Delegation of Samara University Participated in the First UN Conference on Space Law and Policy

Moscow hosted the first United Nations Conference on Space Law and Policy. The Conference was organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the Government of Russia and the State Corporation “Roscosmos”. The conference was attended by the representatives of space agencies, line ministries, scientific and educational organizations from 80 countries.

At the conference Samara National Research University was represented by Head of the International Office Anton Gulbis,  Head of the Inter-University Department of Space Research Igor Belokonov, Associate Professor of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law and International Law Anna Rozentsvayg and student of the Law Faculty Ruslan Konygin.

The forum participants discussed the legal settlement of the most urgent issues of human activities in space. In particular, they discussed the issues of peaceful and safe use of outer space, exploration, extraction and use of space resources, prevention of space debris and its rapid removal from the orbits. A number of participants noted that the international community needs to create a legally binding document on the development of space resources for commercial purposes. In this regard, the prospects for the development of space law on the basis of Russian universities were presented to the conference participants. 

"This conference is a unique event for Space Law", –  says Anna Rozentsvayg. – The unsettled nature of the most important issues in this sphere, including, sometimes those, which are connected with the conceptual apparatus (space debris, space object, etc.), causes considerable difficulties in the process of law enforcement. For example, at present time, there are many space vehicles in the orbit on the Earth and the regulation of their movement has become especially important. No less significant are the issues of liability for caused damage, mining of celestial bodies, and property rights, which were also discussed in detail. In a number of cases, there is an intertwining of public and private interests. The existing legal framework is characterized by a backlog of space activities. In order to provide  Space Law education it is necessary to pursue an integrated approach, interacting with state and international organizations related to norm-setting and law enforcement in the field of space activities. Law Faculty of Samara University takes an active part in the development of Space Law”.

Besides, within the framework of the conference, the representatives of Samara University held a number of working meetings. Professor Igor Belokonov thanked Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs Simonetta Di Pippo for the support provided by the UN for the Summer Space School, which is annually held by Samara University. It should be reminded that in 2018, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs provided several travel grants for students of foreign universities to attend the school in Samara. And in November 2017 United Nations/Russian Federation Workshop on “Human Capacity-Building in Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Social and Economic Development” was held in Samara University.

One of the important conference results for Samara University was a meeting of Samara University delegation with the leadership of the State Corporation “Roscosmos” and the representatives of the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Based on its results, the University's initiatives on the development of international scientific and educational projects in the field of aerospace technologies under the auspices of the United Nations received support.

"The level of the conference was very high, –  stressed Ruslan Konygin. – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov and Director General of the State Corporation “Roscosmos” Dmitry Rogozin were among the participants of the conference. And the honored guest of the first day was Thomas Patten Stafford. He is a participant of the manned experimental flight Apollo-Soyuz, one of 24 people who flew to the Moon".

The forum participants visited  “Yuri Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center", where the meeting with cosmonauts of the next long-term expeditions to ISS-57/58 Oleg Ovchinin and Tyler Nicholas Hague took place (the launch will be held in November 2018).

As a result of the conference, the report will be compiled to be presented at the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.
Photo: roscosmos.ru