National Points of Contact
Austria
Klaus Kornfeld	Christopher Vasko
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SGAC Austria

In addition to hosting the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the meetings of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS), Austria is also very proud to host the headquarters of SGAC in Vienna. In the past several years, Austria has started to establish various space related organisations, created national space related science projects and has joined various international projects. These activities are contributing to an increased awareness of space and space related work in Austria. The main goal of SGAC in Austria is to reach students and young professionals with the aim of animating Austria’s next, talented generation for space!

Young Space Activities Overview in Austria

Aouda and Phileas (c)OEWF Paul Santek

Space related organisations and activities in Austria aim at drawing young people’s interest to the potential of space and the work related to space. SGAC Austria is serving as a networking base for a number of national groups and associations. Aside from SGAC, the Kuffner Observatory is one of the institutes active in these efforts. Young people have the opportunity to attend lectures and activities held on a regular basis. Another highly motivated group is the Austrian International Space University Alumni (AISUA) Association, which often works in conjunction with SGAC. Young Austrians are in a unique situation because of their proximity to the United Nations centre in Vienna, which handles all of the space work of the UN. The Austrian Space Forum, abbreviated OEWF in German, is a national network for space professionals and enthusiasts and has a long standing history of cooperation with SGAC. For many years this close cooperation partner of SGAC has been developing space projects, giving young Austrians the chance to become involved in space. Their most recent project involves development of a Rover and Space Suit for a martian environment. It serves as an educational tool as well as an testbed for a wide array of scientific applications.

For more information make sure to check out our interesting link section below, and the national report of Austria in SGAC's annual report 2011!

Country-Specific Events in 2012

• UNOOSA: Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, 49^th Session, Vienna, (6 Feb. – 17 Feb): SGAC has permanent observer status and is always invited to participate in both Subcommittees. Please contact SGAC if you would like to join either of the Subcommittee sessions
• UNOOSA: Legal Subcommittee, 51^th session, Vienna, (19 March – 23 March)
• UNOOSA: Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, 55^th session, Vienna, (6 June – 15 June): SGAC members worldwide who will be in Vienna at this time are invited to attend. There is a strict RSVP and it cannot be cancelled, so if you are certain to be there and would like to attend, please contact SGAC and they can have your name put on the UN attendance list.
• Summer School Alpbach 2012, Alpbach (19 July – 28 July): The purpose of the Summer School is to foster the practical application of knowledge derived from lectures, to develop organisational and team-work skills and to encourage creativity. Teams will compete to design the best project, judged by an independent jury. The teams themselves are responsible for the selection of the subject of the project and for the team structure and working methods.

Interesting Web Links for the Young Generation in Austria

National report of Austria in SGAC's annual report 2011!