Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)

The Purpose of COSPAR, by its Charter from the International Council for Science (ICSU), now the International Science Council (ISC), is “to promote at an international level scientific research in space, with emphasis on the exchange of results, i space, with emphasis on the exchange of results, information and opinions, and to provide a forum, open to all scientists, for the discussion of problems that may affect scientific space research. The objectives of COSPAR are to be achieved through the organization of scientific assemblies, publications, or any other means.” After the USSR launched its first Earth Satellite in 1957 and thereby opened the space age, the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), now the International Science Council (ISC), established its Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) during an international meeting in London in 1958. COSPAR’s first Space Science Symposium was organized in Nice in January 1960. The Space Science Symposia, now called Scientific Assemblies, soon became the cradle from which the space research community developed and gave rise to many international projects from which we continue to benefit. Gathering between 2000 to 3000 participants, these events allow the presentation of the latest scientific findings, the exchange of knowledge and also the discussion of space research problems. Over several decades providing this service has brought recognition to the COSPAR Scientific Assembly as the premier forum for presenting the most important results in space research in all disciplines and as the focal point for truly international space science.