History of UK contribution to astronautics: Politics and government

In all developed countries, once it emerged from the amateur era, Space (and especially rocketry) moved on the public agenda because of its potential significance for both the civil and military policies of governments (coupled with its appetite for new money). In the UK the policy treatment of Space broadly paralleled that in other countries until the post-Empire trauma, the burn-out of the White-Hot Technological revolution of Harold Wilson, and the financial crises of the 1970s exhausted the public appetite for large scale publicly funded projects in high technology. The culmination for Space of these pressures came in 1986–1987 when the UK rejected the emerging international consensus and, almost alone, stayed outside the manned space commitments which developed into the International Space Station. In this paper, Colin Hicks will review the UK political developments which led up to the 1986–1987 decision and how the politics and organisation of UK space activity have developed since then to the point where in 2008 a major government review of the UK involvement in manned space was commissioned.     

A forward plan for space in the UK

Below we present edited extracts from a Forward Plan recently prepared by the UK government which sets out aims and actions for the UK civil space programme. These have been developed during a process of consultation involving British National Space Centre (BNSC) partners, industry and academia which started with a forum held at Surrey University in September 1995, and culminated in the discussion of a draft Plan at the Second UK Space Policy Forum in June 1996. Crowm copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO.     

Creating a UK human spaceflight capability: A modest proposal

Since the beginning of international manned activity in the early 1960s, UK governments have consistently avoided participation in human spaceflight, with its high cost and doubts over the resulting scientific gains generally cited as the reasons for opting out. This has resulted in the UK scientific community having no direct access to microgravity science experiments, while the education establishment has missed out on the gains to be had from scientific and technology inspiration for young people. It also makes realistic involvement in the future international manned exploration of the Moon and the solar system unlikely. A viable, low-cost programme could be implemented in the near future to allow for a modest UK manned access to the International Space Station. This need only cost around £50 million over five years, representing about a 5% increase in the current annual UK civil space budget, with funding sought from government departments, research councils and private industry. Making use of Soyuz commercial flights, the project would allow for two separate 10-day science missions. The small corps of three UK astronauts established for the project would form a modest ‘seed-corn’ for future international orbital, lunar and solar system manned exploration involvement for the UK. The benefits of this project would cover science research, education outreach, industrial employment and involvement in international cooperation in manned exploration of the cosmos, as well as in the microgravity research being undertaken by NASA and others.     

Europe's major challenge for the 21st century: Access to space

Like the other great space powers of the 21st century, Europe has its own means of accessing space: Ariane, which has guaranteed its independence in the launching of civil and military satellites for almost 30 years and has won a significant part of the highly competitive commercial market. This market provides the Ariane system with the production volume indispensable for its reliability, which also benefits institutional launches. Europe's commercial market share will be even larger if the launch system is flexible and adaptable to the diversity of demand. Probable future technological changes make flexibility more necessary still. Two technical characteristics will be key: a large enough payload capacity and the injection of satellites into energetic orbits, including final geostationary orbit. But carrying out such missions will only be possible if a new generation upper stage is used. The November 2008 ESA ministerial meeting opted to wait until 2011 to decide whether this is necessary, making it doubtful whether Arianespace will be able to maintain leadership in the commercial market. The authors urge a rethink of this position.     

Space policy challenges facing the Barack Obama administration

President Barack Obama faces space policy challenges in security, commercial and civil areas in an era in which the use of space assets for these ends is irreversible. The very future of space is linked to addressing the challenges within the first term of the Obama administration. This paper draws on, but does not attempt to summarize, discussions at the National Space Forum 2008 organized by the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies at the United States Air Force Academy and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. The goal of the forum was to examine the key decisions that will need to be made in regard to space policy by facilitating debate among the security, commercial and civil space sectors, and the broader national policy community. The paper focuses on choices which, for budgetary or other reasons, cannot be delayed. A brief discussion of the issues surrounding each choice is presented, followed by the implications of pursuing different choices. One key assumption underlies everything: resources available for activities in space will not grow significantly in real terms over the course of the Obama administration.     

Earth observation and UK science policy

This paper examines the way in which Earth observation is linked to UK science policy through the 1993 UK science White Paper and subsequent policy statements, and how the central theme of partnership has been developed in practice. An example of crop yield prediction is given to illustrate the strengths and the weaknesses of the approach. The UK science and space strategies are set in the context of the European Strategy for Space and links are made to the US global change research strategy.     

