Dear colleagues,

This is just to give you a short summary of the results of the IAU participation in the Third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) in Vienna July 19-30 1999.

As the conference drew a total attendance of some 2700 people and had 40 associated events plus a major public exhibition, I cannot attempt here to give an exhaustive reply, just the main facts. The details will be out as official UN documents later.

As you will/may recall, the IAU, with COSPAR and the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs, organized two events under the so-called Technical Forum, IAU Symposium 196 "Preserving the Astronomical Sky", and a Workshop on Education. Both were very interesting and successful in their own right, and each produced a page of concise "Observations and Recommendations" to UNISPACE III itself. These were, in turn, considered by the national delegates at the main conference and,if supported by all delegations, included in the Report of UNISPACE III and the so-called Vienna Declaration, a succinct declaration by the UN of priorities for the next 2-3 decades of development in space.

Having followed the debates on the acceptance or rejection in the final report of the recommendations of the Technical Forum very closely myself, I can say that this was far from a rubber-stamping process.

Symposium 196 made four principal recommendations:
 

1: Better protection of radio astronomically important frequencies, taking into account both scientific and technical developments;

2: Creation of protected "radio quiet" zones" for new radio telescopes;

3: Recognition that the problems of radio interference and light pollution, including that from "crazy" space projects, are important topics for the future    negotiations in the UN in addition to space debris, which is already receiving a huge amount of attention. Our call was for the implementation of "environmental impact assessments" and "environmental traffic rules" in space, analogous to those on Earth.

4: A plea to combat "ordinary" light pollution.

I am pleased to report that virtually every single word of our recommendations was accepted for the final Report and thus form part of the views accepted
by all UN Member States for the future developments. Not all were accepted as they came from us, but then they reappeared in recommendations from other sources, or even from delegations themselves - sometimes even in stronger words than we had proposed. Overall, the support that I could notice from many delegations, and no less from the community of experts on international space law - who already have a draft Treaty on our key issues in the drawer - was most heartening. Our message is being heard, well beyond my more optimistic expectations.

Internally, it was decided to form a Working Group on Light Pollution,with Malcolm Smith (AURA, Chile) as proposed Chair, to deal with all aspects of that problem, in close collaboration with CIE whose representatives were a most helpful and constructive force.

Our Educational Workshop made four essential recommendations:
 

1: That countries should support education in astronomy and basic space science as a key element in a strategy to promote science education in general;

2: That a constructive collaboration between the UN Regional Educational Centres in Space Science and Technology and the IAU and COSPAR should be encouraged and supported;

3: That the people thus trained should get jobs(!);

4: That we (=the IAU) should start collecting, in a systematic way, our experience both with long-term strategic planning in a number of different environments, and with various types of educational material that exists to teach astronomy at various levels.
 

Let me add that also the recommendations on Near Earth Object research, although presented from two events which we did not directly organize ourselves, were extremely helpful, reasonable and constructive.

All in all, counting also the numerous personal contacts to national and other delegates that resulted from spending three weeks in this environment, I found the overall outcome of this investment of time and money to be very positive. More details will follow later when the documents are finalized and distributed.

With best regards,

Johannes Andersen
General Secretary, International Astronomical Union

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17 years after its predecessor UNISPACE 82, the conference was convened at the Vienna International Centre, Austria, by the UN Committee on the Peaceful
Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS). Its purpose was to review the status of international activities in space, and to formulate priorities and recommendations for
the development of these activities during the first decades of the new millennium. Organized by the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs, the conference was attended
by over 100 UN Member States and numerous international organizations, including the IAU which has permanent observer status with UN-COPUOS.

In conjunction with UNISPACE III, the IAU in collaboration with COSPAR and the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs organized two meetings on subjects which are
given high priority by the IAU: The IAU/COSPAR/UN Special Environmental Symposium: "Preserving the Astronomical Sky" (IAU Symposium 196), and an
IAU/COSPAR/UN Special Workshop on Education in Astronomy and Basic Space Science. As part of the "Technical Forum" of INISPACE III, both meetings
formulated "Observations and Recommendations" to the main Conference within their respective subjects. These recommendations were forwarded to the
Conference and to a very large extent included in the Final Report of UNISPACE III and associated recommendations to the UN General Assembly. The General
Assembly will discuss these recommendations in November/December 1999

The final documents of UNISPACE III: The Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development and the Background and Recommendations of the
Conference, as well as all background documents, including the recommendations of all meetings held as part of the "Technical Forum", are now available from
the web site of the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs, eventually in all six official languages of the UN.
 
 

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