Contribution of UNISEC-global to capacity building in space engineering

Abstract

Capacity building in space engineering is vital process to space development at both the national and international levels. Long term sustainability is also vital to the future space activities. This is a key theme of the discussions in global space forums such as UNCOPUOS. The issue of increasing density of debris in orbit is very relevant to nano-satellite activities at university level. The University Space Engineering Consortium (UNISEC) in Japan was established to support and promote practical space project development activities, such as nano-satellites and hybrid rockets at university level. The UNISEC concept in Japan is to facilitate activities by providing a platform where members can show and exchange the progress and lessons learned from each other. Sharing UNISEC experience and know-how with non-space faring nations was one of the main motivation to establish the UNISEC-Global in 2013 as well as fostering the international cooperation. This present paper presents the concept of UNISEC, establishment of UNISEC-Global and its contribution to the long term space sustainability and development.