UN/SKAO Workshop on Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society

Event
09 December 2025 - 11 December 2025 Vienna International Centre
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. As well as identifying mitigation measures, the workshop will aim to identify and encourage the advancements in prediction and measurements resources, and the legal and regulatory aspects of keeping skies dark and quiet.

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.

The workshop, co-hosted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the SKAO, is the continuation of efforts to bring together stakeholders from astronomical observatories with representatives of the satellite industry, as well as space agencies, academia and the diplomatic community to promote networking and discussions of both policy and technical means to enable both astronomy and satellite projects to flourish.

Poster for the SKAO UNOOSA workshop. The image shows satellites in orbit over Earth with the text Collaborating with industry to share the wealth of our sky.

As a major international research facility at radio wavelengths, the SKAO has been advocating for the protection of radio astronomy from satellite constellation interference for several years, as both a member of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), and as a sector member of the International Telecommunications Union, the UN's specialised agency for information and communication technologies.

In 2021, the SKAO answered a call from the International Astronomical Union to co-host the IAU's new Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky (CPS) alongside NSF NOIRLab, the US national centre for ground-based, nighttime optical astronomy.

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 SKA Observatory, and the wider space community, to raise awareness of the value of dark and quiet skies.

Further information and registration is available on the UNOOSA website.