22/10/2026
In 1999, the world’s space agencies spent two weeks in this building. They left with a Vienna Declaration on space.
Here is the story. From 19 to 30 July 1999, the United Nations held its third conference on the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space, UNISPACE III, in Vienna, in this building and in the UN complex next door. Kofi Annan opened it in Hall A. Delegations from 97 states, nine UN agencies and 15 international organisations came, together with the heads of space agencies and the space industry, for two weeks of plenaries, dozens of workshops and a space technology exhibition.
On 30 July the conference adopted The Space Millennium: Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development, 33 recommendations on putting space to work for life on Earth, from managing natural resources to protecting the space environment.
Two things came out of those two weeks that you may know without knowing where they started. The delegates asked the UN to declare a World Space Week. Since 2000 it has been celebrated every year from 4 to 10 October, the anniversaries of the Sputnik launch and the Outer Space Treaty. And a youth forum held during the conference, 160 young people from around the world, grew into the Space Generation Advisory Council, which still has its headquarters in Vienna.
All three UN space conferences, 1968, 1982 and 1999, were held in Vienna. The first two had to make do without this building.
What is the first space moment you remember watching?