United NationsOffice for Outer Space Affairs

For information only - not an official document

UNIS/MA/178 
11 September 2017

MEDIA ADVISORY

Media representatives are invited to a

UNOOSA-JAXA briefing on KiboCUBE initiative

on Tuesday 26 September 2017, 16:00-16:30

UNOOSA exhibition booth, International Astronautical Congress, Adelaide, Australia

VIENNA, 11 September (United Nations Information Service) - The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will provide a briefing on the second round of the KiboCUBE initiative on Tuesday 26 September 2017, from 16.00 to 16.30 at the UNOOSA exhibition booth (site 23) at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia. 

KiboCUBE is an initiative that offers educational and research institutions from developing countries the opportunity to deploy cube satellites (CubeSats) from the Kibo module of the International Space Station (ISS).

UNOOSA and JAXA recently selected a team from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala for the second round of the UNOOSA-JAXA KiboCUBE programme. The Universidad del Valle de Guatemala team plans to use its CubeSat to test equipment for monitoring the concentration of harmful cyanobacteria (algae blooms) over inland bodies of water. This will be Guatemala's first ever satellite in orbit. Further details of the project will be shared at the briefing.

Speakers at this briefing will be:

• Simonetta Di Pippo, Director, UNOOSA
• Koichi Wakata, ISS Programme Manager, JAXA
• Luis Zea, Project Coordinator, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala

UNOOSA and JAXA will also provide information at the briefing about the future of the joint KiboCUBE initiative.

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For more information about UNOOSA, please contact:

Daria  Brankin 
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) 
Telephone: (+43 699) 1459 8718 
Email: daria.brankin[at]unoosa.org