United Nations – On 20 June 2018, UNPA will issue six stamps and three souvenir sheets to celebrate UNISPACE+50. UNISPACE+50 is a special segment of the sixty-first session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) that will be held from 20 to 21 June 2018 in Vienna. The purpose of UNISPACE+50 is to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and to take stock of the contributions to global space governance of the three UNISPACE conferences, held in Vienna in 1968, 1982 and 1999. It is also an opportunity for United Nations Member States, permanent observers, United Nations entities, space agencies, NGOs, academia, civil society, students, the private sector and industry to gather and consider the future course of global space cooperation for the benefit of humankind.

This special event aligns not only with the ever-growing importance of space applications and technologies for humankind, but also with global efforts, goals and targets to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all, particularly under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The high-level segment of UNISPACE+50 is preceded by the UNISPACE+50 symposium on 18 and 19 June for the broader space community, with panel discussions on topics such as “space and women”, “space and industry” and “space and youth”.

In honour of UNISPACE+50 and to celebrate more than 50 years of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, the United Nations Postal Administration is releasing a series of stamps that represent humankind’s achievements in space, and the benefits that space exploration brings to all of us here on Earth. The stamps include images of human space flight and space technology, Earth observation images, space exploration and studies of space.

• Issue Date: 20.06.2018
• Designer: Sergio Baradat (United Nations)
• Printer: Joh. Enschedé Stamps Security Printers B.V. (Netherlands)
• Process: Offset lithography plus iridescent ink
• Size: 35 mm x 50 mm
• Values: €0.68, €0.80, CHF 1.00, CHF 1.50, $0.50, $1.15