The USA and the 1985 space WARC

This article considers the US policy objectives at the forthcoming WARC-ORB 85 Conference, and argues that with US willingness to modify its position the Conference seems for the first time to provide a good basis for a dialogue between the USA and those countries that feel the existing system is not equitable. Two main problems still need to be considered: the role of common user organizations such as INTELSAT, and the relationship between the Federal Communications Commission and other actors involved in the US international telecommunication decision-making process. Failure to reach agreement at the conference could lead to the USA being the country which suffers most.     

Improving Africa’s benefit from space applications: The European-African partnership

There is little overview of how space applications are utilized by African actors and how cooperation between Africa and Europe is organized and conducted. This article aims briefly to provide such an overview and concretely to make recommendations for institutional actors in European-African partnerships on the use of space applications for sustainable development. The Africa-EU partnership is analysed from a political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal standpoint and respective policy recommendations are drafted on this basis. No other continent can benefit more from space applications than Africa. It will be partnerships like the one between Europe and Africa that will be crucial for realizing this great potential.     

Space and ESDP—a growing partnership?

The ‘European satellites for security’ conference was held in Brussels, 18–19 June 2002, at a time when interest in the military use of outer space was clearly growing. But doubts remain as how to far such interest will be translated into action. This article reports on some of the impressions gained at the conference.     

Private, state and international public interests in space law

This paper deals with the hierarchy and the interrelationship of private, state and public interests in international space law. Our purpose is to discuss which of these interests must have priority in relation to the others and to try to outline a fair and equitable balance among them in order to stimulate the rightful achievement of each one of them, avoiding harm to the others.     

Future UK space policy – Indications from the UK Space Conference 2011

The UK government appears to be taking space more seriously, even if funding for the sector remains limited. Speeches and attendees at the conference confirm this trend, with a particular emphasis on innovation and a general sense that prospects for the UK space industry are good. The various themes and highlights of the conference are discussed.     

China's rise in space and US policy responses: A collision course?

China's opaque politics present particular difficulties for US space policy. Heavily invested in and reliant on space, the US will closely monitor China's burgeoning space program. New space powers, and the increasing use of space generally will further create significant challenges, most particularly to the reliance of states on space for national security. In order to maintain its space capabilities, the US will have to decide between securing this via multilateral and co-operative uses of space, or through trying to maintain a level of dominance over other space actors. While very gradually shifting away from the latter position, Washington's policy choices are complicated by the lack of a clear Chinese space strategy. While the Chinese space program, and its wider intentions, are opaque, tenure of a more cooperative approach course might prove fragile.     

Europe's space plans and opportunities for cooperation

This is a slightly abridged and edited version of the welcoming speech made by European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen at the ‘Winning through co-operation: sharing the benefits of space’ conference held in Brussels on 17–18 February 2005 as part of European Space Week. The importance of space for Europe across many areas—now explicitly acknowledged by the European Commission—is highlighted. Future initiatives are discussed and the Union's approach to international cooperation is outlined. It was hoped that the conference would provide an opportunity for participants to identify the best opportunities for partnership in space.     

Driving UK space policy forward: Time for an annual conference

Despite public enthusiasm, space in the UK is perceived as lacking support from the government and policy often seems incoherent. A knock-on effect is the low number of students pursuing study or careers in science and engineering. Lately, however, space activity has been receiving greater attention from official circles and, in an effort to capitalise on this, a group of individuals has come up with a plan to hold an annual conference on UK space policy. The aims and framework of the conference are described.     

Governance of national space activities

Senior political and space agency personnel joined representatives of industry and other space-related institutions for a conference, held in Budapest in January 2009, on how best to structure national and European space governance. Four sessions examined the subject of the conference from a top-down European, a bottom-up national, a theoretical and actor-based and a discursive–participative perspective. The themes and outcomes of the conference are reported below.     

Creating a European internal security strategy involving space applications

Space applications are used for countering a wide variety of external security threats but their use for the provision of internal security (for non-military threats like terrorism, organised crime or illegal immigration) is still largely neglected. Several steps have recently been taken to consider space applications for counter-terrorism and other internal security threats. In the context of the general call for a specific European security research programme, the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP 7) is conducting several projects using space applications for fighting internal security threats. However, current attempts remain scattered across national and European initiatives, policy fields and pillars, institutional actors and actors involved in various projects. There is thus a strong need for a more integrated approach at the EU-level through a European Internal Security Strategy complementing the existing European Security Strategy. The US has been looking at the provision of homeland security for some time. A revision of existing structures in Europe should thus not neglect the dimension of transatlantic cooperation in this policy area.     

Stepping stones toward global space exploration

Several nations are currently engaging in or planning for robotic and human space exploration programs that target the Moon, Mars and near-Earth asteroids. These ambitious plans to build new space infrastructures, transport systems and space probes will require international cooperation if they are to be sustainable and affordable. Partnerships must involve not only established space powers, but also emerging space nations and developing countries; the participation of these new space actors will provide a bottom-up support structure that will aid program continuity, generate more active members in the space community, and increase public awareness of space activities in both developed and developing countries. The integration of many stakeholders into a global space exploration program represents a crucial element securing political and programmatic stability. How can the evolving space community learn to cooperate on a truly international level while engaging emerging space nations and developing countries in a meaningful way? We propose a stepping stone approach toward a global space exploration program, featuring three major elements: (1) an international Earth-based field research program preparing for planetary exploration, (2) enhanced exploitation of the International Space Station (ISS) enabling exploration and (3) a worldwide CubeSat program supporting exploration. An international Earth-based field research program can serve as a truly global exploration testbed that allows both established and new space actors to gain valuable experience by working together to prepare for future planetary exploration missions. Securing greater exploitation of the ISS is a logical step during its prolonged lifetime; ISS experiments, partnerships and legal frameworks are valuable foundations for exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Cooperation involving small, low-cost missions could be a major stride toward exciting and meaningful participation from emerging space nations and developing countries. For each of these three proposed stepping stones, recommendations for coordination mechanisms are presented.     

