U.S. Statement as prepared for U.S. Representative David Epstein – Agenda Item 8 – FUTURE ROLE AND METHOD OF WORK OF THE COMMITTEE
Vienna, Austria, April 16, 2026
Chair, the United States would first like to express its appreciation to the Secretariat and you, Chair, for all the effort in organizing this session.
Two years ago, this body successfully streamlined our agenda without sacrificing content or Member State engagement. As we saw during STSC, we face increasingly limited resources of both time and money. Reform is needed to address this reality, including discussion of consolidating or retiring several Agenda Items that are, at best, complementary or redundant, and, at worst, contribute nothing to progressing the vital work and core mandates of this Committee. [updated points on CRP to be added, once cleared] We must also work to establish an enduring format for meetings so this Committee does not waste precious resources repeatedly deliberating upon how to run our meetings. There is too much work to be done in addressing the pressing challenges to ensuring a safe, prosperous, and viable outer space environment.
We must adapt how we do business here in this body to provide real results for the world that is demanding them. This is necessary as we expand human reach and presence in outer space. Last year, we heard calls for more work in this body on benefit sharing. The United States is already making tremendous efforts to share the benefits of our taxpayer dollars in space to all of humanity through the sharing of scientific data and findings, provision of GPS and satellite-enabled rescue services, and much more. What this body needs to focus on are solutions for civil and commercial operators who need them now to, for example, avoid collisions with other satellites or debris and protect the orbital environment so we may all continue to enjoy the benefits of space.
In order to embrace a more effective and practical Committee, we must avoid the lengthy debates on language and issues that are far outside the scope of COPUOS and serve only to divert Member States’ attention away from advancing a safer and more prosperous outer space environment. These distractions include references to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, as they advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with the principles of national sovereignty, as well as ambiguous terms like “developing countries.” We encourage Member States to avoid these lengthy debates on language and ideology and move towards an action-oriented report that is streamlined, concise, and focuses on the decisions taken by this body. The action-oriented report format adopted by this year’s STSC was a remarkable win for this body. If we can maintain this momentum, saving valuable translation time used for arguing over terms irrelevant to the actual purpose of this meeting or expertise of its participants, we can focus instead on real achievements and save precious resources. There is no reason to retreat from this success, particularly as all statements made at our sessions are made available online.
My delegation would also like to recognize and highlight the value of intergovernmental, non-governmental, and private sector observers to this and other bodies of UNCOPUOS. My delegation makes a point to bring private sector advisors to share their expertise with not only our delegation, but with the entire body. As we know, the issues we cover in our subcommittee are complex, and the diplomats and lawyers in the room need access to the expertise and unique perspectives provided by academia, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations.
Chair, in conclusion, the United States remains committed to the essential work of UNCOPUOS and its Subcommittees and looks forward to fostering space activities that benefit us all. If COPUOS does not act, others will, which means we must embrace the change needed to preserve the relevancy and improve the effectiveness of this body. We hope that this Committee can achieve its potential through focused work and dispense with the wasteful distractions that undermine these efforts.
Thank you Chair.
U.S. Statement – Agenda Item 8 – 65th Session of the COPUOS LSC