Support asked for regional education centres.

• Position: Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

Stronger support from UN Member States and international organizations for proposed regional space education centres in developing countries was sought by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at its thirtieth session (16-25 February, New York).

The new centres for space science and technology education would fulfil the "urgent need to develop capabilities at the local level through intensive education programmes", Adigun Ade Abiodun, UN Expert on Space Applications, told the body on 18 February.

Initial emphasis would be on in-depth education, research and applications programmes in satellite meteorology and remote sensing as they related to environmental monitoring and natural resources management.

The Subcommittee also suggested that its parent body--the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space--consider at its June 1993 session the holding of a third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE).

Varied agenda

Also under discussion were such matters as: remote sensing; the UN Programme on Space Applications; implementation of the recommendations of UNISPACE 82; use of nuclear power sources in outer space; space transportation systems; life sciences; planetary exploration: astronomy; Earth environment and space debris; the geosphere-biosphere programme on global change; and the geostationary orbit.

During its eight-day session, the Subcommittee also considered possible ways of revising the new Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space, including expanding their scope to cover other uses of nuclear power in space, criteria of acceptable risk, approaches to risk assessment, and further definition of terms. In adopting the Principles (resolution 47/63), the General Assembly recommended that they be kept under review as the related technology continued to develop.

Member States, it said, should report regularly on national and international research concerning the safety of nuclear-powered satellites, and further studies should be conducted on the problem of collisions between nuclear power sources and space debris.

Scientific and technical presentations were made by experts on human space flight, the Russian Space Agency, satellite radio broadcasting, and Sweden's scientific space programme.

A two-day scientific symposium was held at the outset of the session with the theme: "Space-based communication: the expansion...