The United Nations has adopted five treaties about outer space over the past six decades. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images POLITICO Space How the United Nations is trying to keep the peace in space 'The role of the UN, at least the Office of Outer Space Affairs, is really to try to build bridges.'

NEW YORK – With space becoming more congested and contested, the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs is trying to keep the peace.

Leading the effort is Simonetta Di Pippo, an Italian astrophysicist, who is encouraging more dialogue between member nations and trying to promote greater cooperation to protect the Earth and other planets, reduce orbital debris, and advance space weather prediction. As a former head of the European Space Agency’s human spaceflight program, she is also encouraging more pooling of international resources to help power new human exploration.


Di Pippo’s office has recently orchestrated a way for companies or agencies from non-space faring nations to send experiments into orbit on a space plane built by Sierra Nevada Corporation and to conduct scientific research on the Chinese space station after it begins operating in the early 2020s.

“There’s been a little bit of change of attitude,” she says. “Member states gave the UN the [permission] to start working more with the private sector, with a lot of caveats.”

POLITICO Space POLITICO’s weekly must-read briefing on the second space age. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Another major focus is finding ways to ensure that military powers that are pushing further into space – like the United States, Russia, and China – have an effective venue to limit misunderstanding and avoid making space a new zone of conflict.

“It’s exactly the value of what we do: creating the place for diplomatic discussion,” says Di Pippo, who also manages the world body’s Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

The UN has adopted five treaties about outer space over the past six decades, including the Outer Space Treaty, which was approved in 1967 and forbids nuclear weapons in space, and the Moon Agreement, which entered into force in 1984 and mandates the peaceful and environmentally friendly uses of the moon. Di Pippo insists the UN's treaty work is "still valid," but acknowledges that the documents need to be updated to reflect today's landscape.

“A lot has happened,” she explains. “A lot of technologies were developed...and now they are very useful for the developing and flourishing of the commercial side of space”

In a recent interview, Di Pippo also spoke about ways to increase cooperation on human exploration missions, the desire of non-space faring nations to launch space programs of their own, and concerns about a propsed U.S. Space Force and a greater militarization of space.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

"Member states gave the UN the [permission] to start working more with the private sector, with a lot of caveats," said Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. | Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images

What role should the United Nations have in solving the problem of orbital debris?

The role of the UN, at least the Office of Outer Space Affairs, is really to try to build bridges and...bring all the players and the stakeholders together so that all are part of the process of defining...the future. It can sound generic, but in reality, [it is] what we try to do.

[We] act on the basis of what member states decide. It’s the member states decision. But we try to bring...the private sector or civil society to the table so we can really grasp their needs. Because if we don’t understand in detail their needs, it’s also difficult for us to try to drive the discussion towards the right guidelines.

We have...agenda items [that we discuss] in the meetings for the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Member states report on their activities in the various fields. It’s also a way for them to develop cooperation in trying to work on the various topics.

What are the other major areas of focus?

We are working a lot on space weather. We are working on planetary protection. We are working on exploration...We work on how to use space-based data for disaster risk reduction and emergency response.

What we do essentially is capacity building and training mainly focusing on developing and emerging countries in general. We try to use this triangular approach where we are helping developed and developing countries to get together because this is a way of doing capacity building. When you bring a developed, space-faring nation into a project with a developing country, they can get a lot from this collaboration. We facilitate these connections.

Does the UN need to work on new rules of the road for space?

What is...under discussion in the UN…[is] a revision of the current legal regime...because the treaties are really still valid.

In the meantime, [the] space [program] is quite young...but a lot has happened. A lot of technologies were developed...and now they are very useful for the developing and flourishing of the commercial side of space...This is because a lot of money has been spent by the government, so this is now allowing companies to put themselves forward...with a lot of innovation.

In Vienna and here in New York...everything is reached by member agreements and decisions are taken by consensus. So you have long discussions and reach an agreement by consensus, then all the members states which participated in the discussion, they follow their own decisions...Even if it’s not a treaty...is not binding...but it’s a voluntary commitment to follow certain guidelines that they approved by consensus, they follow...The system is very solid.

Is the UN’s role changing as the private space sector grows?

