Space Policy in Asia-Pacific
The 2nd Inter-Regional Space Policy Dialogue - Asia Pacific and Europe
During the 62nd session of the United Nations Conference on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), APRSAF and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) jointly organized the "2nd Inter-Regional Space Policy Dialogue between the Asia-Pacific and Europe" to promote mutual understanding of diverse national space policies in both regions. Building on the fruitful outcomes of the 1st Dialogue in 2018,the 2nd Dialogue consisted of two events -Space Policy Practitioners Workshop at ESPI on June 15th and COPUOS side event at Vienna International Centre (VIC) on June 19th.
The Inter-Regional Space Policy Dialogue is one of the APRSAF activities for promoting the creation of space policy community in the Asia-Pacific region. With many countries in the Asia-Pacific region has started developing its own space policy, APRSAF-24 has organized the first session dedicated to space policy. The Joint Statement of APRSAF-25 welcomed the progress in organizing periodic gatherings among space policy experts in the Asia-Pacific region.
Space Policy Practitioners Workshop at ESPI (June 15th)
On Saturday, 15th of June 2019, ESPI hosted the Space Policy Practitioners Workshop at its venues. This event brought together space policy practitioners from Australia, the Republic of Korea as well as Germany, Poland and Portugal to share their diverse experiences in the development and implementation of national space policy, with the participants from many more countries from the two regions. After short presentations by the speakers - Mr. Michael Cook (Australia), Dr. Filipe Duarte Santos (Portugal), Dr. Marek Banaszkiewicz (Poland), Ms. Soojeong Park (Republic of Korea), and Dr. Bernhard Schmidt-Tedd (Germany) - the floor was opened to all participants to exchange perspectives during a lively roundtable discussion.
The topics discussed included: the application of experiences from global cooperation within COPUOS to regional collaboration; the impetus for the establishment of space agencies; striking the balance between fostering the development of the space industry and the regulation thereof; the mechanisms for ministerial coordination and the involvement of a variety of stakeholders; and the expansion of inter-regional cooperation.
COPUOS Side Event (June 19th)
The 2nd Inter-Regional Space Policy Dialogue continued with a COPUOS side event on "Innovation and Partnership for Enhancing Enhancement of Space Capability" which took place at the UN VIC on the 19th of June. This event, which was opened by UNOOSA Director, Simonetta Di Pippo, featured a panel discussion with the insights from Dr. Anond Snidvongs (Thailand), Mr. Hiromichi Suzuki (Japan), Ms. Nunzia Paradiso (Italy), Ms. Sreerekha U (India), and Dr. Stephan Mayer (Austria). After presentations from the panellists on innovation and partnership for enhancing space capability, the Moderator Mr. Jean-Jacques Tortora (ESPI) encouraged further exchange of experiences and ideas amongst the speakers through questions and encouraging the audience to engage in a lively exchange. Topics of discussion included: the success factors and challenges to support the commercialization of space; the implementation of measures to strengthen the core technical expertise of countries and foster innovation and start-ups; the institutional challenges in the "spin-in" process; as well as the role of regional cooperation in strengthening innovation and industrial competitiveness.
After the discussion, Mr. Jun Yanagi, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Missions of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, offered a message on the value of inter-regional cooperation and made the audience aware of Japan hosting the 26th Session of APRSAF. The event concluded with participants and attendees convening for a lunch reception hosted by the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna and JAXA.
Panelists of the both events are listed below.
Space Policy Practitioner's Workshop:
Asia-Pacific:
- Australia: Mr. Michael Cook, Senior Policy Officer, Regulations and International Obligations Section, Australian Space Agency
- Korea: Ms. Soojeong Park, Deputy Director, Space and Big Science Policy Division, Space, Nuclear and Big Science Policy Bureau, Office of R&D Policy, Ministry of Science and ICT
Europe:
- Portugal: Dr. Filipe Duarte Santos, President, National Council of Environment and Sustainable Development
- Germany: Dr. Bernhard Schmidt-Tedd, Head of UN Affairs, German Aerospace Centre (DLR)
- Poland: Dr. Marek Banaszkiewicz, Senior Expert and Former President, Polish Space Agency (POLSA)
COPUOS Side Event:
Asia-Pacific:
- India: Ms. Sreerekha U, Associate Director (International Cooperation & Policies), Office of International Cooperation, Legal Affairs & Policy, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
- Japan: Mr. Hiromichi Suzuki, Director, National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office
- Thailand: Dr. Anond Snidvongs, Executive Director, Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), Assistant Secretary of the National Space Policy Committee
Europe:
- Austria: Dr. Stephan Mayer, the Aeronautics and Space Agency of the Austria Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
- Italy: Ms. Nunzia Paradiso, International Relations Unit, Italian Space Agency (ASI)
For more information including presentation, please visit ESPI website:
https://espi.or.at/news/the-2nd-inter-regional-space-policy-dialogue-asia-pacific-and-europe