The activities of the NPOC Austria aim at disseminating knowledge on space law and on space law activities among the interested public as well as among professionals. For this purpose the NPOC Austria performs on the internet - Click here! - and publishes the bilingual Space Law Newsletter Austria which informs on space law issues in an Austrian and international context twice a year.

A special focus of the NPOC lies on establishing good contacts with individuals and institutions in Austria as well as in Central and South-Eastern Europe who are dealing with space issues. Particularly in the private sector the existence of ECSL or the NPOC Austria has been and still is widely unknown. To change this situation the NPOC addresses companies and experts active in space related issues and invites them to take part in the practitioners' forum of the ECSL which offers a perfect opportunity to exchange ideas and professional experience in the field of space law.

Another important target of the NPOC's activities are students. Over the past years a lot of students took part in different events concerning international space law such as the yearly "Session of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space" at the United Nations Office in Vienna or the "Project 2001 - Legal Framework for the Commercial Use of Outer Space" in Cologne as well as in some of the ECSL's Practitioners' Forums. Several students decided to write their master or doctoral thesis on space law related topics. Most of them had attended the annual ECSL Summer Courses on Space Law before.

In 2004 the “13th ECSL Summer Course on Space Law and Policy” was hosted by the University of Graz and for the first time students from Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Albania, Estonia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina attended the course. The summer courses are credited with 5 ECTS points by the Law School of the University of Graz.

Starting in the winter term 2004/05 Prof. Brünner gives a two-hour’s lecture "Space Law" in cooperation with Mag. Alexander Soucek at the Law School of our University. The course is also credited with 5 ECTS points.

Apart from that the NPOC Austria organized a symposium “Space Flight & Law” which took place in November 2005 at the University of Graz, attempting to light up different space and space law related issues (ie rocket launches, space exploration, communication via space etc) from both sides – the technical/economical and the legal aspect. A highlight in the programme was the Austrian astronaut Franz Viehböck who gave a very exciting and interesting report on his space flight on the MIR in 1991.

In cooperation with the ECSL the NPOC Austria plans an NPOCs General Meeting and a conference titled “National Space Law – Development in Europe/Challenges for small countries” this year. Speakers from countries which already have a national space law and speakers from the new EU-member states/candidates will be invited to this conference. It will take place at the University of Graz from September 21st – 22nd, 2006. The draft programme may be retrieved from our homepage (http://www.spacelaw.at) after March 20th.

In 2007 the NPOC Austria will organise the European Round of the Manfred Lachs Moot Court on Space Law and Policy at the University of Graz.