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
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.