United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Vienna International Centre, P. O. Box 500, Wien (2026)

22/09/2026

💧Join the Space4Water community to advance space-based solutions for water-related challenges!

UNOOSA’s initiative connects the space and water sectors to promote the use of Earth observation, geospatial technologies and other space-based solutions for water management and research.

Organizations and individuals working in these areas are invited to join the community, exchange knowledge and collaborate on topics including:

💧 Water resources management and security
🌾 Agriculture and irrigation
🌊 Flood and drought monitoring
🌱 Biodiversity and ecosystem management
🌍 Climate resilience and environmental applications

🔗Join the Space4Water community: https://www.space4water.org/basic-page/how-can-i-join-space4water-communtiy

📅 Coming up in November: The 8th Space4Water Stakeholder Meeting will bring the community together in Vienna to build connections & strengthen collaboration. Online participation also available.

📌 Register by 30 September 2026: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=2zWeD09UYE-9zF6kFubccPhMGdVB2GpFnKb_VidI5wlUQkQ1STNFRjZPNFdESk1DNkU1TUFMOFdFQy4u&route=shorturl

21/09/2026

🕊️ What can space teach us about peace?

On this International Day of Peace, UNOOSA joined the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the International Organizations in Vienna, the Foundation Caritas in Veritate and Space for Humanity to host the Space for Peace Symposium at the Vienna International Centre.

UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini opened the symposium alongside Rev. Msgr. Richard Gyhra and H.E. Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, setting the scene for a morning exploring how space can foster cooperation, understanding and a shared sense of responsibility.

🌍Astronauta Marcos Pontes and Dorin Prunariu and citizen astronaut Sara Sabry reflected on the Overview Effect: how seeing Earth from orbit can transform our perspective on our shared humanity.

🔭 Fr. Richard D’Souza, SJ, Director of the Vatican Observatory foundation, turned to one of astronomy’s oldest lessons: across civilizations, people have looked to the same sky and asked the same fundamental questions.

📡 A live satellite link connected us to a Whizz Education classroom in Kenya, demonstrating how space infrastructure delivers on the ground, from education to disaster response.

Speakers from the Université de Namur , The Karman Project and Space for Humanity closed with a call for strong governance and international cooperation so that space stays a domain for cooperation, not competition.

Peaceful, safe and sustainable use of outer space isn’t an aspiration — here at UNOOSA, it’s the mandate.

Thank you to all our partners, speakers and participants for an inspiring morning helping make space a platform for cooperation.🌍🕊️

➡️ Swipe through for highlights from the symposium.

21/09/2026

🚨 REGISTRATION CLOSES 30 SEP!🚨 Don’t miss you chance to guide a free-flying robot aboard the International Space Station!

The 7th Round of the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) is now open.

Through this Access to Space for All partnership between UNOOSA and JAXA(宇宙航空研究開発機構) , students can take on a real space robotics challenge!

Choose your challenge:
🌟 Beginner Course: A simulator-only course for students under 16, designed to build robotics programming skills.

🤖 Regular Course: Compete for a place in the ISS final, where winning team will see their code tested aboard the International Space Station.

✅ Eligible participants may enter both courses if they meet the requirements. Teams must have 3–6 members, including at least three students.

The UNOOSA international slot is open to eligible students from developing economies and economies in transition that are not participating Kibo-RPC countries or regions.

Please share this opportunity with a school, university or youth STEM network you know!

For more information & to apply visit https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/access2space4all/Kibo-RPC/kibo-rpc_7th_round.html

18/09/2026

🌏 The 11th Annual UN-SPIDER Conference and Training Programme on “Harnessing Space Technologies for Climate and Disaster Resilience in Asia-Pacific” wrapped up today in Beijing.

UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini said “A satellite image alone does not protect anyone. The value of space technology lies in turning data into information and services that responders can use when it matters most. This principle is already being put into practice.”

🇻🇪🇨🇴🇳🇵🇨🇳 In recent months, UNOOSA, UN Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER), and its Regional Support Offices have supported disaster response efforts following major earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia and catastrophic flooding affecting communities in Nepal and China, providing high-resolution imagery and rapid assessment support.

