Statement by the Ambassador of the State of Israel to the 53Rd Session of the UNOOSA Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee

15 february 2016

embassy of the state of israel in austria Statement by the Ambassador of the State of Israel to the 53rd Session of the UNOOSA Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee

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Thank you Mr. Chairman for giving me the floor.

First, I would like to congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, for assuming chairmanship of the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee, and wish us all a fruitful and productive session.

Mr. Chairman,

This is our premiere statement as a member state of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate El Salvador, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates, for joining the Committee as well.

As a space-faring nation, today is a great and special day for us, as well as for all the new member states, and for COPUOS at large, as its growing number of member states reaffirms the global ac- knowledgement the Committee is receiving, as the leading professional forum to deal with the peaceful uses of outer space.

Mr. Chairman,

Just two weeks ago we commemorated the memory of Astronaut Colonel Ilan Ramon and his team- mates of the Shuttle Colombia, which crushed on February 1st, 2003. Among the personal belongings astronaut Ramon took with him to space, was a copy of a picture painted by Peter Ginz, a Czech Jewish boy who drew his vision of how the Earth would appear from the Moon. He drew this image in 1941 and three years later was murdered in the Auschwitz death camp. The lack of boundaries to a child’s imagination back in 1941 and the courage of Ilan Ramon and his fellow astronauts remains our inspi- ration in space exploration today.

Mr. Chairman,

Israel is not shy of its accomplishments in the peaceful exploration of outer space. To date Israel has launched sixteen satellites and is a pioneer in launching a nano-satellite built by high-school students. Israeli made systems are incorporated into dozens of satellites, from those stationed in the low earth orbit to the Curiosity Mission to Mars.

1 The past year since the last session of this committee has been especially full of space related activities for us. In June 2015, during the meeting of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Af- fairs, we signed a Framework Agreement for Cooperation with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, which paved the way to signing a memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the Office and the Israel Space Agency just two weeks ago. At this point we would like to thank the Director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs, Prof. Simonetta Di Pippo, for her diligent work and professional- ism, and we look forward to continue and strengthen our cooperation.

The highlight of the past year has been hosting the 66th annual IAF Congress in Jerusalem in October, which welcomed over twenty-five hundred representatives from over sixty countries, and was a great success. We thank the IAF and many other partners for their cooperation and thank all those who took part in this wonderful event. During the IAC the Israel Space Agency signed specific cooperation agreements with NASA, CNES and ASI, and new opportunities for collaboration with other counter- parts have emerged, the recent one with DLR last November. We extend our best wishes to Mexico, who will host the 67th Congress in Guadalajara.

Shortly after the IAC has ended Israel was accepted as a member state of the Committee for the Peace- ful Uses of Outer Space Affairs. We would like to thank all those nations who have supported us during this process, and look forward to a professional collaboration under the auspices of this forum.

Our current projects include the SpaceIL project, under the auspices of the Google Lunar XPrize; SAMSON Project which is developed by students from the Technion focusing on search and rescue operations; Venus Project in collaboration with CNES; SHALOM Project in collaboration with ASI; as well as joint scientific research and space technology R&D. We intend to expand our participation in the UN-SPIDER program. We also look forward to hosting this summer the protégé Space Studies Program of the International Space University in the Technion.

Mr. Chairman,

The State of Israel is a member state of the United Nations from its early days. We share its values and participate in many of its committees and forums. We take our seat here among the other member states with pride and humility, and we will work within our capacity to cooperate with all other member states to fulfill this Committee’s vision.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.