World Space Week 2022
October 09, 2022
Every year from October 4 to 10, World Space Week is observed.
Key facts
World Space Week is observed to create awareness about space activities, inspire next generation to contribute to those activities and promote international cooperation in space outreach and education.
“Space and Sustainability” is the theme for this year’s World Space Week.
Its aim is to achieve sustainability in and from space.
It focuses on how sustainability in space relates to how humanity uses space, especially the orbital area around the Earth.
Space explorations and remote Earth observations play a major role in assessing climate change, identification of pollution on land and sea and supporting agricultural activities.
Of the 169 targets under the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 65 of them are directly achieved through Earth observation satellites and related technologies.
Achieving these goals is impossible in the absence of these technologies.
Earth observation satellites and related technologies directly achieve 65 of the 169 targets under the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
These objectives are impossible to achieve in the absence of these technologies.
Background
The United Nations General Assembly established World Space Week on December 6, 1999, to recognise the contributions of space science and technology to human development. It is the world's largest space sector event. It is organised by the United Nations in collaboration with the World Space Week Association (WSWA) to provide a one-of-a-kind outreach and education in the space sector. The week commemorates the October 4, 1957 launch of the first man-made Earth satellite, Sputnik-1, and the October 10, 1967 signing of the Outer Space Treaty. The World Space Week Association (WSWA) Board of Directors selects a theme each year in close collaboration with the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs.
The theme guides the overall World Space Week celebrations around the world.
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
The United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is a UN secretariat office dedicated to promoting and facilitating the peaceful use of outer space. It serves as the secretariat for the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the UN General Assembly's sole committee dedicated to multilateral cooperation on the peaceful use of outer space.
