3.01.2005
'Space and Major Disasters' Charter: Update
You don't have to read the full text; basically, the Space and Major Disasters Charter is an international network of space partners putting "space technology at the service of rescue authorities in the event of a major disaster."
And it's not just about satellite images of tsunamis. The Charter's slick Web site, at disasterscharter.org, includes a showcase of recent charter activations around the world in which Charter member agencies responded to international disasters, including post-Indian Ocean tsunami events such as the earthquake in Iran, landslides in Venezuela, floods in Pakistan and Guyana, even hurricane-force winds in Sweden. See how space agencies step in to lend a hand.
(And Space Law Probe applauds any international agreement that has its own dynamic, up-to-the-minute Web site not to mention nifty domain, like disasterscharter.org.)
Charter members include NOAA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, the Indian Space Research Organization, and other good-Samaritan space agencies and organizations. And last week, the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) signed on.