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

 

COPUOS/T.551 

Page 7

 

trigger off arms race in outer space, thus rendering 

outer space a new arena for military confrontation.  

This goes against the very principle of peaceful 

exploration and use of outer space and will cause 

serious consequences.  The Chinese Government is 

ready, along with other member States, to make a great 

effort maintain peaceful use of outer space and to 

oppose militarization and weaponization of outer 

space. 

 

 

Thank you Mr. Chairman. 

 

 

The CHAIRMAN 

(interpretation from 

French):  Thank you very much Ambassador for your 

statement.  I should like to take this opportunity once 

again to congratulate you on the space programmes 

that China has been implementing over the last couple 

of months, in particular the Shenzhou spacecraft’s 

flight last October, with several astronauts onboard.  

And very many of us are struck by the rapidity(?) with 

which space exploration has developed in China and 

we are delighted to see the contribution that China 

wishes to make to the work of our Committee, given 

the size of your programme and its impact.  Thank you 

very much and congratulations once again Sir. 

 

 

I think we have a further question from 

Ambassador González. 

 

 

Mr. R. GONZÁLEZ ANINAT (Chile) 

(interpretation from Spanish):  Thank you very much 

Sir.  I am sorry to interpret you Sir but I had an 

interpretation problem.  When I referred to the report, I 

do not know quite what was said in French but 

reference was made to the need to incorporate the 

Sustainable Development’s report whereas that is not 

what I meant.  I was talking about there being a need to 

incorporate a mention of space technology in the 

report, the UNEP Report on Human Development. 

 

 Thank 

you. 

 

 

The CHAIRMAN 

(interpretation from 

French):  Thank you very much.  Ambassador, I think 

it was myself that misunderstood.  It was not a problem 

with interpretation.  It was my mistake Sir and you are 

quite right and that reference should have been made to 

the Development Programme and not the 

Environmental Programme, as the interpreters had 

mistakenly … 

 

 

We now turn our attention to the statement to 

be made by Indonesia.  I recognize the delegate of 

Indonesia.  Please go ahead. 

 

 

Mr. M. KARTASASMITA (Indonesia): 

 

Thank you very much Mr. Chairman.  Let me begin by 

congratulating you, Mr. Gérard Brachet, on your 

election as Chairman and to the members of your 

Bureau, Mr. Elöd Both and Mr. Paul Tiendrebeogo.  

The Indonesian delegation looks forward to working in 

tandem with you to ensure a successful outcome for 

this session. 

 

 

I would also like to reiterate our 

congratulations to Mr. B. N. Suresh and Dr. Mazlan 

Othman, the Chairpersons of the Scientific and 

Technical Subcommittee for the period of 2006-2007, 

as well as to Mr. Raimundo González Aninat as 

Chairperson of the Legal Subcommittee for the same 

period. 

 

 

Our most sincere appreciation is extended to 

the previous Chairman, Dr. Adigun Ade Abiodun from 

Nigeria; First Vice-Chairman, Mr. Ciro Arévalo Yepes 

from Colombia; and Second Vice-Chairman, Mr. 

Parviz Tarikhi from Iran, for their outstanding 

contributions to the Committee and their guidance in 

advancing the efforts of the Committee.  My delegation 

wishes them good health and continuing success in 

their current and future works. 

 

 

My delegation has followed with great 

attention to the statement made by the Chairman, 

reviewing the developments of the work of the 

Committee since its forty-eighth session.  We 

commend the Office for Outer Space Affairs and all 

parties for supporting and carrying out the work which, 

in turn, facilitates our consideration on the issues of 

concern during the course of our present session. 

 

 

Mr. Chairman, before turning to the work of 

the Committee for this session, allow me to, on behalf 

of the Government and the people of Indonesia, 

express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to 

countries, international organizations and institutions 

for their assistance and condolences extended on the 

tragic occasion of the earthquake on Java Island on 27 

May 2006, including those which have been kindly 

expressed in this forum by the Chairman, the Director 

of the Office for Outer Space Affairs and by 

distinguished delegates.  We are comforted to see how 

the international community pulls together and extends 

its support in the face of a calamity that has taken the 

lives of over 6,200 people and left over 200,000 people 

homeless. 

