ABMUN 2022

Futuristic United
Nations Office of
Outer Space Affair
study guide

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Letter from the Director

Honorable delegates,

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the Futuristic United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs
committee in ABMUN 2022. After 2 years of online MUNs, we are finally returning to in-person conferences, so
you can expect energetic and constructive debate, crises that will require you to think out of the box, as well
as the ability to meet, collaborate and be challenged by other delegates.

My name is Rishne Jain and I am thrilled to be serving as your chair of FUNOOSA for ABMUN 2022. I am
currently studying IBDP in the 11th grade, with my main interests lying in Economics and Math. This is my 4th
year of MUNning and I have thoroughly enjoyed all my MUN experiences till now, it has taught me many things
such as looking at a problem from different points of view and stances and the importance of collaboration
and compromising. Additionally, MUN has helped me widen my general knowledge and ability to think on my
feet. Apart from MUN, I enjoy binge watching entire tv shows in a couple of days, I kickbox, as well as play
football. I also like watching UFC, boxing and Formula 1.

I chose a Futuristic Office of Outer Space Affairs, with the topic of the possible consequences and regulations
of outer space exploration, because I believe that with the current and predicted technological development,
paired with the massive threats of overpopulation and climate change, amongst others, many humans might
face the unfortunate circumstance of having to find extra-terrestrial areas to settle, this in-turn, sets the stage
for a very possible struggle of power between the global superpowers in the future.

The only advice I would give you, irrespective of you being an experienced or first-time MUNner, would be to
be confident in whatever you are saying, talk as much as possible, voice your opinions and ideas, but at the
same time keep an open mind about everyone else’s. Try coming up with the most creative and unusual
solutions to problems in committee, because that’s what will make you stand out from the rest. Lastly, both
my co-chair, Kabir and I will always be there and be happy to solve any of your problems or clarifications, both
during and after committee.

Yours sincerely,
Rishne Jain
Chair of the Futuristic Office of Outer Space Affairs

[email protected]

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Letter from ASSISTANT

DIRECTOR
Dear Delegates,

It is an honour to invite you to the Futuristic United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs at ABMUN
2022.

I am currently in the 11th Grade as part of the A Level programme at ABWA. My academic interests
lie in Economics and History – subjects that I wish to take up in the future as well. Having
participated in MUNs both in India and in Dubai, as well as acting as an Assistant Director in the
WW2 Cabinet at ABMUN last year, I hope to see exciting, structured debate across the 3 days of the
conference. Apart from academics, I’m passionate about sports (football and formula 1 in particular),
Hip-Hop/Rap music and fashion.

The time is finally upon us, as humanity, to move to outer space in order to preserve our Earth. With
overpopulation and a lack of resources, nations are doing whatever they can to gather as many
resources as possible. Your job, as delegates, is to find a peaceful method of distributing the
resources found so that nations can help not only their own people, but also the people across their
continents. Additionally, you will have to find a solution to the impending space-terrorism crisis
caused by Islamic State. It is not an issue that can be left alone for too long as they could interfere
with peacekeeping in the future.

Reading this entire study guide, will provide you with a solid starting point to conduct your own
research on the matter of space conflicts. If I had to outline a key area, it would be the country
profiles. These will give you information on how the whole world is dealing with this matter, and it
may give you some ideas to create a resolution for the issue at hand. Given the futuristic nature of
the committee, creativity and “out of the box” thinking will definitely be looked kindly upon so as to
make the committee more interesting and enjoyable.

I look forward to seeing you all in September and hope that you guys come prepared to have some
stimulating debate. If you have any queries, feel free to drop us an email.

Sincerely,
Kabir Raina
Co-Chair of the Futuristic United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

[email protected]

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Introduction
Outer space has always served as an area of interest to numerous countries, and rapid advancements in space
technology are bringing about the unpreventable struggle for power and dominance through the establishment of
territories such as lunar bases and the colonization of planetary bodies like Mars.

Early space scientists and engineers anticipated that space travel would benefit humanity, but they were unable to
predict all the specific social and economic advantages that have resulted from their work. The current generation
is also unable to accurately forecast what advantages may finally arise from its efforts. The unanticipated successes
of the previous year’s show the immense potential for space exploration to continue providing a wide array of
applications and knowledge that will develop the space-based economy.

The year is 2122. For the greater part of 15 decades, human expeditions into space have provided several benefits,
not only to the private parties involved in the exploration, but also the common man, whose quality of life has
improved greatly as a result of the plethora of resources and opportunities space presents. The sums of money
invested in space exploration have increased exponentially year-on-year, most recently touching the ¥100 trillion
mark, as of 2121.

