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United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
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<p>The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is an office of the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_Secretariat/cueFTl8X">U.N. Secretariat</a> that promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in <a href="/facts/Outer_space/R3LRKyFs">outer space</a>. It works to establish or strengthen the legal and regulatory frameworks for <a href="/facts/Space_exploration/2eKXYVdq">space activities</a>, and assists <a href="/facts/Developing_country/eTfS4kxl">developing countries</a> in using space science and technology for sustainable socioeconomic development. </p><p>The Office was established in 1958 to assist and advise the <i>ad hoc</i> <a href="/facts/United_Nations_Committee_on_the_Peaceful_Uses_of_Outer_Space/30vF4mgo">Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space</a> (COPUOS), which was established by the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_General_Assembly/pNDmCu8X">UN General Assembly</a> to discuss the scientific and legal aspects of exploring and using outer space to benefit humankind. The Committee became permanent the following year, with UNOOSA undergoing several structural changes before its relocation in 1993 to the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_Office_in_Vienna/cGtFG9IQ">United Nations Office in Vienna</a>, Austria. </p><p>As the secretariat of COPUOS, the Office is responsible for helping implement the major international treaties, legal principles, and General Assembly resolutions that together comprise space law. Other duties include advising governments and nongovernmental organizations on <a href="/facts/Space_law/l4Cxunqm">space law</a>; maintaining a registry of vessels and objects launched into space; convening forums to discuss various space-related matters; and sponsoring programmes that provide access to space technology. </p>