#Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society

9 Dec 2025, 09:00 → 12 Dec 2025, 18:00 Europe/Vienna

Boardroom D (United Nations, Vienna, Austria)

In 2024 the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee (STSC) of COPUOS agreed to include the item entitled "Dark and quiet skies, astronomy and large constellations: addressing emerging issues and challenges" on its provisional agenda for its sessions from 2025 to 2029. During previous years, UNOOSA had worked closely with Members of the Committee, the astronomy community including the SKAO, and the wider space community, to raise awareness of the value of dark and quiet skies.

This joint workshop will provide an overview of activities carried out by astronomers and satellite operators as well as manufacturers to minimise the impact of satellites on the astronomical sciences. The discussion will encompass both mitigation measures against the effect of low-earth orbiting satellites crossing the field of view of optical telescopes as well as potential radio-frequency interference with radio astronomy observations. The workshop will also aim to identify and encourage the advancements in prediction and measurements resources, and additional mitigation tools. In addition, the legal and regulatory aspects of keeping skies dark and quiet will be explored.

The workshop will bring together the community of astronomers expert in this topic, stakeholders from the satellite industry that develop or deploy mitigation measures to reduce their impact on astronomy and the diplomatic community preparing technical and legal contributions to COPUOS and its sub-Committee meetings. Participants to STSC (2 to 13 February 2026, Vienna), are particularly encouraged to participate.

This workshop will be co-hosted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory.
 

Tuesday, 9 December

09:00 → 10:00 Registration and coffee/tea

10:00 → 10:30 Status of the Dark and Quiet Skies Initiative: Welcome

Conveners: Aarti Holla-Maini (UNOOSA Director), Philip Diamond (SKAO Director General)

Benz27Nov.pdf

DiVruno9Dec_intro-for PDF.pdf

Maniewicz3Dec.pdf

Ricard9Dec.pdf

10:30 → 10:50 Status of the Dark and Quiet Skies Initiative

Convener: Nathalie Ricard (UNOOSA)

Benz27Nov.pdf

DiVruno9Dec_intro-for PDF.pdf

Maniewicz3Dec.pdf

Ricard9Dec.pdf

10:50 → 11:05 Status of the Dark and Quiet Skies Initiative: Keynote - International Astronomical Union

Convener: Willy Benz (President of the Union, IAU)

Benz27Nov.pdf

DiVruno9Dec_intro-for PDF.pdf

Maniewicz3Dec.pdf

Ricard9Dec.pdf

11:05 → 11:20 Status of the Dark and Quiet Skies Initiative: Keynote - International Telecommunication Union

Convener: Mario Maniewicz (Director of ITU Radiocommunication Bureau)

Benz27Nov.pdf

DiVruno9Dec_intro-for PDF.pdf

Maniewicz3Dec.pdf

Ricard9Dec.pdf

11:20 → 12:45 Session 1 - impact assessment after 3 years of observations

Speakers: Piero Benvenuti (Chair - Director of IAU Centre for Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies (CPS)), Meredith Rawls (University of Washington/Vera C. Rubin Observatory, USA), Cui Chenzhou (National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Gregory Hellbourg (California Institute of Technology, USA), Ammar Eissa Mohammed Abdulla (Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and Technology, UAE)

Abdulla3Dec.pdf

Benvenuti26Nov.pdf

Chenzhou Cui15Dec.pdf

Hellbourg3Dec.pdf

Rawls4Dec.pdf

12:45 → 13:00 Pitch - impact assessment

Speakers: Ericsson López Izurieta (Quito Astronomical Observatory, Ecuador), Biruk Abte (Space science and geospatial institute, Eithiopia), Narae Hwang (Korea Astonomy and Space Science Institute)

Abte3Dec.pdf

Hwang24Nov.pdf

Lopez30Nov.pdf

13:00 → 14:00 Lunch

UN Office Vienna - Cafeteria

14:00 → 15:15 Session 2 - status of astronomers mitigation actions

Speakers: Beatrice Kioko (Chair - European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO)), Constance Walker (IAU CPS and NSF NOIRLab, USA), Olivier Hainaut (ESO), Erick Meza Quispe (Peruvian Space Agency CONIDA), Nicolas Cerardi (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Switzerland), Federico Di Vruno (SKAO)

Cerardi3Dec.pdf

DiVrunoSession2-8Dec.pdf

Hainaut3Dec.pdf

MezaQuispe7Dec.pdf

Walker8Dec.pdf

15:15 → 15:30 Pitch - mitigation actions

Speakers: Sarah Thiele (Princeton University, USA), Stanislav Karpikov (StealthTransit Laboratories, Germany), Nacera Bekhadda (Algerian Space Agency)

