The U.S. had denied claims that a pair of SpaceX Starlink satellites came close to hitting the Chinese space station last year.
“Because the activities did not meet the threshold of established emergency collision criteria, emergency notifications were not warranted in either case,” the U.S. said is a note verbale sent to the United Nations. “If there had been a significant probability of collision involving the China Space Station, the United States would have provided a close approach notification directly to the designated Chinese point of contact.
Sixty Starlink satellites separate from a Falcon 9 second stage on April 22, 2020. (Credit: SpaceX website)
United Nations General Assembly Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
A/AC.105/1262 Distr.: General 6 December 2021 English Original: Chinese
Information furnished in conformity with the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
Note verbale dated 3 December 2021 from the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations (Vienna) addressed to the Secretary-General
The Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations (Vienna) presents its compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and has the honour to refer to article V of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies 1 (the Outer Space Treaty), which provides that “States Parties to the Treaty shall immediately inform the other States Parties to the Treaty or the Secretary-General of the United Nations of any phenomena they discover in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, which could constitute a danger to the life or health of astronauts”. In accordance with the above-mentioned article, China hereby informs the Secretary-General of the following phenomena which constituted dangers to the life or health of astronauts aboard the China Space Station.
Funding led by OTB Ventures for thermal infrared satellite constellation
WASHINGTON (Hydrosat PR) — Hydrosat, the geospatial data and analytics company, announces a new Seed Round raising $10M to create its thermal infrared satellite constellation. Today’s funding brings Hydrosat’s total capital raised to over $15M. The oversubscribed venture round was led by OTB Ventures, a leading European venture firm with a dedicated space investment vehicle, OTB Space Program I. Freeflow Ventures, Cultivation Capital, Santa Barbara Venture Partners, and Expon Capital also participated in the round.
Hydrosat began as a satellite company monitoring the water cycle to rapidly detect environmental stress brought about by climate change. Recent climate disasters, ranging from drought on the West Coast to flash floods on the East Coast of the United States, illustrates the growing importance of this technology as the world’s major governments meet this month for the United Nations COP26 Climate Change Conference.
This image of Earth was compiled using tens of thousands of images from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. (Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019–20), processed by ESA and cloud layer from NASA)
PARIS (ESA PR) — ESA is poised to showcase how satellite data underpins global efforts to avert climate catastrophe at pivotal international talks held in the UK.
This year’s edition of the United Nations climate change conference – COP26 – takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, from 31 October to 12 November.
Credit: Kate Hodge, for Global Science and Technology, Inc.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (NOAA PR) — Satellites collect huge amounts of information about our planet’s oceans and land masses every day, and complex mathematical algorithms help us process and make sense of it. However, since these algorithms are designed to work best for either one or the other, it is more difficult to get high-quality, accurate information about where the two come together—the coasts. That’s where NOAA’s Committee on Earth Observation Satellites—Coastal Observations, Applications, Services, and Tools (CEOS COAST) comes in.
PARIS (ESA PR) — Since the beginning of the space age, with the launch of Sputnik in 1957, we have launched thousands of rockets carrying more than ten thousand satellites into space. The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in these numbers, and over the last few decades there has been a change in the type of mission flown, with private companies (yellow) launching smaller satellites than those […]
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) pledging cooperation in areas of science and technology to support the peaceful use of outer space.
The MOU, signed Thursday, Dec. 17, brings together NASA’s wealth of publicly available Earth observation data and dynamic exploration opportunities with UNOOSA’s unique position as the only U.N. entity dedicated to outer space affairs.
The Outer Space Institute The University of British Columbia
International Open Letter on Space Mining
The Outer Space Institute is pleased to publish the International Open Letter on Space Mining, which stresses the need for a multilateral agreement on the exploration, exploitation, and utilization of space resources and calls on states to present a resolution at the UN General Assembly that urges the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to negotiate a draft of such an agreement.
Honourable François-Philippe Champagne Minister of Foreign Affairs Global Affairs Canada 125 Sussex Drive Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
cc. Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Natural Resources
20 April 2020
Dear Minister Champagne,
Re: US Executive Order on Recovery and Use of Space Resources
On 6 April 2020, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources (“Executive Order”).
Thermal mining of ices on cold solar system bodies (Credit: George Sowers)
by Douglas Messier Managing Editor
In a challenge to the United States’ position that extraterrestrial resources can be legally extracted and utilized under existing law, TheOuter Space Institute (OSI) is urging the United Nations to quickly begin work on an international agreement to govern these activities.
“It is our opinion that the speed and scale of developments relating to the exploration, exploitation and utilization of space resources require more affirmative and urgent action,” OSI said in an open letter to UN General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande sent earlier this month.