There’s been a little bit of change of attitude starting in the end of 2015, when the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was approved. The agenda is based on 17 sustainable development goals. One of them, number 17, is partnerships...It’s addressing the needs of working more with civil society and the private sector.

Member states gave the UN the [permission] to start working more with the private sector, with a lot of caveats. We obviously have to pay a lot of attention to the kind of industry we're dealing with. We always warn them to abide by the UN core values. They need to demonstrate very strong corporate social responsibility.

In the case of the Office for Outer Space Affairs, we have a few examples...not only [in the] private sector, but also space agencies offering donations in kind or the possibility to launch free of charge cubesats or using slots on the space station.

Do the priorities of private companies and member states differ?

No...when we start a project...we usually know in which way we can deal with company A or company B. We don’t have overlaps, so we usually work with companies that have very specific products.

For example, we’re working with Sierra Nevada Corporation, which is developing the DreamChaser, [to send experiments from non-space faring nations into space.] It’s a unique vehicle. We work with Digital Globe in the United States, now Maxar Technologies...on high resolution images. We recently signed an agreement with Airbus, a European company, and they’re offering some slots free of charge on a facility they are developing on a commercial basis for the International Space Station. So that’s the approach: unique facilities, with unique offers.

Are more developing space nations wanting to get involved in space?

Yeah. For example, with the Dream Chaser...Last year, we issued a call for interest, [which] was up on our website for six weeks, so not a long period of time...We received 150 proposals from 75 countries. This was a very good sign that the idea was good.

You have to consider the mission...will be fully focusing on experiments linked to the 17 sustainable development goals I mentioned before, which means it will be the only space mission in the world linked to the 2030 agenda for sustainable development….Every proposal has a minimum [of] one, but in a few cases two or three [sustainable development goals.]...So there are many interesting proposals there from the 75 countries.

What are the biggest roadblocks to improving cooperation on human exploration?

This is one of the topics that we are starting to discuss right now. There are already some coordination mechanisms...between space faring nations...There is [an existing group] where you have 15 space agencies already working on a roadmap for exploration. The idea is to enlarge this so everyone can contribute...This is a process that we started a couple of years ago…[and is] what we have to do for the future...in order to have an open and inclusive open architecture for exploration of the solar system.

Are you concerned about geopolitical conflicts on Earth extending to space?

What I’m seeing is that, in terms of operational relationships, everything works very well...The UN champion for space is a former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. He’s now in his third year with us as the champion for space. He is famous for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons is because he spent one year on the space station..He was in this one year mission with a Russian colleague, [Mikhail Korniyenko]...Scott refers to Korniyenko as his brother from another mother, which means that they became so close, they act like brothers.

This happens for every crew on board the space station...because you have to develop a very good relationship independent of your age, your culture, your region, your gender, whatever. Because at the very end, what you do in space and your life is linked to what the others do. So it must really be a family.

Then operationally also you have control centers...in Japan, Russia, Europe, the United States. They have to work all together at the same time. You have thousands of people on Earth working together. So it’s not only what you see on the space station [where] you have six astronauts of different nationalities. Yes, it’s already a really good, visible and tangible effect of this collaboration. But on ground, you have a lot of technicians, supporting [the crew] day-by-day, minute-by-minute together.

How are member states responding to American plans for a military Space Force?

We deal with the peaceful uses of outer space. What we do is...develop coordination mechanisms and measures which can help transparency and can help build confidence and trust. So what we really do [is] we try to bring everyone to the table and try to open up.

For example, this collaboration we have...with the Chinese space agency. We had a joint announcement of an opportunity through which the China space station [currently being developed] was opened to everyone in the world for utilization...We’re starting the technical evaluation of those proposals [for experiments onboard the station]...[When the station is] up and running in 2021 [or] 2022, we expect to have...the experiments ready.

It’s an example. We have plenty of them, but just to say, there is really through us this attempt also from member states to be more open, more transparent and more cooperative.

So you’re not seeing any member states pull back from that because of the U.S.?

No. There’s a lot of discussion, but this is the place for discussion. It’s exactly the value of what we do: creating the place for diplomatic discussion.