Over the last century, people’s lives on planet Earth have taken a turn for the worse following the dreadful COVID-19
Pandemic. Even after this virus was fully dealt with in 2025, the world wasn’t able to go back to normal. Population
growth continued to be a major issue as the birth rates of many countries were not reducing at a fast enough rate
to change the trajectory of the increasing population. This led to acute shortages in raw materials in recent years,
thus bringing about the current state of humankind.

A period of mankind filled with previously successful economies now failing to provide for its citizens. Trade
between nations reduced massively back at the start of the new century as governments poured money into their
own industries to promote growth. However, soon this wasn’t enough as the overpopulation led to businesses
onboarding more workers but paying way fewer wages. Families slowly fell into poverty as they stopped being able
to enjoy the base living standards. Although more workers were employed, the unemployment rate is still higher
than 10% in developed countries like the USA. In fact that USA’s unemployment rate of 11.5% in 2122 means it’s more
than 3 times the figure of 2022 (3.6%).

The Earth’s ecosystem is under quite a bit of duress, with the ozone layer almost non-existent, the global average
temperature around 25C and sea levels rising due to the Arctic melting. Us humans weren’t able to go “green”
enough to stop this from happening and now we have to face the consequences. Now, countries are sending as
many citizens as possible into outer space, to occupy Mars as well as various space stations that have been
developed over the last 100 years. All of this is being done to reduce the burden being placed on planet Earth as the
world rapidly approaches an uninhabitable state. It is assumed 'that, with fewer people there, some of the damage
done can be reversed and so slowly but surely, those that wish to return may do so. Currently, each nation is trying
to lay claim to as many outer space resources as they can which is leading to rising tensions.

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Role and Functions

First being established on 13th December 1958, the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs was created, to
encourage global cooperation in space exploration and to promote the peaceful usage of outer space territory, and of
space science and technology. Initially the UNOOSA used to assist and advise its ad hoc committee, COPUS, however
the FUNOOSA committee in 2122, will act as the one, and only committee that deals with outer space, and any issues
arising from or regarding it. The Office helps integrate space capabilities into national development programmes and
strengthens developing countries' capacity to use space science technology and applications for development. It will
assist any United Nations Member States in establishing legal and regulatory frameworks to govern space activities.
Further, it is also charged with drafting regulations and a bodywork for outer space activities, colonisation and
technology supervision that all countries must abide by.

Any paperwork that is passed is sent to the UNSC, which acts as the final reviewer to the solutions proposed by the
committee, once deemed appropriate, the security council then executes the resolution. The paperwork in the
committee does not have any special format and should be written in the normal format of a resolution.

Since the threats to the population will be extremely dangerous, albeit not as rapid, the committee will operate on an
accelerated timeline. The start date of the committee is set as 1st January 2122.

All members of the committee will reserve voting rights, however, veto powers will not be applicable. Lastly, non-
national delegations may also be assigned, as the issue affects several individuals and industries.

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Current situation
As mentioned previously, every country needs resources. While they’ve taken some supplies from Earth, it isn’t
enough to sustain such a large number of people for a long time. Hence, a cold war is brewing between all the
nations, ally or foe. As expected, large nations such as the USA and USSR have been able to gather the most
resources and have even started research to figure out how to produce more of them. Many smaller nations fear that
eventually, these resources will be diminished and that they will have to pay a much higher price to the
superpowers for their monopolised materials. The USA and the USSR have denied these allegations and have
promised to set fair prices if and when such a situation arises. However, given the political climate, no nation is
assured by this and they continue to try barter for raw materials.

This new-age “space race” has also led to a few surprise nations managing to take a significant chunk of the
resources available. For example, Iraq is now a major player in the dealing of these resources with it being given the
honour of being called a ‘space superpower’. It has pledged to help out any and all countries in the Middle East that
are offering a good sum of compensation. As for the rest of the world, Iraq has cut itself off and said that it would
not be considering any deals from them. Despite the “special treatment”, the Arab nations are not happy with the
Iraqi attitude towards this problem as they feel that Iraq is only acting in its best interest rather than that of the
world or even its own region.

It isn’t just countries that have made the jump to space. Islamic State has now branched out to space-terrorism,
with there being a few accounts of workers being attacked and taken hostage while making deliveries between
different space stations and other territories. Fortunately, given the expense, this doesn’t happen too often. However
many western governments have upped their investigations to find out who is funding this terrorist group before
they receive the money needed to upscale their attacks. The USA is the nation taking the most initiative with this as
they have been the victim of all the attacks so far.

