Introduction

Long Term Sustainability is the ability to maintain the conduct of space activities into the future in a manner that realizes the objectives of equitable access to the benefits of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, in order to meet the needs of the present generations while preserving the outer space environment for future generations. This article provides an insight into the various complexities involved in the longterm sustainability of outerspace and related activities, the deliberations in UNCOPOUS and thier significance in the Indian context.

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was set up by the UN-General Assembly in 1959 to govern the exploration and use of space for the benefit of humanity by promoting peace, security and development. The tasks entrusted to the committee involved reviewing international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space, studying space-related activities that could be undertaken by the UN, encouraging space research programmes and studying legal problems arising from the exploration of outer space. The Committee was instrumental in the creation of the five treaties (Outer Space Treaty, Rescue Agreement, Liability Convention, Moon Agreement, Registration Convention) and five principles of outer space and related resolutions.

The Committee reports to the Fourth Committee of the UN-General Assembly and provides a unique platform at the global level to monitor and discuss the advancements in space technology for peaceful uses of outer space. To streamline the activities involved, the Committee has two subsidiary bodies namely the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC), and the Legal Subcommittee (LSC).

The topics currently under discussion include Space and climate change, Space and sustainable development, Disaster management, Space and water, Space traffic management, Long-term sustainability of outer space activities, Spin-off benefits, Small satellite activities, Near-Earth objects, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, Space resources, Space weather, Space and global health. Rescue of astronauts, space security and the aspects related to Dark and Quite Skies are also discussed.

Long Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities – Origin and Evolution

Extending the concept of sustainability to outer space arises from the realization that the Earth’s orbital space environment constitutes a finite resource that is being used by an increasing number of space actors including non-governmental entities. The proliferation of space debris, emergence of large constellations, increased risk of collisions and interference with satellite operations raise concerns about the safety of space operations. The topic of ‘Long Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities’ was first introduced as an agenda item at COPUOS in the year 2009. This in turn led to the establishment of a dedicated Working Group of the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee in 2010 under the chairmanship of South Africa’s Peter Martinez.

Four expert groups were established under the Working Group on the following topics:

• Sustainable space utilization supporting sustainable development on Earth
• Space debris, space operations, and tools to support collaborative space situational awareness
• Space weather
• Regulatory regimes and guidance for new actors in the space arena

The expert groups met multiple times and finalized the report comprising of draft guidelines in the year 2014. The outcome of Working Group led to the adoption of the preamble and 21 consensus guidelines were finally adopted by COPUOS in the year 2019. There were 7 guidelines for which no consenses was arrived at. The Committee encouraged States and intergovernmental organizations to voluntarily take measures for the implementation of guidelines to the greatest extent feasible and practicable.

The 21 adapted guidelines address the policy, regulatory, operational, safety, scientific, technical, international cooperation, and capacity-building aspects of space activities. They are grouped into four categories namely as below:

• Policy and regulatory framework for space activities
  • Adopt, revise and amend, as necessary, national regulatory frameworks for outer space activities
  • Consider a number of elements when developing, revising or amending, as necessary, national regulatory frameworks for outer space activities
  • Supervise national space activities
  • Ensure the equitable, rational and efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum and the various orbital regions used by satellites
  • Enhance the practice of registering space objects
• Safety of space operations
  • Provide updated contact information and share information on space objects and orbital events
  • Improve accuracy of orbital data on space objects and enhance the practice and utility of sharing orbital information on space objects
  • Promote the collection, sharing and dissemination of space debris monitoring information
  • Perform conjunction assessment during all orbital phases of controlled flight
  • Develop practical approaches for pre-launch conjunction assessment
  • Share operational space weather data and forecasts
  • Develop space weather models and tools and collect established practices on the mitigation of space weather effects
  • Design and operation of space objects regardless of their physical and operational characteristics
  • Take measures to address risks associated with the uncontrolled re-entry of space objects
  • Observe measures of precaution when using sources of laser beams passing through outer space
• International cooperation, capacity-building, and awareness
  • Promote and facilitate international cooperation in support of the long-term sustainability of outer space activities
  • Share experience related to the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and develop new procedures, as appropriate, for information exchange
  • Promote and support capacity-building
  • Raise awareness of space activities
• Scientific and technical research and development
  • Promote and support research into and the development of ways to support sustainable exploration and use of outer space
  • Investigate and consider new measures to manage the space debris population in the long term

