Supporting healthy, responsible, and sustainable growth of the global space economy.

Introducing the Initiative

The global space sector is thriving and over 90 countries have historically launched at least one satellite. The political and economic capital invested in the space environment by governments and commercial entities is breaking records year by year.

The space economy has been consistently growing, fueling the expansion of space activities and boosting humanity's efforts in sustainable development. Still, to a great degree spacefaring countries lead the way with emerging nations lacking access to benefits enabled by satellites.

UNOOSA brings the international space community together to make these benefits universally accessible and stimulate progress in and from space sustainability and responsibly.

The Space Economy initiative unpacks this complex topic, breaking down the issue into core elements, and providing a road map for building a strong space economy that delivers for everyone, everywhere.

Objectives

  • Increase global awareness and understanding of how space sector growth can reinforce socio-economic development, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
  • Support countries in kickstarting and scaling up their indigenous activities to deliver strong, responsible and sustainable national space economies.
  • Foster inclusive and sustainable growth of the global space economy by enhancing cooperation across the entire space sector, including public and private stakeholders.
  • Provide a global platform for practitioners from established and emerging space economies at the UN level, the first of its kind.

Supporting the Space Economy Initiative

The Space Economy Initiative is funded entirely through generous contributions from our stakeholders. Donor support is crucial to realizing the initiative going forward.

If you're interested in supporting the global growth of responsible, sustainable and dynamic space economies that accelerate sustainable socio-economic development, please get in touch with Veronica Cesco (Project Lead) veronica.cesco(at)un.org

In partnership with the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the United Nations Development Programme, we are launching a new online course on the Space Economy.

This eLearning opportunity will introduce you through its three 45-minute modules to the basics of the space economy and the benefits space activities generate across various sectors. You can also learn about the future outlook for investments and innovation in the space domain and get a better understanding of how you can participate in this transformative field.

The course will be available at: elearningunodc.org

 

The first Space Economy - Africa in Focus virtual conference gathered over 300 registered participants and representatives from over 66 different countries. It was a successful event that saw the participation of 15 High-Level Speakers/Experts from diverse public-private sector institutions/companies as well as attendees from 26 African countries. It also provided a unique platform that brought together 12 representatives of the commercial space sector with operations in Africa to discuss how to grow strong, responsible and sustainable space economies in the continent.

The event started with a high-level opening with representatives from UNOOSA, the African Union and the Portuguese Space Agency setting the scene on the importance of fostering space economic growth for the African and global space sector. The subsequent sessions saw public/private sector experts from upstream/downstream segments joining us to exchange their success stories, lessons learnt and insights both within and outside Africa.

Details about all sessions and representatives can be found in the programme.

The Space Economy 2021 Outcome Report, published in January 2022, provides an overview of the 2021 virtual conference "Space Economy: Africa in Focus" dedicated to enhancing the growth of the commercial space sector in Africa. This report captures the remarks and experiences shared during the conference.

The Recording of the virtual conference is on UNOOSA's YouTube channel here: 10:30-12:30 session and 14:30-16:00 session.

Earth Observation, Global Navigation Satellite Systems and satellite communications have played a key role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Space activities have also been a crucial element in economic recovery.

To review their impacts in more detail, UNOOSA launched a new series of virtual events dedicated to Space for the Great Reset as the pandemic represented an opportunity to re-think our future and identify and act on priorities to bring forward sustainability, equality and innovation.

Speakers included:

  • Simonetta Di Pippo, UNOOSA Director
  • Aarti Holla, ESOA Secretary General
  • Nick Shave, UKSpace Chair
  • Abimbola Alale, NIGCOMSAT CEO
  • Mohamed Al Aseeri, Bahrain National Space Science Agency CEO

The series provided insights on three topics: Economic Growth, Climate Action and Access to Space.

1. Space for the Great Reset: Boosting Sustainable Economic Growth for a resilient COVID-19 recovery. The event was organized in the context of the United Nations Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals.

2. Space for the Great Reset: Harnessing the Power of Space Technology for Climate Action. The event was organized in the context of the United Nations High-level Political Forum.

3. Space for the Great Reset: Towards a fair, responsible and sustainable Access to Space.

Space for the Great Reset 2021 Outcome Report provides an overview of the events that brought together experts and speakers from all around the world to explore the outlooks on how the international community can build back better, highlighting the contributions of space to the post-pandemic recovery.

A series of webinars focused on the "Space Economy" convened public and industry experts to unpack approaches to strengthening national space sectors. Across the series, we focused on the most fundamental elements of a healthy, responsible, and sustainable space economy.

The Outcome Report provides an overview of all virtual events in 2020.

You can watch all the recordings in the dedicated playlist on our YouTube channel.

All sessions (June-September 2020)

 

Session One: Introducing the Space Economy

The first webinar gathered representatives from the UAE Space Agency, GISTDA, Thailand, SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy, PricewaterhouseCoopers' Space Practice, Paris, France, Astroscale, Japan and UNOOSA's Space Applications Section. This kick-off event introduced the space economy topic and looked forward to topic-specific follow-up webinars.

The Insight Report of the experiences shared during the webinar can be downloaded here.

The Recording of the Kick-Off Webinar is on UNOOSA's YouTube channel here and the Agenda for the session can be found here.

Slides used by the experts during the kick-off webinar are available for download on the links below :

 

Session Two: Making the Case for Space

The second session saw experts from Space in Africa, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (part of the Dept. of Commerce) and Azercosmos join us to share insights on how to build strong foundations and baselines for supporting strong space economies.

The agenda for the session, including details about the speakers, can be found here.

The recording of the session is here. The Insight Report of the experiences shared during the webinar can be downloaded here.

Slides used by the experts are below and the session's Insight Report is available for download here.

 

Session Three: How to Scale Up

The third session saw experts from the European Commission, MzansiSat, Dipteron and the Space4Impact Initiative join us to share insights on how to take space entities from the scale-up to the established phase.

The recording of the session is here and the Insight Report is here.

The agenda for the session is here.

Expert speakers, including their presentations

 

Session Four: Access to Finance

The fourth session saw experts from Bryce Space and Technology, the Australian Financial Security Authority and the European Investment Bank join us to share insights on the financial landscape and how to build and develop financial systems for sustainable growth of the sector.

The recording of the session is here and the Insight Report can be downloaded here.

The agenda for the session is here.

Expert speakers, including their presentations:

 

Session Five: International cooperation to grow responsible and sustainable space activities

The fifth session saw experts from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica and the Angolan National Space Programme Management Office sharing their insights about international cooperation to build sustainable space economies.

The recording of the session is available here. The insight report is here.

The agenda of the session is here.

Expert speakers, including their presentations:

 

Session Six: Innovation and Growth: Government, Industry and Academia working together to grow your space economy

The sixth session saw experts from Surrey Satellite Technology, Bocconi University, the Indonesian Space Agency and the China Space Foundation deliver their perspectives on the current cooperative landscape between academia, governments and the commercial space sector.

The recording of the session is available here. The insight report is here.

The agenda of the session is here.

Expert speakers, including their presentations:

 

Session Seven: Building Back Better: How a healthy space economy can support post-COVID 19 recoveries

The 7th session saw experts sharing their insights in the context of current global developments with regards to how space economies can play a key role in responses to COVID-19 and supporting socio-economic development as countries seek to 'build-back-better'.

Relevant material will be uploaded soon.

The recording of the session is available here. The insight report is here.

Expert speakers:

Copyright ©2024 UNOOSA, All Rights Reserved