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Treaties
Previously there were 5 main treaties concerning outer space, space exploration and exploitation signed, however the FUNOOSA
since, has decided to combine the 5 treaties, into 1, the New Outer Space Treaty. The 5 treaties were:

1. Outer Space Treaty

2. Rescue Agreement
3. Liability Convention
4. Registration Convention
5. Moon Agreement

The main terms, of the 5 treaties were:

The agreements outlawed the use of "nuclear weapons or any other types of weapons of mass destruction" in space by any
nation. Although the phrase "weapons of mass destruction" isn't defined, it's generally accepted that it refers to weapons like
nuclear, chemical, and biological ones. However, the treaties did not forbid the firing of ballistic missiles through space that
could be fitted with WMD warheads. Considering how often the treaty emphasises that space is to be utilised for peaceful
reasons, some experts have come to the conclusion that the treaty might be broadly read as forbidding all kinds of weapons
systems, not just WMD, in outer space.

Provisions related to arms:

Place in orbit around the Earth or other celestial bodies any nuclear weapons or objects carrying WMD.
Install WMD on celestial bodies or station WMD in outer space in any other manner.
Establish military bases or installations, test "any type of weapons," or conduct military exercises on the moon and other
celestial bodies

Other provisions:

Space should be accessible to all countries and can be freely and scientifically investigated.
Space and celestial bodies are exempt from national claims of ownership.
Countries are to avoid contaminating and harming space or celestial bodies.
Countries exploring space are responsible and liable for any damage their activities may cause.
Space exploration is to be guided by "principles of cooperation and mutual assistance," such as obliging astronauts to provide
aid to one another if needed.

Prohibits the use of any celestial bodies for military purposes, including military bases, nuclear weapons in orbit, and weapon
testing. It is not forbidden to use military troops for scientific study or any other peaceful endeavours.
Establishes a legal framework for an international cooperation system, including the proper processes to control the ethical
exploitation of the Moon's natural resources.
Prohibits changing the ecological equilibrium of celestial bodies and demands that states take action to stop unintentional
contamination of those habitats, including Earth's.
It requires the responsible and secure use of the lunar resources while ensuring that all parties to the agreement share fairly
in the advantages brought about by those resources.
The personnel of a spacecraft that has landed on its soil due to an accident, distress signal, emergency, or inadvertent landing
must be rescued as quickly as feasible by any state that is a party to the agreement.

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Country profiles
Asia (Except China):

Almost the entirety of Asia has recessed since the start of the new century with countries using up all of their raw materials. It has forced most of the
countries in the continent to rely on other nations for these resources. This has led to significant deficits in the balance of payments of the countries.
With governments falling further into debt with every passing year, many of the Asian countries decided to unite to put a stop to this vicious cycle. So,
the Asian countries that are sending their citizens up are also hoping to score enough materials to send back to Earth to help neighbouring nations
with regards to obtaining resources at a fair price. Or as fair a price as can be asked, as the nations in space do have to cover the costs involved in
sending a rocket full of supplies back and forth. Countries that are currently only focused on Earth are hoping that these raw materials can be used to
up their production and restore balance to their economies.

Even though there is a sort of haphazard unity between the Asian countries now, politically the relationships are still strained. For example, many
countries across Asia believe that Iraq is behaving as badly as the West by making such high demands of its “brothers and sisters”. It is for this reason
that many countries, including those in the Middle East, are rooting for other Asian nations like India to gather as many materials as possible to send
back. China, Japan and South Korea are a few more of the nations considered to be the “breadwinners” of the continent. However, China has not made
any commitments to distributing the materials it gets or selling them for a reasonable price if they decide to. The minister of foreign affairs did
however make an impassioned speech about China being for the people and so there is a little more hope being placed in them than in Iraq.

This issue has brought the peoples of Asia closer together than ever before as they realize that they are all facing the same problem and that it
transcends race and/or religion. Unfortunately, economic and political issues may divide these people once more as the stage is set for conflict to take
place at a planetary level.

Japan:

Over the past century, Japan’s space agency JAXA, was slowly working in the background to upgrade and improve its technology’s sustainability and
efficiency. Now, in 2122, Japan is considered as another ‘space superpower’, with a waiting list of countries (the USA amongst them) wanting to buy
Japanese technology for their own rockets and mini habitats. In fact, famous car brands Honda, Toyota and Nissan all lent their services and resources
to help make different parts of the rockets and other space vehicles that Japan planned to use. This partnership was initially done in secret, so when
the announcement was made, it shocked the entire world. A big reason behind Japan’s decision to be sustainable and efficient was that the country
was beginning to run out of resources. The government couldn’t afford to invest all these materials into the space program and then leave nothing for
the people on Earth. Hence, “going green” was the most important condition for JAXA scientists and engineers to keep in mind.