🛰️ The Training Programme presented practical tools and approaches for emergency response. From satellite remote sensing and exposure assessment to early warning, multi-hazard risk analysis, GeoAI, and digital tools, participants explored how Earth observation can move from data to actionable information for preparedness, response, and recovery.

🌍 The Annual Conference provided opportunities for experts to discuss and explore the possibilities for the next decade of space-enabled disaster risk reduction technologies and methodologies, highlighting the growing role of Earth observation, GeoAI, digital twins, open data, and regional cooperation.

🤝 The week also strengthened cooperation across the region, including through bilateral engagements led by Director Holla-Maini and discussions with regional entities such as, APSCO CIDCA, MEM, NDRCC and the Maldives National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) on advancing the use of space for sustainable development and disaster resilience.

We thank United Nations ESCAP, GIZ China, and Apsco for funding the participation of experts from 38 countries, and to the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) for signing a joint MoU with UNOOSA to leverage their satellite for monitoring the implementation of the SDGs across the globe.

The work continues. Join the free online UN-University course ‘Earth Observation for Sustainable Development’ (https://lnkd.in/eyfqaXEH) and explore the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal (https://un-spider.org/) for recommended practices, disaster response resources, training opportunities, and further information on how space-based technologies can support disaster risk reduction.

17/09/2026

🚨IN-PERSON REGISTRATION CLOSES 30 SEP!🚨 Don’t miss out – join us this December for the 2026 United Nations Conference on Lunar Activities!🌚🇺🇳

Taking place in the Vienna International Centre from 9-11 December 2026, the Conference will bring together policymakers, experts, industry representatives, academia and civil society to discuss international cooperation in lunar activities.

An astronaut panel will bridge the gap between theoretical discussion and practical implementation of space activities. Plus, those attending in person will even be able to view UNOOSA's new lunar sample from the dark side of the Moon, donated by the Government of China earlier this week!

Organised under UNOOSA's "One Moon for All” project, the event will build upon and feed into key work streams of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), including:
🌘 The Action Team on Lunar Activities Consultation (ATLAC)
🌗 The Working Group on the Legal Aspects of Space Resources
🌖 The Working Group on the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Space

Programme Overview:
🗓 9 December: Closed pre-conference event (For nominated representatives of COPUOS Member States)
🗓 10–11 December: Public Conference (Open to industry, academia, NGOs, all UN Member States, and the general public)

For in-person participation in the public sessions of the Conference, register here: https://shorturl.at/hqIk6
Deadline: 30 September 2026, 6 pm CEST

For online participation, register here: https://shorturl.at/37KfK
Deadline: 25 November 2026, 6 pm CET

15/09/2026

🌕 A piece of the far side of the Moon has arrived at its new home: the United Nations in Vienna!

Donated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to UNOOSA, the lunar sample was collected in 2024 by Chang’e-6, the first mission in history to return samples from the far side of the Moon.

This small piece of lunar material was collected from the South Pole–Aitken Basin, and offers a tangible connection to a part of the Moon no human has ever visited.

The handover ceremony brought together United Nations Vienna/UNODC - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Director-General Dr. Monica Juma, CNSA Director Shan Zhongde, Ambassador Li Song of China and UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini, alongside representatives of countries that cooperated on the Chang'e-6 mission: Ambassador Debora Lepre of Italy and Ambassador Kamran Akhtar Malik of Pakistan.

Director Holla-Maini reflected on what the sample represents: not only a piece of the far side of the Moon, but a tangible sign that a new era of lunar activity is taking shape.

As more countries and actors look towards the Moon, international cooperation will be essential. For millennia, humans have looked up at the Moon as a shared presence in our night sky. Through the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the international community works to help ensure that activities in outer space, including on and around the Moon, are conducted for peaceful purposes.

That conversation continues in Vienna this December.

📅 Save the date: 9–11 December 2026

The 2026 United Nations Conference on Lunar Activities, organized by UNOOSA at the Vienna International Centre, will bring together policymakers, experts, industry, academia and civil society to advance international dialogue and cooperation on lunar activities.
🔗 Register here (in person): https://shorturl.at/hqIk6
🔗 Register here (Online): https://shorturl.at/37KfK

We thank the Government of China for this donation, which brings a remarkable piece of lunar exploration to the United Nations.

