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Celebrating the start of the space age: Planning for 2007
expenses. They will also have to make their own arrangements for passports, visas, travel insurance and medical insurance.
sessions would focus on the Next fifty years in space, taking stock of what has been achieved so far:
Celebrating the Start of the Space Age: Planning for 2007
• Space as a tool to exploring, securing a better understanding, monitoring and protecting planet Earth (Earth sciences, meteorology, climate, environmental monitoring, prevention and mitigation of natural disasters), with a particular focus on global issues and on developing countries requirements;
he year 2007 will see the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957, a date which marks in everybody's mind the birth of the space age. October 2007 happens also to be the 40th anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty, which was open for signature in January 1967 and entered into force on October 10 of the same year.
T
The United Nations Committee for the Peaceful uses of Outer Space will also hold its 50th session during 2007. A reflection on how to celebrate these anniversaries was initiated in September 2005 by Gerard Brachet in his capacity as the incoming chairman of COPUOS for 20062007. After discussing the idea with Sergio Camacho, Director, UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, he contacted the COSPAR President Roger-Maurice Bonnet and the IAF President James V. Zimmermann to start developing the idea of a high level event, possibly in the UN Headquarters in New York City, to take place in October 2007. As a result of these informal discussions, a preliminary approach was identified: the celebration could be organized around a one day 'high level' event at the UN Headquarters in New York, primarily aimed at the political class (the annual UN General Assembly will be taking place at that time) and at the media. In a very preliminary outline, this one day event could be structured around four sessions. The first would focus on achievements in space during the past fifty years, with two or three high level speakers, one from Russia, one from the USA and one from a developing country. The other three
• Space business and economics (telecommunications, broadcasting, navigation, launch services, etc.); • Space exploration and long-term space science endeavours (astrophysics, solar system exploration, including the role of manned missions, permanent bases on other bodies, etc.). Speakers for these sessions would be selected for their vision, their ability to present and share with the audience long- term and high-level views. The event would be organized in close coordination with the many conferences, symposia, etc., which are already planned in 2007, be it in the context of the International Heliophysical Year (IHY), or as part of other space-related gatherings and conferences, in particular the 58 th Intemational Astronautical Congress in Delhi in late September 2007. In order to move forward, a Preparatory Committee was set up in December 2005, with representatives from COSPAR, the IAF, the IAA, the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), as well as from the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and COPUOS. This Committee held its first meeting on 19 January. It decided to go ahead with the idea and to develop a more detailed plan by early March 2006, in time to enable the enable the COSPAR and IAF Bureaus, and the IAA and IISL Boards (which meet in the week of 20-24 March in
Paris) to review the project, make suggestions and ideally approve it. The concept for the project, including its financial aspects, precise schedule and potential speakers for the event in the UN HQ, will then be finalized, in readiness for its presentation to delegations of the 67 Member States of COPUOS at its plenary meeting in June in Vienna. [From Gerard Brachet, Incoming Chairman, UN COPUOS, for 2006 and 2007]
COSPAR Duration Flights
Resolution on Long Stratospheric Balloon
n 4 July 2005, the Task Group on ILong Duration Stratospheric Balloon Flights submitted the following letter and resolution to the COSPAR Council.
O
"The purpose of this letter is to submit to Council members an official COSPAR resolution concerning long duration stratospheric balloon flights. As you will have seen in the recently circulated report of the 68th COSPAR Bureau meeting, at the Warsaw Assembly in 2000, a proposal from the Panel on Tectmical Problems Related to Scientific Ballooning (PSB) was accepted. The proposal called for the formation of a Task Group on Long Duration Stratospheric Balloon Flights (LDSBF). The mandate of the task group was to examine the technical aspects of possible future international actions to enable the geographically unrestrained, safe and peaceful flight of stratospheric scientific balloon apparatus over all countries in the world. After four years of consultation, the Task Group came to the conclusion that it is neither realistic nor feasible to think of an international agreement for facilitating safe conduct of balloon flights. Instead the Task Group made the following recommendations.
(a) The best way to conduct balloon flights overflying one or more countries is to have bilateral or multi-lateral agreements between the concerned countries whose air space will be crossed by the balloons. (b) The Bureau should be requested to pass a resolution appealing to all member countries of COSPAR to extend their utmost cooperation and help in permitting the safe passage over their airspace of scientific balloon flights meant purely for scientific research and also to facilitate recovery of the scientific paload in their territories. (c) In the case of future flights, COSPAR may be requested to convene a meeting of national representatives to extend cooperation and support for the passage of the balloons through the air space of their countries and also extend full cooperation and support for the recovery of the ULDBF payloads. The LDSBF Task Group duly drafted the [following] resolution, circulated it among members for comments/suggestions, and now submits the text for approval to COSPAR Council members. Should the Secretariat receive by 31 October 2005 no objections to the text of the resolution or comments of a procedural nature, a majority of the Council will be considered to have accepted the measure, the resolution will be adopted, and the LDSBF Task Group will be disbanded. In addition to the text of the proposed resolution, the full report of the LDSBF [was circulated to Council members] which provides much information on the deliberations of the Task Group." Resolution from the COSPAR Task Group on Long Duration Stratospheric Balloon Flights "Noting that scientific balloon flights are conducted for research in atmospheric sciences, astronomy, cosmic research and other allied areas of space science, that the research often requires balloon flights to last for a
sessions would focus on the Next fifty years in space, taking stock of what has been achieved so far:
Celebrating the Start of the Space Age: Planning for 2007
• Space as a tool to exploring, securing a better understanding, monitoring and protecting planet Earth (Earth sciences, meteorology, climate, environmental monitoring, prevention and mitigation of natural disasters), with a particular focus on global issues and on developing countries requirements;
he year 2007 will see the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957, a date which marks in everybody's mind the birth of the space age. October 2007 happens also to be the 40th anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty, which was open for signature in January 1967 and entered into force on October 10 of the same year.
