By SWF Senior Director of Legal Affairs and Space Law, Christopher Johnson
SWF has just refreshed one of our flagship publications, the COPUOS Briefing Book, with updated information and details on the most important multilateral forum for the governance of outer space – the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS, for short).
The COPUOS Briefing Book covers COPUOS’s creation and history, placement within the UN system, membership, leadership, deliverables and outcomes, schedule and agenda, rules of procedure, and structure of reports. It also explains key concepts such as consensus, and details and highlights the important work of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), which serves as COPUOS’s secretariat. Both the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee, as well as the various COPUOS Working Groups, are also explained and discussed.
As a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) granted permanent observer status at COPUOS in 2008 and special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council in 2010, we at Secure World Foundation take seriously our responsibility to contribute to the work of the United Nations, including assisting the work of its institutions and forums.
International institutions matter, and here is an area where an NGO can play a positive role in supporting effective multilateralism. In publishing and promoting the COPUOS Briefing Book, including the free distribution of printed copies and online open access, we strive to support effective multilateral space diplomacy and strengthen COPUOS by strengthening the capacity of those who participate there.
COPUOS is more effective and efficient if delegations are appraised of its history, methods of work, and structure – topics all covered in our book. This ensures that COPUOS will remain a strong international institution, be responsive to the needs of member states, promote the rule of law and the preservation of peace in outer space, and help make its work efficient and productive. We have already received positive feedback from Member State delegations as to the usefulness of our publication, which is why we will continue to update and provide it to COPUOS and its two subcommittees.
The COPUOS Briefing Book also has an audience outside of the delegations who make their way to Vienna. It is crucially important that other stakeholders across the multipolar and polycentric system of space governance have an understanding of the work and importance of COPUOS. For example, Resolution-74 (2023) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radiocommunication Assembly, entitled “Activities related to the sustainable use of radio-frequency spectrum and associated satellite-orbit resources used by space services,” instructs the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau (ITU-R) to “collaborate and exchange information with other United Nations organizations” including COPUOS and to develop a “Handbook on best practices for the sustainable use of frequencies and associated non-GSO orbits,” among other actions. As Members of the ITU-R, and its staff, work on the actions under this Resolution understanding of the history, methods of work, and structure of COPOUS will be beneficial.
Additionally, having a publication as a physical resource that delegates can show others – including their political leadership – helps to explain their work and the work of COPUOS across governments, industry, and in academia. There is a deficit of knowledge in governments, intergovernmental organizations, industry, and in academia about COPUOS and its work, and this publication strives to bring attention to this important yet underappreciated forum.
In partnership with Intersputnik, a fellow observer organization to COPUOS, SWF is pleased to release translations of the COPUOS Briefing Book in French, Spanish and Russian. The translations in each language have also been reviewed by space law and policy experts, including Laetitia Cesari reviewing the French translation, Rafael Moro-Aguilar reviewing the Spanish translation, and Olga Volynskaya reviewing the Russian translation. We are very grateful to these reviewers by these outside experts.
At the recently and successfully concluded 64th session of the Legal Subcommittee of COPUOS, SWF delivered and distributed over 200 copies of the updated COPUOS Briefing Book in these four languages, which were quickly snapped up by delegations. We will also have copies for delegations at the upcoming 68th session of COPUOS. For those not attending COPUOS in person, free-to-download digital copies, in all four languages, are available on our website at https://www.swfound.org/publications-and-reports/copuos-briefing-book.