Bekhadda4Dec.pdf

Karpikov29Nov.pdf

Thiele3Dec.pdf

15:30 → 16:00 Break

16:00 → 16:10 Pitch - other activities impacted

Speakers: Vachik Khachatryan (Space42, Armenia), Ruskin Hartley (DarkSky International, USA)

Hartley4Dec.pdf

Khachatryan3Dec.pdf

16:10 → 17:40 PANEL 1: keeping a balance to preserve social and cultural use of dark and quiet skies

Conveners: Jessica Heim (Moderator & University of Southern Queensland and IAU CPS), Songphon Munkongsujarit (National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT)), Shea Esterling (University of Canterbury, New Zealand), Antonia Wibowo (National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia), Joyful Mdhluli (IAU Office of Astronomy for Development, South Africa), Anubhav Prakash (Satcom Industry Association, India)

Esterling4Dec.pdf

Mdhluli16Nov.pdf

Munkongsujarit30Nov.pdf

Wibowo28Nov.pdf

17:40 → 18:00 Status of the Dark and Quiet Skies Initiative: Wrap-up and information for Day-2 & ADJOURN

Benz27Nov.pdf

DiVruno9Dec_intro-for PDF.pdf

Maniewicz3Dec.pdf

Ricard9Dec.pdf

Wednesday, 10 December

09:30 → 10:00 Coffee/tea

10:00 → 10:20 Keynote: satellite constellations

Convener: Patricia Cooper (Constellation Advisory LLC, USA)

Cooper3Dec.pdf

10:20 → 11:05 Session 3 - satellite constellation projects review

Speakers: Natalia Vicente (Chair & Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA)), Xu Yanbin (China Satellite Network Group Co., Ltd), Ilsa Mroz (Planet, USA), Thibaut Maury Micolier (Secure connectivity and space surveillance Unit, European Commission)

Maury5Dec.pdf

Mroz2Dec.pdf

Zhang4Dec.pdf

11:05 → 12:05 Session 4 - role of academia and governmental organisations to foster mitigation actions

Speakers: Jessica Dempsey (Chair & Director of the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)), Jan Siminski (European Space Agency), Astha . (University of Surrey, UK), Funmilola Oluwafemi (National Space Research and Development Agency, Nigeria), Roohi Dalal (American Astronomical Society, USA)

Astha4Dec.pdf

Dalal3Dec.pdf

Oluwafemi20Nov.pdf

Siminski3Dec.pdf

12:05 → 12:15 Pitch - looking to the future and learning from other sectors

Speakers: Kristina Vukosavljević (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands), Stefan Wallner (Slovak Academy of Sciences), Megan Perks (University of Southampton, UK)

Perks15Nov.pdf

Vukosavljevic6Dec.pdf

Wallner5Dec.pdf

12:15 → 12:30 Group picture

12:30 → 13:30 Lunch

13:30 → 15:00 PANEL 2: satellite industry mitigation: who tried what?

Conveners: Patricia Cooper (Moderator, Constellation Advisory LLC, USA), Enrique Allona Pérez (Eutelsat, France), Josef Koller (Amazon Kuiper, USA), David Goldstein (SpaceX, USA), Ray Sedwick (AST SpaceMobile, USA)

Allona3Dec.pdf

Goldstein2Dec.pdf

Koller30Nov.pdf

Sedwick6Dec.pdf

15:00 → 15:15 Pitch - industry mitigation actions

Speakers: Agnieszka Sybilska (Sybilla Technologies), Ryan Moodie (35 Northumbria, UK), Andrew Lawrence (University of Edinburgh, UK)

Lawrence2Dec.pdf

Moodie13Nov (1).pdf

Sybilska3Dec.pdf

15:15 → 15:45 Break

15:45 → 16:45 Session 5 - Interactions astronomers, industry and regulators: lessons learnt

Speakers: Mamantha Maheshwarappa (Chair & UK Space Agency), Tebogo Mashile (Department of Science Techonology and Innovation, South Africa), Siegfried Eggl (University of Illinois-Champaign, Austria/USA), Joan Chepkemoi (Kenya Space Agency), Audrey Allison (Aerospace Corporation, USA)

Allison8Dec.pdf

Chepkemoi3Dec.pdf

Eggl3Dec.pdf

Mashile14Nov.pdf

16:45 → 17:55 PANEL 3: Interactions astronomers/industry: gaps identified and proposals

Conveners: Tim Stevenson (Moderator, SKAO), Sara Lucatello (European Astronomical Society), Samuel Nyangi Kihuha (Space in Africa, Kenya), Artem Mokhnatkin (Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federation/Serbia), Jeff Shaddix (Slingshot Aerospace, USA)

Kihuha24Nov.pdf

Lucatello3Dec.pdf

Mokhnatkin26Nov.pdf

Shaddix3Dec.pdf

17:55 → 18:00 Closing remarks: Wrap-up and information for Day-3

Stuart Whittley, SKAO Director of Programmes, on behalf of SKAO Director General
Aarti Holla-Maini, UNOOSA Director

