In 2002, The Simons Foundation and Project Ploughshares initiated, in partnership with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (now Global Affairs Canada), the first of what has become the Outer Space Security Conference Series organized by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The Simons Foundation continues to sponsor these conferences which are held to inform the UN Conference on Disarmament on issues of space security, the peaceful uses of outer space and the prevention of an arms race in outer space, and to provide stakeholders with an overview of current space security initiatives, an update on the implementation and adherence to existing instruments, and a view of the way ahead.