Current Working Group on Long Term Sustainability

Building on the lessons learnt from the LTS discussions, the Committee decided to reconstitute the Working Group, under a five year work plan. In the year 2021, Dr R Umamaheswaran from India was elected as the Chair of the Working Group on Long Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities. The current Working Group agreed upon its Terms of Reference, Methods of Work and Work plan in the year 2022. The Working Group is be guided by the following framework, which are all of equal importance and equal consideration for deliberations

1. Identifying and studying challenges and considering new guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities
2. Sharing experiences, practices and lessons learned from voluntary implementation of the adopted guidelines
3. Raising awareness and building capacity, in particular among emerging space nations and developing countries

As per the mandate of the current working group, a workshop needs to organised with the aim of “raising awareness of the longterm sustainability of outerspace activities and supporting capacity building”. This also represents an opportunities to collect views from entities that might not normally participate directly in the work of the working group”. The workshop will be held in Feb.2024 as part of the 61st session of the STSC, The working group also agreed that the following 3 topics would form the basis of agenda for the workshop

1. Regulatory and policy aspects
2. Safety and space operations
3. Scientific and technical research

The work plan of the Working Group is until 2026. At the end of its work plan, the Working Group will present a draft report to the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee on information pertaining to all the three components of the guiding framework along with recommendations on future activities and work, if any

The important of LTS in the Indian context:

India, as a founding member of the UNCOPOUS, has made significant contributions from its concept state to the present state. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Professor Yashpal and Professor U.R. Rao have been part of the decision making process of the UNISPACE events. Infact, Professor U.R. Rao was the Chair of UNCOPOUS for three consecutive terms from 1997 to 1999. He was the first chair of UNCOPOUS after the rotational system for election of chair was mandated by the General Assembly. Apart from that Dr. B.N Suresh and Dr. V.K Dadhwal were the Chair of Science and Technology Subcommittee (STSC) in 2006 and 2016 respectively. The following Indians have also chaired the Working Group of the Whole under STSC – Dr. K. Radhakrishnan (2008 – 2009), S.K. Shivakumar (2010-2012), Dr. V.K. Dhadwal (2013-2015), M. Annadurai (2017-2018), P. Kunikrishnan (2019-2020), Dr. R. Umamaheswaran (2020-2021) and Dr. Prakash Chauhan – 2022 onwards. Indian delegation regularly participate in all meetings and contribute to the activities of UNCOPOUS

India considers outerspace as a wealth of the whole humanity and underlines the need for aggregate international co-operation for presenting the outerspace for future generations. This becomes more relevant in view of the rapid emergence of private entities with capabilities for launching and operating space objects, risks posed by mega constellations to safety of space operations, proliferation of space debris and the threats posed by term to space assests.

The election of Dr. Umamaheswaran, as chair of working group LTS is a recognition for the way India pursues the space program focusing on harnessing of space technology for the benefit of society and national development. India being chair of this working group offers another opportunity for India’s to contribute to UNCOPOUS activities and to safeguard the interests of emerging space faring nations including the developing nations

Conclusion

The way ahead is promising with new innovations expected in space arena with confidence as well as capacity building in all related sectors. With more private players entering the space industry, it is important that Member States collaborate with them to identify challenges to sustainability in order to ensure that all act responsibly, with due regard for the impact of their activities, both for the present and for the decades to come. These aspects are recognized by all member States and industries. Most countries see the Working Group on LTS as an important platform to exchange views and reach consensus on contentious issues related to Safety and Sustainability of space activities. Some countries also see the possibility of these guidelines evolving into a legally binding framework