UN-SPIDER has released a new Recommended Practice that improves flood mapping by integrating Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery with Digital Terrain Models (DTMs), offering a more accurate and reliable method for post-disaster assessment.

UN-SPIDER Expands Global Network with New Regional Support Office in China
 

On 22 April, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), through the UN-SPIDER programme, officially established a new Regional Support Office (RSO) at Wuhan University in China. This milestone was marked by the signing of a cooperation memorandum between UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini and the President of Wuhan University, Zhang Pingwen.

The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched its flagship Biomass satellite on 29 April 2025 at 06:15 local time (11:15 CEST) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, aboard a Vega-C rocket. Developed by Airbus Defence and Space, the satellite separated from the launch vehicle under an hour after liftoff. Shortly thereafter, ESA's operations center in Germany received the first signal from Biomass, transmitted via a ground station in Antarctica, confirming its healthy status in orbit.

African Space Agency is now operational

Africa achieved a historic breakthrough in its space ambitions on April 20, 2025, with the formal launch of the African Space Agency (AfSA) at its new permanent headquarters in Cairo’s Space City, Egypt. This milestone event concludes nearly ten years of careful planning and collaboration, which began in January 2016 when the African Union Assembly endorsed the African Space Policy and Strategy at its Twenty-Sixth Ordinary Session, creating the foundation for a continent-wide space initiative.

Disaster Overview

The March 28, 2025, M7.7 earthquake near Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar), occurred as the result of strike-slip faulting between the India and Eurasia plates. Focal mechanism solutions indicate that slip occurred on either a north-striking, steeply-dipping, right-lateral fault or a west-striking, steeply-dipping, left-lateral fault. The finite fault solution indicates a north-striking right-lateral fault.

Spacecraft orbiting Earth play a vital role in monitoring climate change, enabling global communication and navigation, and advancing scientific research. However, many of these orbits are becoming overcrowded and increasingly filled with hazardous debris from old satellites and rockets, posing a serious threat to the future of space operations.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have co-authored a publication which emphasizes the importance of space technologies in addressing global food security challenges and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.