UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)

COPUOS (The Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) was set up by the UN General Assembly in 1959 to address space use and research issues and to prepare draft agreements and resolutions. The Committee meets once each year in Vienna. The legal subcommittee and scientific and technical subcommittee operate under the auspice of the Committee. The Committee currently comprises 102 Member States. Finland was approved as a member of the Committee at the UN General Assembly in autumn 2018.

UN instruments on outer space (Outer Space Treaty, Rescue Agreement, Liability Convention, Registration Convention, Moon Agreement) were prepare within COPUOS in the 1960s and 1970s. It has since proved very difficult to reach a consensus on new agreements or amendments to agreements. The current development in space law is largely based on non-legally binding resolutions and guidelines drawn up by the Committee and other international cooperation bodies, which Member States can incorporate into their national legislation. In summer 2019, the Committee approved the Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs promotes international cooperation in space activities, carries out tasks related to the maintenance of United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space and carries out the tasks of the Secretariat at COPUOS meetings. 

News

  • Statement by Finland in the 63rd session of the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 17 April 2024   
  • Statements by Finland in the 61th session of the Technical and Scientific Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 29 January 2024 and 2 February 2024  
  • Finland’s Statement in the COPUOS Main Committee 31 May 2023   
  • Statements by Finland in the 62nd session of the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 20 March 2023 and 23 March 2023   
  • Statements by Finland in the 60th session of the Technical and Scientific Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 8 February 2023 and 9 February 2023  
  • Finland’s Statement in the COPUOS Main Committee 2 June 2022   
  • Statements by Finland in the 61th session of the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 28 March 2022 and 29 March 2022    
  • Finland’s Statement in the COPUOS Main Committee 25 August 2021   
  • Statements by Finland in the 60th session of the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 2 June 2021, 3 June 2021, 4 June 2021 and 7 June 2021  
  • Finland’s Statement in the 58th session of the Technical and Scientific Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 20 April 2021   '