United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

Abbreviation	UNOOSA
Formation	13 December 1958; 65 years ago (1958-12-13)
Type	Secretariat office
Legal status	Active
Headquarters	Vienna, Austria
Head	Director Aarti Holla-Maini
Parent organization	United Nations Secretariat
Website	www.unoosa.org
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The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is an office of the U.N. Secretariat that promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in outer space.^[1] It works to establish or strengthen the legal and regulatory frameworks for space activities, and assists developing countries in using space science and technology for sustainable socioeconomic development.

The Office was established in 1958 to assist and advise the ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), which was established by the UN General Assembly to discuss the scientific and legal aspects of exploring and using outer space to benefit humankind.^[2] The Committee became permanent the following year, with UNOOSA undergoing several structural changes before its relocation in 1993 to the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria.

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.^[3][4] Other duties include advising governments and nongovernmental organizations on space law; 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.^[5][6]