Statement by H.E. Ambassador Mr. Toshiro OZAWA at the 56th Session of Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Agenda Item 4: General Exchange of Views

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates,

On behalf of the Japanese Government I am pleased to address the 56th session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
First of all, I would like to congratulate Dr. Mazlan Othman, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna and Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Since this will be the last meeting for her in her current position, I wish to convey my deepest gratitude for Dr. Othman’s untiring efforts organizing the meetings of COPUOS and for everything else. I also express my appreciation to the devoted staff of the Secretariat for their hard work in preparing for this session.

Mr. Chairman,

I take this opportunity to convey the Japanese delegation’s appreciation to you for your efforts coming into this session, your second session of COPUOS. I would like to mention that the initiative that was presented in your paper entitled “Next Phase in Global Governance for Space Research and Utilization”, provides the Committee a good opportunity to discuss the mission of this Committee for the next half century. Inspired by your initiative, my delegation has made a proposal to deepen the discussion on the contribution of space technology to the sustainable development agenda. I request and encourage all delegations to participate actively in this discussion.

Mr. Chairman,

I take this opportunity to refer to the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the first space flight by a woman and also to the events organized by OOSA taking place this afternoon and tomorrow evening highlighting the contribution of women to space exploration. A number of Japanese women have contributed and are contributing to space activities, including Dr. Chiaki Mukai, the first Asian woman astronaut in space. Some of these eminent women are participating in this session to celebrate the 50th anniversary. I am pleased to announce that Japan and the Russian Federation will co-host a reception this evening from 6:30 at the Mozart Room, to recognize the participation of Dr. Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova and Dr. Chiaki Mukai. All delegations are cordially invited to this reception.

Mr. Chairman,

Japan is of the view that the role and function of COPUOS should be strengthened and expanded. I wish to elaborate on three points regarding the role and function of COPUOS.

First, Japan acknowledges that this Committee is a unique platform to enhance global governance for international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space at the multilateral level. It allows its Member States to gather and to share information, insights and experiences. It promotes transparency and mutual confidence, while allowing Member States to seek common ground on a range of different issues, including the protection and preservation of the space environment. In this context, Japan also attaches importance to the maintenance of close communications between this Committee and the regional and inter-regional cooperation mechanisms. We believe that the important role of a regional mechanism is to consolidate mutual understanding at the regional level, and we would welcome their views being shared with this Committee.

Second, Japan believes that this Committee can make effective contributions in tackling the global issues facing the international community. This Committee’s involvement in the Rio+20 Initiatives is a good example of how we can contribute to these issues. The discussion regarding the post-Millennium Development Goals has been taken up by the international community. We would like to reiterate the importance and necessity of following up on the contributions of the Committee to these issues, and more importantly, we would like to invite Member States to make every effort in each country so that the significance of space technologies is recognized in the sustainable development agenda. We are in a unique position at the center of the international community promoting the peaceful uses of outer space, and therefore we have the pleasure and indeed the duty to ensure that the benefits of space applications serve the sustainable development agenda.

Last, but not least, Japan promotes efforts to enforce the global governance of space activities. We would, therefore, welcome and encourage the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee to engage in discussions that are geared toward setting best- practice guidelines for securing the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. My delegation views that these guidelines would be indispensable for further consolidating the solid foundation of global governance of space activities, and we believe that these guidelines would also contain an important element for the contribution of space activities toward sustainable development.

Mr. Chairman,

At the regional level, Japan promotes the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum, or “APRSAF”. I am delighted to announce to you that APRSAF is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. We are pleased to continue our productive discussions within APRSAF in the Asia-Pacific region as a model for regional space cooperation, conducted through voluntary, yet inclusive, participation. The 20th session of APRSAF will be co-hosted by Vietnam and Japan in Hanoi, Vietnam from the 3rd to the 6th  of December this year, with the theme “Values from Space: 20 Years of Asia-Pacific Experiences”.

Mr. Chairman,

I wish to move on to briefly introduce Japan’s recent achievements in space activities.

The first satellite of the Global Change Observation Mission, GCOM-W　or “Shizuku”, that was launched last year, started to provide its geophysical quantity products last month, and this information is being shared in conformity with the principle of open data access. We believe that this will contribute to a better understanding of climate change and perhaps may lead to the development of effective climate-change solutions.

The first Epsilon Launch Vehicle (Epsilon-1), a solid propellant rocket to enable low cost launch of small to middle sized satellites, will be launched this year. It will have on board the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere (SPRINT-A).

In the field of human space exploration, the Japanese Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide completed his 125-day stay on the International Space Station (ISS) in November of last year. During his stay, Astronaut Hoshide conducted various space experiments including the release of small satellites from the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo”, which means “hope” in Japanese. Using the “robot hands”, he captured the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle "KOUNOTORI 3" (HTV3). “KOUNOTORI” means “white stork” in Japanese. Astronaut Hoshide also completed the first ever mission using the Dragon spaceship in orbit.

This year, we are very proud to have Astronaut Koichi Wakata leading the 39th ISS expedition as the first Japanese commander. In addition to leading the ISS, he will conduct various scientific experiments.

The H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 4 (H-IIB F4) carrying the H-II Transfer Vehicle “KOUNOTORI 4” (HTV4) will be launched this year.

This year and in the years to follow, we are also planning to launch the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 or “ALOS-2”, the GPM Core Observatory and the Asteroid Explorer “HAYABUSA-2”. “HAYABUSA” means “falcon” in Japanese.

Mr. Chairman,

I will end my statement by reiterating that Japan will continue to contribute to the advancement of space activities, and also that Japan will continue to provide experts to support the invaluable work of this Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.