Space in the UK: something to celebrate?

This article discusses current UK space activities that were debated during the ‘policy’ day of a 3-day ‘Festival of Space’ held at Surrey University in July 2003. While the emphasis is on using space to fulfil the needs of society, it is apparent that crafting a coherent strategy that would provide the political support needed to do this—in Europe as well as in the UK—remains difficult.     

Earth observation using low cost micro/minisatellites

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) at the University of Surrey (UK) has pioneered cost-effective satellite engineering techniques for smaller, faster, cheaper satellites to provide affordable access to space. SSTL has designed, built, launched and operated a series of twelve 50kg microsatellites in low Earth orbit which carry a wide range of satellite communications, space science, remote sensing and in-orbit technology demonstration payloads — for both civil and military applications. Each of these has been built and launched for around US$3M. This paper reviews SSTL's remote sensing capabilities and presents image results from the microsatellite cameras in low Earth in orbit. The latest microsatellites (TMSAT & FASat-Bravo) under construction at SSTL and due for launch in mid-1997 will provide 3-band multispectral imaging with 80-metre resolution; autonomous on-board image analysis, processing and compression prior to transmission direct to ground-based users employing small portable terminals.     

Estonian space policy and governance in the international space community

Despite the global financial crisis, which dominated 2008 and the first half of 2009, Estonia has decided to invest in a space programme. Estonia has extensive experience in the field of astrophysics and has developed capacities in various areas of remote sensing applications. It is on its way to becoming an active ESA partner. This article examines how Estonia is setting its way as a space nation and describes the new context and the role that various bodies are playing in the process. The paper describes the vision and strategy for space activities in the country. An overview of the possible measures to be taken to support the enterprises and scientific institutions with the highest potential for space cooperation is discussed, as are various risks in making progress in the space field, and measures for overcoming these.     

The UK parliamentary space committee: The emergence of a space lobby?

In the past few years the UK has become increasingly active as the financial conscience of the European Space Agency. This is not because the UK government has a wish to spend more on its national space effort; it is because it remains unconvinced of the benefits of certain European space activities, notably manned endeavours. In the absence of an effective UK space lobby, the government's policies have remained largely unchallenged. This article traces the growth of the Parliamentary Space Committee in the context of developments in recent European space policy and highlights the need for an active UK space lobby.     

Space for science, enterprise and environment: the UK draft Space Strategy

For the UK, space is primarily a means to an end and not an end in itself. This approach has been described as utilitarian. The British National Space Centre describes it as user oriented: the purpose of going into space should be to provide cost-effective information or services to the users, whether these are the science community, commercial operators and customers, or public sector bodies. The new draft UK Space Strategy, published on 22 January 2003, provides the underpinning rationale for this approach, which derives in part from the very individual way in which the UK organises its interests in space.     

“资源三号”卫星在轨几何定标及精度评估

＂资源三号＂卫星是中国第一颗民用三线阵立体测图卫星,实现了中国民用高分辨率测绘卫星领域零的突破,对中国测绘事业的发展具有革命性意义,是中国卫星测绘发展史上一座新的里程碑。在轨几何定标是测绘卫星应用的一个重要环节,文章利用武汉大学在河南嵩山地区建设的几何定标场等基础设施实现了＂资源三号＂卫星的在轨几何定标,并对定标结果进行了试验验证。试验结果表明：基于高精度几何定标场几何定标后,＂资源三号＂卫星可以获得很好的无地面控制精度以及少量控制下的平面和高程精度,完全可以满足1︰50 000测图精度要求。     

Transforming Japan's space policy-making

Since its beginning the objective of Japanese space policy has been to ‘catch up’ with advanced spacefaring countries. However, this catching-up strategy is now facing several difficulties, because of the downturn in the economy and changing political and technological circumstances. In such circumstances the Japanese space community has realized the need to change its national space strategy. In 2005 a group of powerful Japanese politicians issued a report on constructing a national space strategy, which recommended that the government establish a new decision-making structure by creating a new Basic Law of Space Activities. These efforts underline the need for Japanese space to shift the focus of its policy from technological development to applications.     

