As part of its cooperation with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Intersputnik sponsored the translation of the UNOOSA Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit for the Space Sector into Arabic and Russian languages.
Being an intergovernmental organization, Intersputnik has always defended equal international cooperation as the primary instrument for the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. This interaction in outer space is innately of global nature, serving the interests of all humanity in various ways. So, today, the role of international organisations aimed at coordinating the efforts of all players in the space industry to create conditions for constructive cooperation – the UNOOSA, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Global Satellite Operators Association, and others – is more important than ever.
The UNOOSA sees the dissemination of information about possibilities of space technologies, the global humanitarian significance of the peaceful exploration of space, the possible participation of all stakeholders in the development of space applications, etc. as one of the most important areas of its activity. Intersputnik supports constructive UN initiatives to disseminate and promote information and educational materials. At the same time, Intersputnik, which unites countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America, fully recognises the importance of linguistic diversity in increasing the accessibility of important information. In this regard, and in line with its principles of open cooperation, Intersputnik sponsored the translation of the Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit for the Space Sector into Arabic and Russian languages.
Intersputnik adheres to the principle of expanding the awareness of the most pressing issues, including in their native languages, among a wide range of space industry players. So, it regularly participates in projects of this kind. In 2025, in cooperation with the Secure World Foundation, Intersputnik also organised the translation of the information bulletin of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN Committee on Outer Space, COPUOS) into the languages of the Organization (French, Spanish and Russian). As a result, a wide range of stakeholders were able to become familiar with the activities of the UN Committee on Outer Space as a key platform for sectoral international policy-making. Earlier, in 2024, Intersputnik covered the costs of organising oral simultaneous interpretation into all six official UN languages during the workshop “ITU in the Service of Space”.
UNOOSA Director, Ms. Aarti Holla-Maini, expressed deep respect and gratitude to Intersputnik for its support of the project. “Intersputnik is willing to contribute to raising awareness of the importance of women’s participation in the space industry at the global level,” said Intersputnik Director General Ksenia Drozdova.
Achieving gender equality in the space industry is another key driver of collaboration among all leading space industry players, a real step towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and an opportunity to address the shortage of skilled personnel, particularly in developing countries. Intersputnik participates in UN events aimed at eliminating the gender gap, in particular the ITU Girls in ICT forum, especially those held in its Member States — Mongolia and Tajikistan. Intersputnik’s annual online conference, NatSatTel, has got a roundtable discussion about the role of girls and women in the satellite communications industry.
The Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit for the Space Sector translated with the support of Intersputnik is the next stage of the UNOOSA Space4Women project, which is aimed at empowering women in the space industry. The project aims to ensure that women and girls play increasingly active and equal roles in space science, technology, innovation and exploration. The implementation of the tools is expected to increase the number of women working at all levels of the space industry, create an inclusive work environment, improve the efficiency of space activities through workforce diversity, and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the space sector. Due to Intersputnik’s participation, this UNOOSA document will become available in countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. This, in turn, will provide all space industry players with tangible mechanisms for implementing the UN gender policy and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
