The United Nations, delivering 'access to space for all': Activity status in 2019

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) launched the Human Space Technology Initiative (HSTI) in 2010 to promote international cooperation on human space flight and space exploration activities, create awareness on the benefits of human space technology and its applications, and build capacity in microgravity education and research. Building on HSTI, in 2018, UNOOSA established the Access to Space for All initiative, expanding activities on human space technology, increasing opportunities for non and emerging space faring nations to use UNOOSA as the UN hub for connecting with the public and private space sector and accessing opportunities to conduct space-related activities in a responsible and sustainable manner. Since October 2018, new achievements have been made under this initiative: 1) A number of experiment proposals from multiple countries have been selected for the 1^st cycle for flying on board the China Space Station (CSS) under the United Nations/China Cooperation on the CSS Utilization; 2) The 4^th cycle of applications for deploying small satellites under the KiboCUBE, in collaboration with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), have been solicited and selection has been made, and the 5^th cycle of call for applications has been announced; 3) Call for Interest on utilizing the Dream Chaser of the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) as well as the Airbus Bartolomeo platform of the International Space Station (ISS) have been publicized and interests in utilizing them have been expressed from multiple countries; 4) The new partnership between the United Nations and AVIO on CubeSat deployment was established; 5) The 5^th cycle of the fellowship programme on the utilization of the Bremen Drop Tower has been successful; 6) The project on utilizing the Large Diameter Centrifuge facility at the European Space Agency (ESA) was launched, and the 1^st opportunity to utilize this facility has been announced. The Access to Space for All initiative is being implemented by, among others, carrying out substantial projects under HSTI, which provides physical access to space, and initiating the Open Universe Initiative, which provides access to scientific space data and services. The on-going projects in 2019 has been providing real access to space through a wide range of modalities including space experiments, space flights, and small satellites, thus continuing to bring benefits of space technology to humanity and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).