 

 

In particular, in this forum my delegation 

would like to express our deep appreciation to the 

German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the 

German Aerospace Centre, DLR, for taking the 

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COPUOS/T.551 

Page 8 

 

 

initiative to active the International Charter “Space and 

Major Disaster”.  We are also grateful to note that 

JAXA of Japan, CRISP of Singapore, MACRES of 

Malaysia, GISTDA of Thailand, UNOSAT and others 

who had been very swiftly in providing imagery and 

data of the disaster area caused by the Yogyakarta 

earthquake. 

 

 

In anticipation for another natural disaster in 

Central Java, our appreciation goes to the United States 

Geological Survey, USGS, for its initiative to activate 

the Charter for the purpose of predicting the impending 

eruption of Mount Merapi, which is located on the 

north of the epicentre of the last May earthquake. 

 

 

Mr. Chairman, in observing the agenda for 

this session, I see the promise of useful results on a 

number of important topics. 

 

 

First of all, I would like to reaffirm 

Indonesia’s position that outer space should be entirely 

used for peaceful purposes and for the benefits of all 

humankind.  We take note of the General Assembly 

resolution number 60/99 of 2006, paragraph 39, which 

considers deliberations on ways and means of 

maintaining outer space for peaceful uses as a matter of 

priority.  In this line, we also recall paragraphs 29 to 31 

of the resolution, stating that the benefits of space 

technology and its application should be increasingly 

used for sustainable growth and development, 

particularly in the developing countries.  In this regard, 

our delegation fully supports the statement of His 

Excellency, Ambassador Aninat of Chile, that just has 

been delivered. 

 

 

To achieve the above-mentioned objective, it 

is deemed necessary that the COPUOS consider the 

possibility of establishing a practical mechanism for 

coordinating and harmonizing its work with that of 

other related bodies, such as the First Committee of the 

United Nations General Assembly and the Conference 

on Disarmament. 

 

 

Turning to the implementation of the 

recommendation of UNISPACE III, our delegation, 

indeed, appreciates the hard work performed by the Ad 

Hoc Expert Group.  Indonesia has greatly benefited 

from the International Charter “Space and Major 

Disaster”.  On the other hand, my delegation attaches 

great importance to the indigenous capability to fully 

use the technology, to make available remote sensing 

data in affected areas, to process relevant information 

further, and to support prevention, mitigation and 

rehabilitation phases.  This should be used as the basis 

for the establishment of the Disaster Management 

International Space Coordination Organization, 

DMISCO.  The probably actions are to perform 

capacity-building and technical consultancy activities 

in disaster-prone countries and to establish the network 

among data providers as well as between data 

providers and the relevant authorities in disaster-prone 

countries, while also providing technical consultancy. 

 

 

With regard to the report of the Scientific and 

Technical Subcommittee and Legal Subcommittee, my 

delegation notes with satisfaction that both 

Subcommittees have made progress in deliberations of 

issues in line with their mandate.  It is my earnest hope 

that the distinguished delegates in this session will 

continue to engage in genuine negotiations to reach 

mutually acceptable solutions by using the 

achievements of both Subcommittees, in particular, the 

solution of the issues on the definition and delimitation 

of outer space.  In the context of clarifying the 

boundary between air and outer space, this solution 

may contribute to legal certainty of implementing 

space law and air law.  As to the utilization of the 

geostationary orbit, GSO, it is our firm view that in 

light of its sui generis characteristics, equitable access 

to the orbit should be guaranteed to all States, taking 

particular account of the needs and interests of 

developing countries as well as the geographical 

position of certain countries. 

 

 

Mr. Chairman, international cooperation is an 

area of high priority in Indonesian space activities.  In 

this context, Indonesia has and will continue to actively 

contribute to the strengthening of such cooperation, 

among others, by hosting the Thirteenth Meeting of the 

Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum, APRSAF, 

and the Second International Water-Boosted Rocket 

and Poster Competitions in November 2006. 

 

Considering the benefits of the APRSAF, which has 

been experienced by Asia-Pacific countries, we would 

like to take this opportunity to invite more countries in 

the region to take active part in the Forum, particularly 

during the upcoming meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

 

 

Regarding the Sentinel Asia project, 2006-

2007, which is one of the concrete actions towards the 

establishment of the Disaster Management Support 

System in the Asia-Pacific, sponsored by JAXA, Japan, 

I am pleased to inform you that Indonesia will soon 

activate the data provider nodes, which are to support 

the setting-up of automated and near-real-time 

data/information distribution through the regional 

network.  As one of the highly vulnerable countries, 

Indonesia can fully see the potential benefits of this 

system and we support the implementation of the 

project. 

 

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