📍 Visiting the Vienna International Centre? Come see the Chang’e-6 lunar sample at the UNOOSA exhibition space!

📸: UNIS Vienna/Nikoleta Haffar

14/09/2026

🎉 The 10th DropTES student team has been selected! A student team (Gadjah Mada Aerospace Team) from Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia🇮🇩 will travel to the Bremen Drop Tower in Germany to turn their research idea into a real microgravity experiment.

🔬 The team will investigate how partially wet silica sand redistributes when shaken under microgravity conditions. Their findings could inform technology for future missions to the Moon and beyond.🚀

🌍Microgravity research gives us insight on conditions in space as well as here on Earth, with applications for medicine, climate change, physics and more. Through DropTES, the next generation of scientists can gain hands-on experience in space research, build technical skills and contribute knowledge to the space community.

UNOOSA is proud to make this opportunity possible through Access to Space for All, in partnership with the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

👉 Explore all our Access to Space for All opportunities:
https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/access2space4all/index.html

11/09/2026

🇫🇷🌌 That's a wrap on the International Space Summit in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed their support for the work of COPUOS on space situational awareness and the coordination of space traffic.

🇫🇮🇦🇲🇦🇪🇬🇧 UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini joined the high-level panel on future space infrastructures, alongside the President of Finland, the Prime Minister of Armenia, the Chairman of the UAE Space Agency and the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

At a dinner at the Élysée Palace, Director Holla-Maini had the opportunity to discuss automated collision avoidance with President Macron; an increasingly important tool for improving safety and sustainability as the number of satellites in orbit grows.

🛰 Throughout the Summit we highlighted the central role of COPUOS in addressing the opportunities and challenges arising from an increasingly complex space environment, and socialised the newly launched United Nations Satellite Operator Contact Hub (UN-SOCH), an important step towards strengthening communication and coordination among satellite operators. Satellite operators can register with UN-SOCH now. See our post here for more information on how to be involved: https://lnkd.in/p/dtPjsnqy

🇺🇳 UNOOSA also:
🛰️ Moderated a roundtable on space situational awareness.

🌊🇬🇭🇦🇴 Welcomed as secretariat to the SPACE4OCEAN ALLIANCE the National Space Program Management Office of Angola (GGPEN) and the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute as new Members. A very warm welcome to both.

🌍 Joined a roundtable on space for humanity, where we advocated for broader and more equitable access to space and its benefits.

💧 Co-organised a Space4Water Conference together with Blue Water Initiative under the patronage of French Minister for Higher Education, Research and Space Philippe Baptiste, bringing together international water and space experts to explore how space-based solutions can help address some of the world's most pressing water challenges.

Our warmest thanks to President Emmanuel Macron for his invitation to the Summit.

10/09/2026

🕊️ Join us online on 21 September for the Symposium, marking the International Day of Peace!

🌍 The event will bring together voices from the diplomatic, spaceflight, science, education and faith communities to explore how space can be a force for peace and help build a safer, more resilient and sustainable world.

We’ll hear from astronauts Astronauta Marcos Pontes and Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu, alongside speakers from the Vatican Astronomical Observatory, Space for Humanity, The Karman Project, Université de Namur, the diplomatic community and more, on the role of space technology in education and peacebuilding, and what international cooperation in space can teach us about peace and our common humanity.

🤝 Co-organized with the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the International Organizations in Vienna, and co-sponsored by the Caritas in Veritate Foundation and Space for Humanity.

🌐 Everyone is invited to join virtually from anywhere in the world: https://lnkd.in/d9N-mWDk

Permanent Mission of the Holy See in Geneva

09/09/2026

The UNOOSA team took a field trip to see UN Space Champion, Brian Cox's, Emergence Tour in Bratislava.

"In the space of four centuries, we've gone from dreaming of other worlds to travelling to them. And now we're close to standing on them."

From nuclear power in space to the use of space resources, from lunar missions to planetary defence, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) has been at the forefront of international cooperation in the peaceful use and exploration of space.

Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for some exciting updates.

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

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