The exploits of the long-established spacefaring nations – significantly the US – should dominate headlines, however international locations as numerous as Zimbabwe, Honduras and Malta are signalling their intention to reap the advantages of space-related actions.
These smaller states, and lots of extra, are making use of for membership of the UN physique which helps to form internationally agreed guidelines on the peaceable use of outer house, and keep away from a brand new “Wild West” free-for-all, which might doubtlessly result in battle.
Why international locations wish to the skies
What attracts international locations like Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia and the Maldives to outer house? Whereas their motivations are diverse, the advantages of house are quickly turning into obvious to all. Area applied sciences allow entry to vital knowledge and companies that help local weather resilience, catastrophe response, and sustainable improvement. In small island creating states, for instance, satellite tv for pc knowledge helps monitor sea degree rise and enhance early warning programs for hurricanes and floods.
In Ghana and Tonga, the UN Workplace for Outer Area Affairs (UNOOSA) not too long ago helped develop “digital twins” of capital cities utilizing satellite tv for pc knowledge and AI. These digital fashions can simulate flooding eventualities, enabling governments to determine weak infrastructure, strengthen emergency response plans, and reply extra successfully when disasters strike.
Many rising house actors face important obstacles, together with steep technical and monetary hurdles, together with underdeveloped nationwide rules and authorized frameworks. UNOOSA helps bridge these gaps by advising on nationwide house laws and serving to international locations navigate worldwide obligations underneath UN treaties just like the Outer Area Treaty and the Registration Conference, which goals to supply an correct image of all objects launched into house.
© NASA Earth Observatory/Michal
Three lively storms within the South Pacific – picture from the NASA Earth Observatory (Feb 2025)
The Entry to Area for All programme, for instance, helps non-spacefaring nations launch payloads, conduct experiments, and entry knowledge from house missions. Kenya, Mauritius, Guatemala and Moldova all efficiently launched their first satellite tv for pc in partnership with the JAXA/UNOOSA KiboCUBE program, which collaborates with groups from creating international locations to deploy small dice satellites from the Worldwide Area Station.
UNOOSA’s Area Legislation for New Area Actors mission helps rising spacefaring nations in creating sturdy authorized and coverage frameworks for outer house actions, and the Space4Women initiative developed the Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit for the Area Sector to assist organisations decide to gender fairness, promote equal alternatives, empower girls and women via devoted programming, and observe measurable progress. One other flagship initiative, UN-SPIDER, delivers specialised capacity-building on using house functions for catastrophe threat discount and emergency response.
© NASA/Lauren Dauphin
The Maldives archipelago – pictures from the NASA Earth Observatory