18:00 → 19:30 Networking reception

Mozart room

Thursday, 11 December

09:30 → 10:00 Coffee/Tea

10:00 → 10:20 Keynote: Outer Space Treaty high-level principles

Convener: Tanja Masson-Zwaan (Deputy Director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University, the Netherlands)

Masson-Zwaan8Dec.pdf

10:20 → 11:40 Session 6 - regulatory initiatives started at national level: status and lessons learnt

Speakers: Andrew Macpherson (Chair, SKAO), Marieta Valdivia (IAU CPS Policy Hub, National Analysis Group), Yana Yakushina (IAU CPS Policy Hub, National Analysis Group), Eduardo Unda-Sanzana (Universidad de Antofagasta, Director of the Astronomy Center (VITEVA), Chile), Marcelo Colazo (Argentina National Commission on Space Activities (CONAE)), Hafiz Umer Hameed Khan (Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO)), Nompucuko Nontombana (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa)

Colazo6Dec.pdf

Khan8Dec.pdf

Nontombana20Nov.pdf

Unda-Sanzana3Dec.pdf

Yakushina-Lefort3Dec.pdf

11:40 → 13:00 Panel 4: achieving success at COPUOUS: lessons learnt

Conveners: Aarti Holla-Maini (Moderator, UNOOSA), Ulpia-Elena Botezatu (Romania, Chair, Scientific and Technical Subcommitee and Co-Chair, Action Team on Lunar Activities Consultation), Mila Francisco Ferrada (Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy and Permanent Mission of Chile in Vienna), Veronique Glaude (International Telecommunication Union)

Botezatu10Dec.pdf

Francisco3Dec.pdf

Glaude4Dec.pdf

13:00 → 14:00 Lunch

14:00 → 14:05 Pitch: IAC 2026

Speaker: Nazmelis Zengin (IAC)

NazmelisZenginThurs11Dec.png

14:05 → 15:15 Session 7 - Proposals and schedule of preparation until STSC/COPUOS 2026

Speakers: Federico Di Vruno (Chair, SKAO), Rafael Moro Aguilar (Florida International University, USA/Spain), Tarcisio Bakaus (ANATEL National Telecommuniations Agency of Brazil), Aaron Boley (University of British Columbia, Canada), Giuliana Rotola (International Astronomical Union CPS Policy Hub Co-Lead), Richard Green (University of Arizona/International Astronomical Union and Group of Friends of the Dark & Quiet Sky, USA)

Bakaus2Dec.pdf

Boley3Dec.pdf

Di Vruno - Survey from GOF.pdf

Green8Dec.pdf

MoroAguilar8Dec.pdf

Rotola2Dec.pdf

15:15 → 15:45 Break

15:45 → 16:45 Panel 5: looking forward to STSC-2026

Dialogue between speakers of previous sessions and interactive discussion with the audience.

Convener: Aarti Holla-Maini (Moderator, UNOOSA)

16:45 → 17:00 Closing remarks: End of workshop

Stuart Whittley, SKAO Director of Programmes, on behalf of SKAO Director General
Aarti Holla-Maini, UNOOSA Director

Conveners: Stuart Whittley (SKAO Director of Programmes), Aarti Holla-Maini (UNOOSA Director)

Friday, 12 December

09:00 → 16:00 SCENARIO: "2031: A (Near Earth) Space Odyssey" - FULL AGENDA & SCENARIO AVAILABLE IN THE LEFT COLUMN 'FRIDAY'S SCENARIO'

09:00 – 10:00 | Registration

10:00 - 10:15 | Welcome & Opening Remarks
• Welcome from the SKAO and UNOOSA
• Overview UNOOSA’s role in supporting States in drafting national space laws and policies.
10:15 – 10:30 | Introductory Presentation: Setting the Scene
• Slides introducing the event theme, background and goals
• Outline of the day’s structure and group discussion format
• What we hope to achieve by the end of the day
10:30 – 11:45 | Group Discussion Session 1
• Participants divided into groups
• Discussion : Key challenges, issues and opportunities
• Each group appoints a rapporteur to record key points
11:45 – 12:45 | Lunch Break
12:45 – 14:00 | Group Discussion Session 2
• Deep dive: Developing solutions, actions and recommendations
• Rapporteurs prepare short oral summaries of key messages
14:10 – 15:20 |Oral Presentation of Findings
• Each group rapporteur presents their findings (5-7 minutes each)
15:20 - 16:00 | Panel Summary & Facilitated Discussion
• Panel of facilitators or experts summarise key insights
• Identification of next steps, priorities, key takeaways
• Closing reflections and remarks