Ukrainian space policy — contributing to national economic development

Following Ukraine's 1991 declaration of independence and the disintegration of the USSR, Ukraine inherited a third of the Soviet Union's space industry. This paper presents an overview of the main features of Ukraine's current policy on the exploitation of this capability as a factor in the transformation of its economy. It illustrates how the policy is being realized in the areas of launch systems, Earth observation, satellite communications and international relations, and concludes that Ukraine's strengths in the space field are counterbalanced by obstacles which must be faced, both within the country and externally.     

Space and Soviet military planning

Most of the recent discussions concerning Soviet space activities focus on the new systems and emerging technologies, particularly those with military application. How the military capabilities of these systems and technologies will be used is equally important. Their employment will be guided by current Soviet thinking and policy concerning military actions in space. This policy has its origins in Soviet military doctrine which emphasizes offensive systems. Although the Soviet space programme denies having any military objectives, it is guided by a historical link with the Soviet military and directed by decisions made within the framework of Soviet doctrine. Additional insights into Soviet thinking concerning the militarization of space can be gained from recent treaties which the Soviets have signed concerning military space activities.     

Soviet launch failures reviewed

The USSR has always been reluctant to reveal details of failures in its space programme, and only a few failures have been annouced publically. Some official US sources list failures in the Soviet programme, although these official listings end in mid-1964. The aviation press often reports rumoured failures, and it is the job of an analyst to try and separate the wheat from the chaff.     

The USSR and space power plants

The American idea of a Solar Power Satellite was proposed for the first time in 1968 by Peter Glaser in a famous article in Science. This concept has since been the subject of many theoretical studies, and of some limited practical studies (mainly about microwave energy transmission) in the USA with funding from NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE). Some evaluations have been also conducted in Western Europe, particularly within the European Space Agency (ESA). But very little is generally known about the attitude towards SPS of the second main space power: the USSR. Soviet literature on SPS is much less abundant, but it does exist. Very interesting articles on the subject have been written by leading Soviet space experts. Some of these articles are analysed here, and the practical meanings of the ex[ressed opinions, generally very favourable, are investigated in view of the growing Soviet space capability.     

The new challenge for space in Russia

The space programme of the former USSR has been in disarray since the disintegration of the Soviet empire and it faces formidable economic and political problems. Attempts are being made, however, to formalize a programme for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and a Russian space agency has been established. A senior Russian scientist here gives his personal view of the past, present and future of his country's space activities. He emphasizes the need to take advantage of new opportunities for cooperation, argues for the lifting of US restrictions on technology transfer and stresses the importance of space technology in monitoring environmental problems. This should remain a top priority.     

Soviet proposals on the militarization of space

The USSR has submitted several proposals to the United Nations in recent years which are aimed at avoiding the militarization of outer space. This article examines three of the proposals and evaluates them in the context of existing treaties, to see whether or not they could resolve the political and legal problems which might arise. The reactions of the United Nations General Assembly and individual nations are also considered. The author concludes that several questions regarding the military aspects of space activity are left unresolved by the Soviet proposals.     

Changing structure of the Soviet space programme

Political and economic changes in the USSR are having a dramatic impact on the nature and direction of the Soviet space programme. This article describes the main elements of what can now be seen as a sprawling and fractured bureaucracy. Some voices within the USSR are calling for the creation of some kind of national space agency, but the forces making for further fragmentation seem stronger. Whatever the eventual outcome, new opportunities for international commercial contact are likely to arise.     

The Soviet manned lunar programme and its legacy

In the last two years the USSR has not only acknowledged publicly for the first time that it was trying to ‘race’ the USA to put the first man on the Moon, but they have finally given some details of the programme, the equipment and the political in-fighting which ensured that the programme was a failure. This article traces the history of the Soviet manned lunar programme and also discusses the implications for the future development of the Soviet manned programme of the giant N-1 booster's cancellation in 1974.     