T
The United Nations Committee for the Peaceful uses of Outer Space will also hold its 50th session during 2007. A reflection on how to celebrate these anniversaries was initiated in September 2005 by Gerard Brachet in his capacity as the incoming chairman of COPUOS for 20062007. After discussing the idea with Sergio Camacho, Director, UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, he contacted the COSPAR President Roger-Maurice Bonnet and the IAF President James V. Zimmermann to start developing the idea of a high level event, possibly in the UN Headquarters in New York City, to take place in October 2007. As a result of these informal discussions, a preliminary approach was identified: the celebration could be organized around a one day 'high level' event at the UN Headquarters in New York, primarily aimed at the political class (the annual UN General Assembly will be taking place at that time) and at the media. In a very preliminary outline, this one day event could be structured around four sessions. The first would focus on achievements in space during the past fifty years, with two or three high level speakers, one from Russia, one from the USA and one from a developing country. The other three
• Space business and economics (telecommunications, broadcasting, navigation, launch services, etc.); • Space exploration and long-term space science endeavours (astrophysics, solar system exploration, including the role of manned missions, permanent bases on other bodies, etc.). Speakers for these sessions would be selected for their vision, their ability to present and share with the audience long- term and high-level views. The event would be organized in close coordination with the many conferences, symposia, etc., which are already planned in 2007, be it in the context of the International Heliophysical Year (IHY), or as part of other space-related gatherings and conferences, in particular the 58 th Intemational Astronautical Congress in Delhi in late September 2007. In order to move forward, a Preparatory Committee was set up in December 2005, with representatives from COSPAR, the IAF, the IAA, the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), as well as from the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and COPUOS. This Committee held its first meeting on 19 January. It decided to go ahead with the idea and to develop a more detailed plan by early March 2006, in time to enable the enable the COSPAR and IAF Bureaus, and the IAA and IISL Boards (which meet in the week of 20-24 March in
Paris) to review the project, make suggestions and ideally approve it. The concept for the project, including its financial aspects, precise schedule and potential speakers for the event in the UN HQ, will then be finalized, in readiness for its presentation to delegations of the 67 Member States of COPUOS at its plenary meeting in June in Vienna. [From Gerard Brachet, Incoming Chairman, UN COPUOS, for 2006 and 2007]
COSPAR Duration Flights
Resolution on Long Stratospheric Balloon
n 4 July 2005, the Task Group on ILong Duration Stratospheric Balloon Flights submitted the following letter and resolution to the COSPAR Council.
O
"The purpose of this letter is to submit to Council members an official COSPAR resolution concerning long duration stratospheric balloon flights. As you will have seen in the recently circulated report of the 68th COSPAR Bureau meeting, at the Warsaw Assembly in 2000, a proposal from the Panel on Tectmical Problems Related to Scientific Ballooning (PSB) was accepted. The proposal called for the formation of a Task Group on Long Duration Stratospheric Balloon Flights (LDSBF). The mandate of the task group was to examine the technical aspects of possible future international actions to enable the geographically unrestrained, safe and peaceful flight of stratospheric scientific balloon apparatus over all countries in the world. After four years of consultation, the Task Group came to the conclusion that it is neither realistic nor feasible to think of an international agreement for facilitating safe conduct of balloon flights. Instead the Task Group made the following recommendations.
(a) The best way to conduct balloon flights overflying one or more countries is to have bilateral or multi-lateral agreements between the concerned countries whose air space will be crossed by the balloons. (b) The Bureau should be requested to pass a resolution appealing to all member countries of COSPAR to extend their utmost cooperation and help in permitting the safe passage over their airspace of scientific balloon flights meant purely for scientific research and also to facilitate recovery of the scientific paload in their territories. (c) In the case of future flights, COSPAR may be requested to convene a meeting of national representatives to extend cooperation and support for the passage of the balloons through the air space of their countries and also extend full cooperation and support for the recovery of the ULDBF payloads. The LDSBF Task Group duly drafted the [following] resolution, circulated it among members for comments/suggestions, and now submits the text for approval to COSPAR Council members. Should the Secretariat receive by 31 October 2005 no objections to the text of the resolution or comments of a procedural nature, a majority of the Council will be considered to have accepted the measure, the resolution will be adopted, and the LDSBF Task Group will be disbanded. In addition to the text of the proposed resolution, the full report of the LDSBF [was circulated to Council members] which provides much information on the deliberations of the Task Group." Resolution from the COSPAR Task Group on Long Duration Stratospheric Balloon Flights "Noting that scientific balloon flights are conducted for research in atmospheric sciences, astronomy, cosmic research and other allied areas of space science, that the research often requires balloon flights to last for a