US Crest at Suite 204, 1840 Wilson Blv, Arlington VA 22201, USA
Space Policy Institute, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
CSP Associates, Inc, Cambridge MA, USA
Abstract:
The context within which the major government space programmes of the world are planned and obtain political approval has changed dramatically with the end of the Cold War. International economic competition has become a central issue in international affairs. Economic and political constraints require that space agencies adapt the ambitious plans they put forward in the 1980s to the realities of this decade and beyond. This paper argues that in this changed context, enhanced international space cooperation can make important contributions to advancing the core interests of nations and firms, and that in some situations, increased and more intimate cooperation may be the only way to achieve ambitious space goals. The paper contains a series of policy-oriented findings and recommendations that together comprise a ‘new cooperative strategy’ for space.