Right after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, UNOOSA , the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, was established and has since been monitoring developments across more than 77 successful lunar missions and other journeys while also taking a lead role in the annual World Space Week , which runs from 4 to 10 October.
What you need to know
- This year's theme, Rocket revolution, focuses on the rapid transformation of how we reach space - now expanding through commercial launch providers, reusable rockets, university teams, and other innovators
- More than 50,000 events are planned in more than 100 countries
- The week represents the world's largest space event
What's the UN doing in space?
Early this year, the UN hosted four astronauts who just returned from outer space , carrying out the farthest human spaceflight in history when they travelled beyond the far side of the Moon.
But, the UN has been involved in space affairs for decades. The General Assembly created a committee in 1959 to govern the exploration and use of space for the benefit of all - focused around peace, security and development.
Instrumental in creating the five treaties and principles governing outer space, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) has mandated duties that include keeping pace with rapid technological advances.
Since then, space science and technology and their applications are increasingly being used to support a wide range of UN activities. At least 25 UN entities use them.
Here are some examples:
Cosmic crops : The International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) and the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ) sent seeds to the International Space Station in November 2022 to test how harsh space conditions alter plant genetics for climate resilience on Earth
Satellite tele-medicine : The World Health Organization ( WHO ) collaborated with UNOOSA to apply space science and satellite technology to help solve global health challenges
Space junk : The UN Environment Programme ( UNEP ) helps to promote long-term sustainability in Earth's orbit given the 130 million pieces of debris in circulation - from satellite fragments to abandoned spacecraft
Learn more about World Space Week here .
What's it like being in outer space?
"Like entering a dream state," one astronaut recalled.
In 1990, 17 astronauts shared their out-of-this-world experiences in Our Planet Earth, a timeless documentary produced for the UN by Lemle Pictures, Inc. with cooperation of the Association for Space Explorers and the Canadian International Development Agency.
"It was the greatest feeling I ever had in my entire life," said one astronaut. "Seeing the black sky and the bright sun. This is really impossible, but I saw it."
Another said he tried clumsily manoeuvring in a state of weightlessness, finding himself awkwardly jammed against a window when he was awestruck by both the view and the magnificence of Earth.
One summed up a commonly shared feeling among the space travellers.
"I felt a love for all the inhabitants of the Earth," he said. "I just wanted to love them all."
