P. O. Box 500, a-1400, Vienna, Austria. Corrections will be issued in a consolidated corrigendum

 

COPUOS/T.551 

Page 3

 

Mr. Abiodun, for his wisdom and experience went a 

long way towards letting this important body be very 

successful over the past two years. 

 

 

As many of the speakers noted before me, this 

year, we have celebrated the forty-fifth anniversary of 

the first manned mission into outer space.  In that 

connection, I would like to congratulate our colleagues 

and good neighbours, the delegations of Kazakhstan 

and Ukraine, whose representatives made a direct and 

extremely contribution to the historic spaceflight by 

Yuri Gagarin. 

 

 

Furthermore, I would like to congratulate the 

representatives of the United States of America on the 

occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first 

Shuttle mission into outer space. 

 

 

Mr. Chairman, the Russian Federation has 

traditionally, and consistently, come out for dialogue 

on all issues pertaining to international cooperation in 

the exploration and the use of outer space.  We proceed 

from the conviction that multilateral coordination of 

space activities strengthens the mutual trust among 

States, promotes interaction among them in other areas 

of international cooperation as well. 

 

 

We believe that the United Nations 

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has 

the greatest potential for tackling the issues of space 

cooperation which are of common interest to all States.  

Unfortunately, we have to note that recently we have 

heard more and more alarming trends which might 

eventually result in the deployment of weapons in outer 

space and that would ineluctably lead to suspicion and 

tension among States and would destroy the climate of 

trust and cooperation in space exploration. 

 

 

In that context, we have strongly come out for 

stepping up the debate on maintaining outer space for 

peaceful purposes within the framework of this 

Committee. 

 

 

Mr. Chairman, the role of COPUOS in 

developing and adopting international legal 

instruments underlining international space law is 

unquestionable.  This largely has to do with the 

Committee’s tradition of always looking for 

compromise.  The result of that, first and foremost, is 

the fact that, from its very inception, and until the 

present time, the Committee has worked and has made 

decisions on the basis of consensus.  Furthermore, the 

United Nations was the organizer of three global fora 

specifically on international cooperation in the 

exploration and use of outer space.  The changes that 

have occurred in recent years, serious changes, in the 

nature of space actors and the kinds of space activities 

they pursue, have highlighted the existing lacunae in 

international space law which have a negative impact 

on the further development of human activities in outer 

space.  This, coupled with the increased negative 

effects of man’s activity on outer space environment, 

point to the need to further strengthen the international 

basis for space law. 

 

Therefore, with the support of a number of 

States, also members of COPUOS, we have proposed 

starting work on a comprehensive United Nations 

convention on international space law.  Such a 

convention could be based on the existing international 

space law, norms and standards and would make it 

possible to consider all aspects of space exploration 

and the use of space technologies and techniques in the 

context of an integral hull(?).  The result of that work 

should be a well-balanced, thoroughly written text, 

taking into account the interests of all participants in 

outer space activities. 

 

 

Mr. Chairman, going on to the specific items 

on the agenda before us, my delegation would like to 

note the importance of the work accomplished and the 

results achieved with regard to the use of nuclear 

power sources in outer space, and the issue of space 

debris, particularly in the course of the February 

session of the Legal Subcommittee of COPUOS, the 

Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS. 

 

 

The Russian delegation values very highly the 

Joint Technical Workshop held this year on the 

Objectives, Scope and Possible Technological 

Framework for Ensuring the Safe Use of Nuclear 

Power Sources in Outer Space.  As well as the draft 

document prepared by the Scientific and Technical 

Subcommittee on Space Debris Mitigation.  In this 

connection, we would like to emphasize the need for a 

thorough technical review of possible procedures for 

monitoring compliance with space debris mitigation 

requirements.  We believe it would be extremely 

important to thoroughly take into account all comments 

and feedback that will be received after the national 

distribution of Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, as 

well as any other new information on that issue, 

specifically information on the relationship that exists 

between space debris and the use of nuclear power 

sources in outer space. 

 

 

Mr. Chairman, we would like to note 

especially our appreciation of the informative and 

active discussion that took place at the most recent 

session of the Legal Subcommittee of COPUOS on the 

matter of the registration of space objects by States and 

international organizations as well as the status and 

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