Understanding strategic decision making in the context of international space activities

This paper argues that a better understanding of strategic decision making processes in different space agencies is relevant to the successful carrying out of international cooperative undertakings in space and that this kind of information should be taken into account when decisions are to be made on engaging in a new partnership. In this context, the paper provides a general framework for the study of strategic decision making in space organisations, with particular emphasis on the influence of culture. Additionally, it offers practical examples of how differences in policy priorities, decision making environments and practices amongst space organisations can affect international cooperative endeavours. A particular concern is with the role of national and corporate cultures in creating and reflecting differences between space agencies. In order to gather information on strategic decision making processes in the space sector, a series of 30 interviews was conducted with top decision makers from NASA, ESA and the space organisations of Brazil, France, Canada, Russia, The Netherlands and the UK.     

Moving Europe towards a more effective procurement of space-based assets

It has become essential for European states to consider a more coherent strategy in the procurement of future space assets in order to safeguard European industrial competitiveness. Space-related research programmes remain uncoordinated and separated between civil, military and commercial applications. This paper explores the present European institutional environment and the interaction between different actors involved in space procurement. New developments are underway with the establishment of the European Defence Agency and the attempt to federate existing groups and actions. Institutional users of space systems, including defence customers, often rely on the same technology. The article considers space procurement from a widespread perspective, which goes beyond sectoral boundaries. The establishment of a permanent advisory forum is suggested in order to centralise various requirements at European level and procure space assets more efficiently.     

Space law and policy 2010: The IISL–IAA symposium

The first of a new series of annual symposia organized by the IISL and the IAA, in partnership with others, was held in Washington, DC in May 2010. It examined the effect of space law on international civil, commercial and governmental space activities, with the emphasis on US activities in particular. The importance of developing appropriate legal mechanisms to assure the sustainability of space was highlighted, as was the need for the legal profession to explain the differences between various legal tools for space governance. With the growing involvement of new states in space, the current legal regime may need to be amended.     

Reviewing UK space exploration

This is an edited version of the Executive Summary of a report produced to advise government ministers on the options for UK involvement in space exploration. It sets out four options – from reduced involvement through robotic-only to a fully integrated human and robotic involvement – and discusses the economic and social benefits of each. Given other countries’ interest in pursuing exploration, timing is of the essence.     

New business opportunities in space

Outside the big space industry conglomerates, there are a number of much smaller firms, often with great specialist expertise, in existence. A concentration of such companies is found around the aerospace centre of Bristol in Southwest England; these companies are seeking to expand the UK space business and explore new opportunities, not only in traditional fields but also in up-and-coming areas such as exploration and space tourism. To this end their forum held a one-day conference in Exeter. One of their members reports on the proceedings.     

Assuring the sustainability of space activities

The growth of new space systems and the continued creation of orbital debris could in a few years make activities in Earth orbit unsustainable, so finding cost-effective ways to sustain space activities in Earth orbit is essential. Because outer space activities serve the needs of the military–intelligence, civil, and commercial communities, each with their own requirements, creating the necessary international agreements for reaching and maintaining a condition of sustainability will not be easy. This paper summarizes the primary issues for the international space community regarding our future ability to reap the benefit of space systems in Earth orbit. It explores several of the efforts to develop international agreements that would lead to or support the sustainability of space activities and examines the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. In particular, it reviews progress within the UN COPUOS, and examines the EU's proposal for an international Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. It also notes the need for states to establish or expand their own space legal infrastructure to conform to the UN treaties and guidelines for space activities.     

发展X-37B空间飞机的背后动因分析

文章通过对X-37B飞行器的飞行试验任务分析,指出了X-37B飞行器不是空天飞机,也不是全球快速打击平台,而是一种低成本太空进入能力的飞行验证器,它的作用定位在空间而不是在空中。通过飞行试验和验证试验,旨在打造一个可重复使用的轨道转移运载器。将美国2010年航天战略的重大调整、国际空间站的运行延期和航天飞机退役等事件结合起来,对X-37B发展的背后动因进行分析,有助于了解美国航天发展的未来趋势。经过动因的详尽分析,指出要特别关注美国航天战略调整的两个重心转向,尤其是两个转向背后的动机。如何正确地认识国际空间站的作用定位,对于审视载人航天的未来发展有重要意义。美国航天战略的调整使载人航天的重心回到近地轨道上。基于中国目前的能力现实,建议中国的载人航天重心放在地球轨道上,做好各种能力的建设,并利用这些能力把地球轨道上的事做得更好。