Mexico Elected to Chair the 65th Session of the COPUOS Legal Subcommittee

• Legal Adviser Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga chaired the 65th session of the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
• Mexico's role in the session reaffirms its commitment to multilateralism, the international rule of law, and a safe, sustainable outer space in the service of all humanity.

Mexico chaired the 65th session of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), held in Vienna, Austria, from April 15-22. The Subcommittee is one of COPUOS's two subsidiary bodies and serves as the United Nations' principal multilateral forum for examining legal questions relating to the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.

Pursuant to the nomination submitted by Latin American and Caribbean states for the 2026-2027 period, the Subcommittee elected Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga (Mexico) as its chair for 2026 and Natanael Pineda Rodríguez (Panama) for 2027. In that role, Arrocha Olabuenaga led the session's proceedings and worked to build consensus among member states.

During the session, the Subcommittee took up core items on the international space law agenda, including: the status and application of the five United Nations treaties on outer space; the legal aspects of space resource activities; the definition and delimitation of outer space; space traffic management; legal frameworks for reducing and eliminating space debris; and the application of international law to small satellite activities. The agenda also included working group meetings on the outer space treaties and space resources.

In his opening remarks, Legal Adviser Arrocha Olabuenaga underscored the importance of preserving the principles underpinning the international legal framework for outer space. He also stressed the shared responsibility of states to ensure that outer space continues to be used for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all humanity in a context marked by rapid technological advancement, a growing number of space actors, and renewed interest in lunar exploration.

On the margins of the session, the chair took part in events organized by various delegations. Topics included the new challenges facing COPUOS, perspectives on defining and delimiting outer space, and governance and international cooperation in the context of lunar activities.

Despite a polarized atmosphere within the Subcommittee, the Mexican chair's efforts to broker a compromise allowed the session to conclude successfully with the adoption of its report, accompanied by a president's summary of the main discussions.

Mexico's role in the Legal Subcommittee and its leadership of the session reaffirm the country's commitment to multilateralism, the international rule of law, and a safe, sustainable outer space in the service of all humanity.