Airbus has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations to enable developing countries to access and use the International Space Station to conduct tests, analyze data and build their space program capabilities.
“Through our partnership with the UN we hope the benefits of space can be more accessible to the global community,” said Johannes von Thadden, Head of International and Space Institutions at Airbus during the signing ceremony at the UNISPACE +50 Conference.
Airbus would offer free payload space on its Bartolomeo platform attached to the ISS and operated by the aerospace company. Bartolomeo enables the hosting of external payloads in low-Earth orbit—and offers the station’s most unobstructed view of planet Earth and outer space. Through the agreement, UN member states would have the opportunity to engage in Earth observation, robotics, material science and astrophysics experiments.
Participating countries would also have access to the company’s all-in-one mission service, which combines all mission elements into one commercial contract—from mission preparation to launch to payload installation. The service includes the option to return the entire payload or a selected sample to Earth.
“Operating a space mission on the Bartolomeo platform is a highly cost and time-efficient way of bringing a payload into space, and our all-in-one mission service makes it as easy as possible,” said von Thadden.
Airbus and the UN will also help build local capacity for those countries to access and study Earth observation data from four satellites. Training sessions, conferences and workshops will help train local scientists to use the data. In particular, Airbus and the UN will jointly support professional training programs to use that data for environmental applications—such as flood modeling, forest degradation analysis, and tracking the downward shifting of urban areas in coastal regions.
At UNISPACE +50 the UN pledged to increase access to the benefits offered by outer space as an important component of its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UN committed to promoting and supporting international cooperation, strengthening the capacities for its member nations to use space science and technology to boost their sustainable development programs, and making sure countries can benefit from space research and technology regardless of their level of development.
Airbus will be a vital partner for the UN to realize its ambitious plan to promote the use of space technology in sustainable development. This will also help the company maintain its position in the growing commercial space sector.
Read more about the growth of the global private space industry at China’s Private Space Race.