A survey taken by the U.N showed that Japanese people were by far the happiest in space as their scientists had managed to secure entertainment for
them, so that they could relax after a hard day’s work. They were the first country to have working cable television and they even had an arena for
sports which was sealed to provide a gravitational force like that on Earth. This allowed people to exercise with no difference to Earth, which was
received exceptionally well. The reason behind this decision was to keep in mind the mental health of the people. Moving to space and being so far
away from family on Earth wouldn’t have been easy for anyone and so to keep the mood light and people positive, the government wanted
recreational facilities to be one of the first things built for when their citizens arrived in space.

Politically, Japan has no conflict with other nations. Within Asia, they are considered one of the most important countries as their help will be needed
to aid the rest of the continent. In the other continents, Japan is seen as a useful aid in Asia and so nothing is being done to jeopardise that.

China:

The last century has been mainly dominated by the Chinese both in a positive and negative way, from expanding their manufacturing and retail
industries, to developing their research and innovation sectors and leading the global economy, but they have also been at the forefront of almost all
geopolitical and environment and climate change based issues.

The CNSA has made massive leaps in developing space technology, they have accelerated the modernization of launch vehicles while continuing to
increase the capacity and effectiveness of their space transport system "According to their officials. "It will speed up research and development of
heavy-lift launch vehicles, send new-generation manned carrier rockets and high-thrust solid-fuel carrier rockets into space, and expand the launch
vehicle family."

Along with space, China has maintained a firm hold on their economic position and trade as well, in 2117 it was reported that 60% of all world trade
passes through China, including trade from all western to eastern countries. Over the decades, their manufacturing sector has only gotten stronger,
with most of the MNCs choosing to keep their main production hub there, due to the lower taxation on domestic factories, this has allowed the
Chinese government to be more well-informed about technological and other advancements, since the companies are required to share their current
and future business model, as well as inform the government of any new products they plan to launch, 3 months in advance. Nevertheless, most
recently, it was found out that MNCs were considering leaving China, and moving production to other Asian countries, such as Vietnam, India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Korea, to name a few, however, as of now there has been no official statement or action taken.

China is attempting to become the first country to begin colonization in outer space, and in doing so, it wants to bring upon a new era of
unprecedented development and exploration.

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Country profiles

USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics):

It comes as no surprise that the USSR is one of the few nations that has been able to dominate the exploration of new space territories and
resources since its major contributor; Russia was the first to launch a human into outer space back in 1961. Since then, very few nations have been
able to compete with them (the USA being the only real competitor up until recently) and so it fits that they have laid claim to a sizable amount of
“space land”. The regrouping of the USSR sent raptures through the global economic and political landscapes, leading to the most unexpected of
mergers between MNCs, which created massive monopolies in several markets, such as: automotive (Nissan, Toyota and Honda merge), . All
countries bordering the 15 Soviet nations prepared their armies for combat. Many speculated whether there was any incentive for the countries
involved or if Russia arranged this solely to scare and confuse its opponents. With this move, Russia increased its pool of political opponents as
fewer countries relied on them for raw materials given the self-dependent nature of nations now.

The AUGUSSR (All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), along with is planning on taking advantage of the fact that they
preside over the largest territory on Earth, in modern times. Moreover, they can buy the resources and materials that member nations find for a
subsidized price, leaving them with more money to enhance their own “land”. Additionally, if they were to sell these materials to non-Soviet
countries, they could make a much larger profit if the initial cost was reduced. The Soviet aim is for all trade to eventually pass-through them,
letting the nation take a cut of the revenue made, which will slowly compound and eventually lead to a much richer Soviet Union.

The Russian public is happy as they know that they will reap the benefits of this decision, but they are also wary of how the Soviet Union ended the
last time it had existed. Currently, they were on neutral terms with their allies and there were no protests or conflict of any kind. There was a fear
that to stop history repeating itself, these neighbouring allies would work together to protest and attack Russia instead of acting one by one. The
Russian people wanted to celebrate going to space not praying that their family survived a war. Hence peaceful protests took place outside the
Kremlin, not to disrupt the government, rather to express these fears and tell them not to take any violent actions.