The USSR and satellite communications : Competition and cooperation

This article examines the USSR's satellite communications provision in the international arena. The author first outlines the Intercosmos programme, collaboration between the USSR and France and India, and maritime satellite communications. He then discusses in detail the INTERSPUTNIK system, and Soviet international coverage and competitiveness in television. In conclusion, the complex interaction and overlap between cooperation and competition in space is explained.     

US Military space policy 1945–92

This article uses space power theory to analyse the military space policy of the United States during the Cold War period up to the demise of the Soviet Union. It examines the consensus that emerged during this period which sought to prevent the weaponization of space. This consensus was called into question during the latter period with the announcement of the Strategic Defence Initiative and its subsequent orientation to Global Protection Against Limited Strikes system.     

A sputnik IV saga

The Sputnik IV launch occurred on May 15, 1960. On May 19, an attempt to deorbit a ‘space cabin’ failed and the cabin went into a higher orbit. The orbit of the cabin was monitored and Moonwatch volunteer satellite tracking teams were alerted to watch for the vehicle demise. On September 5, 1962, several team members from Milwaukee, Wisconsin made observations starting at 4:49 a.m. of a fireball following the predicted orbit of Sputnik IV. Requests went out to report any objects found under the fireball path. An early morning police patrol in Manitowoc had noticed a metal object on a street and had moved it to the curb. Later the officers recovered the object and had it dropped off at the Milwaukee Journal. The Moonwarch team got the object and reported the situation to Moonwatch Headquarters at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. A team member flew to Cambridge with the object. It was a solid, 9.49 kg piece of steel with a slag-like layer attached to it. Subsequent analyses showed that it contained radioactive nuclei produced by cosmic ray exposure in space. The scientists at the Observatory quickly recognized that measurements of its induced radioactivity could serve as a calibration for similar measurements of recently fallen nickel–iron meteorites. Concurrently, the Observatory directorate informed government agencies that a fragment from Sputnik IV had been recovered. Coincidently, a debate in the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space involved the issue of liability for damage caused by falling satellite fragments. On September 12, the Observatory delivered the bulk of the fragment to the US Delegation to the UN. Two days later, the fragment was used by US Ambassador Francis Plimpton as an exhibit that the time had come to agree on liability for damage from satellite debris. He offered the Sputnik IV fragment to USSR Ambassador P.D. Morozov, who refused the offer. On October 23, Drs. Alla Massevitch and E.K. Federov of the USSR visited the Observatory. They were shown the Sputnik IV fragment. Measurements on the fragment were reported at the American Geophysical Union meeting on December 28, 1962. Early in January, 1963, the Soviet Embassy told the State Department that the USSR wished to accept the remaining fragment. On January 5, 1963 it was picked up by the Soviet Embassy. This four-month saga dramatically illustrated the need for international agreements on satellite debris issues.     

Overview of Hungarian space activity: Plenty of potential,not enough support

The era of modern space research and applications began with the 1945–46 Moon-radar experiments and with the successful launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik-1. Hungary and Hungarian engineers/researchers were present at the birth of this new and important discipline. As a consequence of the Second World War Hungary became part of the Soviet bloc and, for the first 30 years of the Space Age, Hungarian space activity was carried out mainly within Intercosmos; however, some highlights were produced. After the collapse of the communist dictatorship Hungarian space activity was successfully rebuilt and the past 20 years have seen the beginning of the integration of Hungarian space activity into ESA and EU space policy. Hungarian society’s attitude to the country’s space activity is complex, as is that of its decision makers. This largely results from the simplified picture of global space activity and Hungarian participation therein in people’s minds and from the ignorance of the country’s decision makers. While this is basically a global problem, it has a special Hungarian aspect in the view that a small country has no real role in the world, in the EU, in ESA or in global space activity. We have a task: to change this mind-set.     

Sputnik fever — again?

