UAE Chairs UN Panel on Peceful Uses of Outer Space

The UAE, represented by Omran Sharaf, Director of the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), chaired the 65th session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

During the session the committee’s members approved the draft report of the Working Group on Space and Global Health, while the UAE performed moderating role in ensuring that the committee members' viewpoints are in sync.

UAE official representative Sharaf announced the space sector witnessed the emergence of new technologies and a growing number of involved actors, thus, requiring greater collaboration in the development of rules to ensure the long-term viability of space-related activities. Besides, Director of the UAE Space Agency Salem Al Qubaisi delivered a speech on behalf of the Emirati delegation reaffirming the UAE’s faith in the significance of peer international access to outer space and international cooperation in the development of space activities.

By completing ambitious space projects and improving the required capacities of national cadres, he added, the UAE hopes to empower the private sector in this field and encourage local and international investment in the sector. The UAE Government launched a new scientific expedition aiming at locating the asteroid belt following the success of the country's historic journey to Mars.

The UAE presidency of the COPUOS, which is associated with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), will continue for two years in 2022 and 2023, during which Sharaf will take over as president, according to the UN system.