All highlighted areas are part of the USSR

Africa:

The African nations were hurt the most over the last century as their already weakened economies were hurt by the lack of trade. Since many
countries in the continent earned most of their income from exporting goods from Africa, the expenses skyrocketed when they weren’t being able
to sell their goods, but they had to import from elsewhere. As a result of this, when the idea that nations from around the world would be sending
their people to space to try and reverse the problem of overpopulation and to retrieve more raw materials, every nation in Africa was excited.
However, only a select few countries in the continent were eligible to send people as none of the other nations had the means to pay for such an
expensive experiment. Hence, like Asia, the faith and belief of the African people was bestowed upon certain nations. For example, Algeria and
South Africa. There is immense pressure upon these countries as famines and droughts have been a common occurrence across the continent, but
the workers sent promised to work their hardest to help their people.

Europe:

Over the last century, most of the European Union has weakened, the European passport now grants holders access to only 3 countries, without a
visa(Singapore, Japan and India). With the many of the European countries mainly relying on tourism, as a major source of income, their
governments have been forced to levy higher taxes on individuals with greater incomes, both to build and develop infrastructure, but also to
redistribute income to the poor, which have exponentially increased due to the sudden fall in tertiary jobs.

Although most countries in Europe have their own space programme, they also created the EUSA (European Union Space Agency), with the hope
that a platform used for sharing all their developments in space technology, along with running their own independent would together increase
their chances of making it possible for the public to survive and thrive in space, the fastest.

United States of America:

The influence and power of the United States has been diminishing over the last century, even though they still remain amongst the strongest
countries, the global community is beginning to realise that the ‘Land of Liberty’ is no longer at its original glory. Nevertheless, NASA has made
quite a few advancements in space technology, although not as significant as China, they have been able to progress at a relatively fast pace,
compared to other countries.

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Timeline of Major Events
2024: Joe Bidens’ presidential term ends, he does not get re-elected, and is replaced by Stacey Abrams of the
Democratic party

2026: Last wave of a declining Covid-19, following which, vaccines completely eradicated the disease

2028: Elon Musk sends the first rocket to Mars, containing 20 people (10 men and 10 women), along with food,
water and 5 domes that expand to create a habitable environment within them, for a maximum of 14 days, when
placed on land. These domes were placed along the surface of the planet, about 5km apart, and 4 people lived
within each dome for a total of 10 days, to collect data on how their bodies reacted with the atmosphere, how
efficient the equipment was and possible areas of flat land, that could allow for houses and buildings to be built.

2030: China, Iceland, Norway, Singapore and Denmark become carbon neutral

2032: India and Pakistan have a cyberwar, which results in both country’s network failing for 3 days, where they
were completely offline, resulting in a stoppage of flights, trains and all public transport

2034: The European Union launches the EUSA

2040: USA, UK, India, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Australia and Russia become carbon neutral

2045: Rumours about the USSR regrouping start to arise

2052: A new wave of a disease, which was a much more dangerous mutation of Covid-19, named Covid-49
immerges, thus removing any blame left on China, about the spread of Covid-19

2059: A regrouping, which was 20 years in the making, the USSR, reunites, with Vladmir Putin II, as its President

2064: First traces of a new variant of Covid-19, named Covid-49 by researchers, about 2 deaths a week

2067: After 3 years of a mild disease, the virus begins to take, on average, 4000 deaths in every country

2074: The population has fallen to 5.5 billion, post the peak of Covid-49

2080: The last traces of the virus are eradicated, by the vaccine, population is plateauing at 5 billion

2083: The first tests to send humans to stay on Mars begin, SpaceX and CNSA

2090: Retail of first super computer that can be produced in large quantities begins

2097: First instance of space terrorism, a satellite is boarded and cleaned out by a group of armed terrorists,
however, it was unclear which country or group the terrorists were from

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Technological Developments
1. Domes that expand to create habitable environment (Made to be used to allow
living on other planets)
2. Lunar power: Harnesses energy from the light that shines upon the Moon, from
the sun
3. Faster, more efficient, carbon neutral rockets
4. Super computers that can process data, 2 times faster than the human brain
5. Cars run solely on solar and lunar power
6. A brain chip is developed that allows humans to upload their memories onto a
computer
7. Weapons developed specifically for space, a gun that is able to produce fire
without oxygen

QARMA
1. How will you deal with the threat of terrorism in space
2. What methods will you use to increase the levels of trust between nations
3. What will you do with Iraq, and it’s stance against helping the majority of the
world
4. How will you ensure countries share the resources they find instead of hoarding
them for their own personal need
5. How will you respond to the regrouping of the Soviet Union
6. How will you ensure there is no complete satellite dominance by one or a few
nations

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Bibliography
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