites. These issues do not only pose political questions but are also dangerous to infrastructure both in space and on Earth.

Check Also

EU SST

EU SST Wins T.S. Kelso Award for Flight Safety Contributions

Space Data Association has announced The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking Partnership (EU SST) as the recipient of the T.S. Kelso Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to space flight safety. The EU SST Partnership relies on the SSA capabilities of 15 Member states of the European Union to provide space safety services, with the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) acting as the Front Desk.