Download United Nations SGF Press Release from 16 March 1999:      PDF-File ( 9 kbytes)

UNIS/OS/208
16 March 1999

VIENNA, 16 March (UN Information Service) -- University students and young space professionals will be gathering in Vienna for a Space Generation Forum from 19 to 30 July, as part of the third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III).

Delegates to the forum will speak for the world's youth at UNISPACE III -- entitled Space Benefits for Humanity in the Twenty-first Century -- which will redefine the international space agenda and lay new ground for global co-operation in the field. The forum will give young professionals an unprecedented chance to shape humankind's future by airing their views about crucial space activities for the next century.

Forum participants at UNISPACE III will interact with space scientists, leading thinkers and decision makers from all of the UN's member countries as well as the representatives of space agencies, specialized UN organizations, scientific groups and the space industry. They will also have the opportunity to observe conference plenary meetings and participate in all UNISPACE III events. More than 30 space technical workshops and seminars and one of the largest space exhibitions ever organized in Europe will be held in parallel to the conference.

Recommendations from the highly qualified young space professionals taking part in the forum will complement governmental discussions at UNISPACE III by generating fresh ideas, alternative scenarios and new insights. The forum's outcome will be reflected in the conference's official report, which will adopt the Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development, an international policy framework to guide governments and industries in the first half of the Twenty-first century.

Background information and application forms for the UNISPACE III Space Generation Forum can be obtained from the UN web site: http://www.un.or.at/OOSA/SGF. The deadline for applications is 15 April 1999.

The Advisory Board that will assist in organizing the Space Generation Forum is made up of internationally renowned space experts including: Ivan Almar, President of the Hungarian Space Research Council; James Burke of Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Arthur Clarke, Chancellor of the International Space University; Karl Doetsch, President of the International Space University; Mac Evans, President of the Canadian Space Agency; Louis Friedman, Executive Director of the Planetary Society; Nandasiri Jasentuliyana, Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs; K. Kasturirangan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization; Michel Laffaiteur of the French Space Agency (CNES), Johannes Ortner, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Space University; U. Rao, President of UNISPACE III; Willibald Riedler, Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences; Robert Zubrin, President of the Mars Society, Pioneer Astronautics.

Organizations interested in participating or contributing to the Space Generation Forum are invited to contact the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs for further details: