Responding to the call of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the National Space Science Agency participated in the virtual preparatory meetings due to the exceptional circumstances that the world is experiencing at the present time. The meeting was to discuss the draft agenda and arrangements related to the regulations for the fifty-eighth session of the Scientific Committee and the Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on Space Usage Foreign Affairs for peaceful purposes.

Sheikha Hesa Al Khalifa, Senior Legal Researcher at NSSA said: The convening of the Committee for the Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes comes at a very important time, as the world today is witnessing a steady increase since the last three years in exploring the outer space. Bringing up important topics whether legal, scientific or technical, in order to support international efforts calling for cooperation and coordination between all countries for the purpose of achieving the best use of space for the service of humanity.

Sheikha Hesa added: The meeting discussed important topics which are to be decided prior to committee’s next session during the period 19th to 30th of April 2021. The meeting searched for the best approaches to hold the fifty-eighth session and looked into the decision-making stages and voting procedures and other regulatory and legal issues, besides some other technical and scientific topics.

Sheikha Hesa bint Ali Al Khalifa concluded: It was a valuable participation that added a lot to my experience, all thanks to the agency’s management for providing us with opportunities to acquire knowledge to help us to carry out our responsibilities and to contribute effectively and efficiently to the national development in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and to work to achieve the Agency’s goals in its strategic plan.

It is worth mentioning that the preparatory meetings began on Thursday, 11th February 2021, with the participation of more than 140 experts and representatives of Member Countries, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and a selected group of scientists from several research centers. The National Space Science Agency was represented by His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Ebrahim Al Aseeri, Chief Executive of the Agency, Dr. Mohamed Jasim Al-Othman, Advisor to the Agency, and Sheikha Hesa Al Khalifa, from the legal affairs of the Agency.