The author offers some comments on the drawbacks of another US-Soviet space race. She compares the relative positions of the USA and the USSR in various areas of space science and technology, and concludes that the USSR does not lead in all areas. More importantly, she argues that it is distressing still to be portraying the superpowers as in a race in space. ‘Sputnik fever’ the first time round showed that a space race does not lead to a strong, long-term US space programme. She argues that cooperation in some areas — perhaps a trip to Mars — could b an alternative.     

Resources of free space vs. flags and footprints on Mars

Human space exploration since Apollo appears to lack an overall context. There has been an overall context for the world's space efforts. But it is an unofficial one and it is outmoded, because it was based on a false assumption. This is the space exploration plan articulated by Von Braun in the 1950s and restated as the Integrated Space Program - 1970–1990, whose principal aim is to send humans to explore Mars. The critical underlying assumption of this plan was that Mars is a planet much like Earth, with an active biosphere. This Program has persisted nearly two decades after this underlying assumption has been shown to be false. There is a competing context re-emerging for human space exploration and development which is better fitted to the needs of human society in the post-Cold War era than the Mars program embraced by NASA and, to a large extent, the USSR during the period of US-Russian competition. The original space program uses the resources of free space and provides an economic rationale for human space activity.     

A forward looking space policy for the USA

The 1958 Space Act created separate but related military and civilian space exploration and exploitation efforts for the USA. This Viewpoint reexamines the assumptions of the act, and questions how they might be modified to fit with technical and political developments since 1958. Should separate civilian and military programmes continue? How should launch vehicles be developed and operated? What should be the major goals of the space exploration programmes? A well defined and forward looking space policy is proposed, including a lunar base programme, which will take the initiative away from the USSR.     

A model for multinational space cooperation

It is becoming increasingly clear that space activities can benefit from international cooperation, but concerns about national interests remain. This article examines the experience of the Inter-Agency Consultative Group (IACG), which achieved striking success in coordinating the efforts of the USA, the USSR, the European Space Agency and Japan to study Halley's Comet. Subsequently the IACG has undertaken a new project, focused on solar-terrestrial science, and further expansion could follow. However, tje group's success has depended on scrupulous respect for members' national autonomy, and so it is unlikely to herald the formation of a supranational space agency in the near future.     

Emerging views on a joint Soviet—US Mars mission

The political climate today is more favourable for joint superpower cooperation in space than it has been for many years. The authors of this Viewpoint, who studied together as members of the inaugural class of the International Space University, trace recent developments in the USA and USSR and evaluate how they might affect cooperation. Ironically, they find, it is the common problems both nations face in relation to space activities - budgetary constraints and declining political support for their space programmes - that argue most forcefully for cooperation. But a subtle and initially modest strategy will be needed to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way.     

The tortoise and the tortoise : The new race for space

Until now space activity has been driven by international political competition. But recent events in Eastern Europe have undercut the political incentives for expanded space activity, and meanwhile fiscal constraints, arising for different reasons in the USA, Europe and the USSR, are putting unprecedented pressure on space budgets. In the long term, however, it is likely that a new kind of competition fuelled by economic motives will provide the basis for a more determined and perhaps more stable opening of the space frontier. Dropping out of the space race for short-term reasons could be a costly and irrevocable decision.     

Creating a world space organization: A global approach to mastering space

The USSR has proposed the creation of a World Space Organization for the purpose of research and utilization of space for the common needs of all humanity. By uniting forces, the nations on Earth can master space more quickly and successfully, and at the same time avoid an arms race in space. The author describes the goals of the proposed organization, and why it should be given serious attention.     

Is it time to create a World Space Agency?

The end of the Cold War has allowed the proposal for a World Space Agency, originally proposed by the USSR, to be given serious consideration. There are clearly benefits that could accrue from the emergence of such an organization. Nevertheless it would be premature to establish it now. Rather, current efforts should be directed towards fashioning structures and activities that could serve as solid building blocks for a permanent global space institution.