Africa’s first International Astronautical Congress: Highlights of IAC 2011

The 62nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), held in Cape Town from 3 to 7 October 2011, was a significant milestone in the development of the African space arena. The recent emergence of a number of African countries as space actors provided fertile ground for engagement with the global space community through the medium of an IAC. A large number of space actors, in Africa and globally, coordinated their activities during the triennium 2009–2011 to build up to this historic first IAC in Africa. This paper discusses the main highlights of the congress and its immediate and potential long-term impact on the development of the African space arena.     

We must harness space for sustainable development

Many UN agencies use space data as a tool to promote global sustainable development, yet the use of space has barely been acknowledged, let alone understood, by decision makers at the various UN and international meetings on the environment and development. Following discussions held at a side-event to the 2012 Rio+20 conference, the author highlights the various ways space applications can be used to meet the challenges (in resource use, disaster management, environmental protection and climate change) of sustainable development and urges policy makers to inform themselves of the benefits of space applications.     

Threats, risks, and sustainability—Answers from space: Results of the ESPI conference

An initiative was undertaken by the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) on 10–11 December 2007 to shed new light on the various threats to long-term sustainability on Earth using an interdisciplinary approach. The main objective of this conference was to analyse how space could be a tool for prediction, management or mitigation of threats and risks in six sectors (environment, security, mobility, knowledge, resources and energy) defined by ESPI as the main areas for sustainability. For each sector, one (non-space) speaker from a think-tank covering the respective sector and two speakers from the space sector exchanged views and ideas in order to identify common needs for action to ensure sustainability in the field. Such a dialogue between sector specialist and space experts permitted a detailed examination of the way space has become a crucial tool in solving a variety of today's problems. It also identified areas where space applications could better respond to sectoral and future challenges.     

The Future of Public–Private Partnerships in Satellite Communications

Around 50 leaders and experts from space industry, governmental and financial institutions participated in an ESA conference on “The Future of Public–Private Partnerships in Satellite Communications” in Vienna in March 2009. An increasing portion of commercial and institutional space projects are operated under the provisions of service contracts, with public–private partnerships (PPPs) becoming a significant source of financing for space programmes. The conference was based on a study initiated by ESA and performed by Euroconsult, Milbank and ESPI, outlining the main perspectives of modern PPP models in the European satellite communications sector.     

Modeling international cooperation for space exploration

Space exploration into the twenty-first century is contingent upon the ability of states to forge an appropriate vehicle for international cooperation. A theoretical framework that explains international cooperation in space exploration is proposed. This framework encompasses scientific, technological, political, and economic initial conditions, state and nonstate political actors, and models of cooperation that explain how initial conditions and actors interact to realize cooperative outcomes. It is hypothesized that the prevailing initial conditions favor certain political actors over others which, in turn, promote a specific model of cooperation. Cooperative policy outcomes are examined and assessed vis-à-vis case studies of cooperation in space exploration. On this basis, policy recommendations that engender effective cooperative outcomes in space exploration are suggested.     

Space technology transfer: Spin-off cases from Japan

Government organizations have to justify high expenditure during periods of financial crisis such as the one we are experiencing today. Space agencies have attempted to increase the returns on their investments in space missions by encouraging the commercial use of advanced technologies. This paper describes two technology transfer (TT) cases promoted by JAXA, in order to identify the organizational models and determinants of TT. The development of a TT process from space to Earth not only benefits the aerospace industry but also the network of national companies. The aim of the paper is to investigate who the actors are and the nature of their role, as well as the determinants of the TT process in the Japanese space sector. The case studies confirm the typical path of transfer as ‘Earth–space–Earth’.     

The African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development

The African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology (known as “the ALC”) is a regional conference to promote intra-African cooperation in the uses of space science and technology to support Africa’s development. The first such conference was held in 2005 in Abuja, Nigeria, followed by South Africa (2007), Algeria (2009) and Kenya (2011). The ALC has come to be regarded as a representative African forum in the global space community. This paper provides an overview of the structure and activities of the ALC and presents the highlights and outcomes of the first four conferences and their contribution to shaping the development of the African space arena. The paper concludes with an analysis of the challenges facing the ALC and some proposed measures to enhance its effectiveness.     

Turning space tourism into commercial reality

On 7 June 2006 the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) hosted a one-day conference entitled ‘Space Tourism: From Lofty Dreams to Commercial Reality’ in London. The conference brought together parties interested in the future of passenger flights into space, presenting perspectives on the evolution of the private spaceflight industry over the next decade, with the goal of stimulating enthusiasm for the creation of a profitable industry and affordable space travel for a mass, global market. The conference chairman reports on its outcomes.     

Space security through the transatlantic partnership

On 12–14 June 2011, a conference was convened in Prague entitled ”Space Security through the Transatlantic Partnership“, co-sponsored by the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI). It was the first non-governmental transatlantic conference of its kind dedicated to this topic, attended by over 100 senior space policy officials and high-level representatives of multilateral institutions, NGOs, academia, and industry from Europe, the USA, and Japan. The overarching goal of the conference was to solicit and assess both converging and diverging views on the multifaceted subject of space security and to seek to establish an on-going “Track II” non-governmental process designed to assist with the crafting of a future architecture for the management of this key dimension of space policy on a trilateral, and eventually global, basis. This report summarizes the proceedings.