United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to Meet in Vienna, Austria

The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) will hold its 52nd Annual Meeting on Jun 3-12 at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. With 69 member nations, COPUOS is the UN's largest committee under the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to promote international cooperation in outer space endeavors. This year, COPUOS Chairman Ciro Arevalo Yepes (L) of Colombia, and subcommittees led by Chairman Aboubekr Seddik Kedjar of Algeria and Vladimir Kopal (R) of the Czech Republic will focus on the use of space derived geo-spatial data for sustainable development, benefits of space technology, climate change and society as it relates to peaceful space pursuits. Established in 1959, COPUOS continues to actively facilitate relations between governmental and non-governmental organizations and to address legal problems that may arise. Given increasing interest in space exploration, the UN maintains an important role in prioritizing all space activities and cooperation within the global space community. (Credit: UNCOPUOS, NASA)

Space industry leaders will gather on the America East Coast this week to examine future opportunities and celebrate recent successes at 2 dynamic events. On June 4, the Space Foundation is holding the 2nd Annual 'Space Business Forum: New York' at the New York City Hilton. The event allows Wall Street analysts, investment bankers and high-risk insurers to interact with aerospace industry leaders to examine the outlook and opportunities in the US$257 billion space industry. Among the meeting's scheduled panel discussions is a review of NewSpace initiatives with Andrew Nelson of XCOR Aerospace and Gwen Shotwell (BR) of Space X, and a look at the co-dependence of the global economy on space infrastructure featuring Richard Sanford (CR) of Cisco. 'Galaxy Ball 2009,' the Federation of Galaxy Explorers' (FOGE) annual gala to recognize space industry leaders, will be held on June 6 in Arlington VA. This year's event will feature a celebration of the International Year of Astronomy with Bill Nye 'The Science Guy,' awarding of the Space Leadership Award to Peter Wilhelm (BL) of the Naval Center for Space Technology and the Space Education Inspiration Award to broadcast journalist Miles O'Brien (CL). FOGE is a nonprofit organization working to inspire, educate and prepare children for a future that advances a space faring civilization. (Credit: Space Foundation, FOGE, Cisco, SpaceX)