Abstract
Space sustainability is a concept that has emerged within the past 15 years to refer to a set of concerns relating to outer space as an environment for carrying out space activities safely and without interference, as well as to concerns about ensuring continuity of the benefits derived on Earth from the conduct of such space activities. As such, it encompasses the concerns of both space actors and those who are not space actors but who nevertheless benefit from space activities. This chapter reviews the role of the various relevant United Nations entities in ensuring space sustainability and provides a detailed review of the process and discussions held in the Working Group on the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities within the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). Finally, the chapter discusses the relationship of the work in UN COPUOS with related work done in the Conference on Disarmament, the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures in Outer Space Activities, and the initiative by the European Union to propose a Draft International Code of Conduct for outer space activities.
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Martinez, P. (2020). Space Sustainability. In: Handbook of Space Security. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22786-9_51-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22786-9_51-4
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