A/7285 l GENERAL ASSEMBLY OFFICIAL RECORDS TWENTY-THIRD SESSION Agenda item 24 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF OUTER SPACE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY OFFICIAL RECORDS TWENTY-THIRD SESSION Agenda item 24 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF OUTER SPACE UNITED NATIONS New York, 1968 NOTE Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combine;d with figureso Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. CONTENTS Paragraphs Page I • INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . .. • • • 1 - 10 1 II. RECOMMENDATIONS AND DECISIONS • • • • • • • • • . • • • 11 - 38 3 III. REGISTRATION •••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • 39 8 ANNEXES I. Opening statement by the Chairman at the 53rd meeting of the Committee on 15 October 1968 ••••••••• • • • • • • • 9 Documentation on the United Nations Conference on the II. Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer S·pace • • • • • • • • • • • 13 III. Report of the Legal Sub-Cammi ttee on the worlt of its a ••• seventh session ••••• • • • • • 0 • • • • • • • • • • • 125 -iii- I REPORT OF THE COMMI'ITEE ON THE PFACEFUL USES OF OUTER SPACE RaPEorteur: Mr. Geraldo de VARVALHO SILOS (Brazil) I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space met at United Nations Headquarters, New York from 15 to 18 October 1968 under the chairmanship of Mr. Kurt Waldheim (Austria). Mr. Gheorghe Diaconescu (Romania) served as Vice-Chairman and Mr. Gerlado de Carvalho Silos (Brazil) as Rapporteur. The verbatim records of the Committee's meetings were circulated as documents A/Ac.105/Pv.53.59. Meetings of subsidiary bodies 2. The seventh session of the Legal Sub-Committee was held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 4 to 28 June 1968 under the chairmanship of Mr. Eugeniusz Wyzner (Poland). The Sub-Committee's report on the work of its session (A/AC.105/45) is reproduced as annex III. 3. The Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee did not meet in 1968, in view of the holding of the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Eleventh session of the Committee 4. At its 53rd meeting, on 15 October 1968, the Committee adopted the following agenda: 1. Opening statement by the Chairman. 2. Report of the Committee to the General Assembly on the preparations for, the organization and proceedings of the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (General Assembly resolutions 2221 (XXI) and 2250 (S-V)). Documentation on the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (A/AC.105/L.44) • Report cf the• Cammi ttee to the General Assembly (General Assembly resolution 2260 (XXII)). 4. Report of the Legal Sub-Corr.mittee (A/Ac.105/45). -1- r! I The opening statement by the Chairman is reproduced in annex I. 6. In the course of the discussions, statemments were madE: by the representatives of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, Sierra Ieone, Sweden, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Arab Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland end the United States of America. The statements are reproduced in the verbatim records of the 53rd to 59th meetings. 7. Statements were also made by the representatives of the International Communication Union (ITU), the Unit-ed Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Committee on Space Research of the International Council of Scientjfic jnions (COSPAR) who attended the session as observers. The statements are reproduced in the verbatim records of the 56th and 58th meetings. 8. At the 59th meeting of the Committee, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Kurt Waldheim (Austria), announced that in view of his duties as Foreign Minister of Austria, he was relinquishing his duties as Chairman of the United Nations Committee 011 the Peaceful Uses of Outar Space. The delegations of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada: Czechoslovakia, France, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, MexicJ, Morocco, Rome~ia, Sierra Leone, Sweden, the Union of' Soviet Socialist Republics, the United A-:ab Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America expressed their deep appreciation of the work of Mr. Waldheim as Chairman of the Committee and extended their best wishes to him. 9. The Committee adopted its report to the General Assembly at its 59th meeting, on 18 October 1968. 10. The Committee's recommendations and decisions are set out below. II. RECCMtli'G:NDATIONS AND DECISIONS United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uess of Outer Space 11. ~he Committea considered the documentation compiled by the Secretariat on the preparation for, the organization and proceedings of the United Nation~ Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, held in Vienna from 14 to 27 August 1968. That documentation (A/Ac.105/1.44) is reproduced in annex II. 12. In connexion with document A/AC.105/L.44, the Corr.mittee wishes to point out t.o the General Assembly tr.at.· since there was so short a time between the end of the Conference and the meeting of this Committee, c~ctions of this document are of an interpretative nature and are not to be taken as an official record of the papers presented and the discussions held at the Confe~ence. 13. In his opening statement (see anr.ex·I); the Chairman of the Committee, who also served as the President of the Conference, pointed out ~he significance of the Conference and expressed the belief that it was able ~o fulfil its mar.date by identifying the importance of practical applications of space exploration and the opportunities available for international co ... opera'tion in this field. 14. The Committee noted with satisfaction that the Conference was well attended. Seventy-eight countries participated, as well as nine specialized agencies, three intergovernmental organizations and one non-governmental organizationQ It has also been noted that most of the participants were represented by qualified persons in the field of space research and technology, and concerned with the problems of economic and social developme:,.1t, which could be tueklcd by the introduction and promotion of' space applications in their r1ational programmes- 15. The Committee also noted that a well attended exhibition on the peaceful uses of outer space was e£ranged in conjunction with the CvnfGrence. Exhibits of six countries - Australia, Austria, Finland, India, Switzerland and the United States of America - were aocommodated at the site of the Conference in the Kongr~~s Zentrum. large exhibitions of the Union of' Soviet Socialist Republics and INTELSAT were hcused in the Messepalast in the vicinity of the Kongress Zentrum. 16. The Coffimittee expressed its appreciation to the Government of Austria for acting as host of the Conference as well as for its contribution to the organization and su~cess of the Conference. 17, The Committee recommends that the Secretary... General should, as soon as possible, distribute very widely an annotated list of the papers presented at the Conference to Governments, educational institutions, learned societies and other ap~ropriate recipients decided upon by the Secretary-General in order to permit and ~ncourage requests for individual papers of interest. In response to these requests, the Secretary-General should furnish such copies of papero to persons making such requests. In addition, the Secretary-General should, whC?re he feels it to be appropriate, make available copies of :i;:e.3;e:rs to other sources. The Committee considers that this procedure will achieve the best possible dissemination of the results of the Conference and that a publication of the papers in one or more volumes would not be necessary or desirable since it would be too delayed and too costly to the United Nations and to purchasers. 18. The Committee also recommends, for the purpose of large-scale popularization of the results of the Conference, to publish and disseminate the materials relating to the Conference through the media of the United Nations in the form of a concentrated presentation of the basic questions that have been raised and discussed at the Conference. Future work of the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee 19. The Committee noted that although the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee did not hold its annual meeting in 1968, the Conference provided the opportunity to take up the questions usually dealt with in the Sub-Committees, in particular, those related to the exchange of information, the encouragement of international programmes, and education and training in the field of outer space. 20. It also realized that the valuable information and viewpoints included in the papers presented to the Conference will assist the Sub-Committee to continue dealing with the questions under its mandate in a more useful and practical way. 21. Many delegations made reference to operative paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 2260 (XXII), and the Committee renewed its request to the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee to take up at its forthcoming session in 1969 "the serious consideration of the suggestions and views regarding education and training in the field of the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space expressed in the General Assembly and in ti.~~ Ccr.mi ttee" • 22. The representative of India proposed at the 53rd meeting of the Committee "that a small advisory group should be constituted and that action should be taken to arrange panel meetings, fellowships, surveys and technical assistance". These proposals were discussed in the Comm~ttee. While many delegations welcomed these proposals, there was no agreemen~ on them and it was decided that the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee should consider in detail all aspects of these proposals as expeditiously as possible.