About the Charter

Following the UNISPACE III conference held in Vienna, Austria in July 1999, the European and French space agencies (ESA and CNES) initiated the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters", with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) signing the Charter on 20 October 2000.

The following agencies subsequently joined the Charter as members:

• September 2001

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

• July 2003

  Argentine Space Agency (CONAE)

• 2005

  United States Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the U.S. team

• February 2005

  Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

• November 2005

  UK Space Agency (BNSC in 2005) / DMCii

• May 2007

  China National Space Administration (CNSA)

• October 2010

  German Aerospace Center (DLR)

• July 2011

  Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI)

• November 2011

  National Institute For Space Research - Brazilian Institute (INPE)

• July 2012

  European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)

The International Charter aims at providing a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to those affected by natural or man-made disasters through Authorized Users. Each member agency has committed resources to support the provisions of the Charter and thus is helping to mitigate the effects of disasters on human life and property.

The International Charter was declared formally operational on November 1, 2000.

Documents:

Charter brochure (pdf, 20.1 Mb)