Space holds a fascination for all of us. For many, it represents a final physical frontier, a place to explore the very essence of knowledge, to experiment with new technology, and to seek new levels of human adaptation and change. As the major spacefaring nation on our planet, the United States has taken special pride in our achievements in space. Discoveries in space science have already added immensely to our fund of knowledge. U.S. scientists have moved quickly to take advantage of new opportunities for learning, and the future of scientific work in space is virtually unlimited. Given the promise of space, an additional issue comes to the fore. How can the United States proceed in space in relation to the other principal spacefaring nation and superpower, the Soviet Union? What is to be gained or lost by working together in space? With regard to science in particular, can the two countries benefit from joint efforts? Can the two countries cooperate as well as compete? Since the beginning of the space age, the two countries have been examining these questions. This study was requested by Senators Matsunaga, Mathias, and Pell as a means to shed light on the subject at the time of the 10th anniversary of the major U.S.- Soviet cooperative endeavor, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. OTA is pleased to be able to provide this technical memorandum, outlining the principal issues of the debate, the history of cooperation, and the experience of France, another country involved in space cooperation with the U.S.S.R. Additional OTA documents that may be of interest include Civilian Space Stations and the U.S. Future in Space, Salyut: Soviet Steps Toward Human Presence in Space, and International Cooperation and Competition in Civilian Space Activities. OTA studies in the areas of technology transfer are cited in the text.

The recent broad political rapprochement between the United States and the nations of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) has transformed the environment for cooperation on space projects, and led to cooperative programs in space with Russia and other FSU states that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. Chief among these are the high-profile human spaceflight cooperative activities involving the Space Shuttle-Space Station Mir dockings and the International Space Station. This report surveys the potential benefits and drawbacks of expanded cooperation with Russia and other nations of the FSU in space activities, and examines the impacts of closer cooperation on U.S. industry and U.S. national security concerns. Such cooperation has begun to yield scientific, technological, political, and economic benefits to the United States. However, the political and economic risks of cooperating with the Russians are higher than with the United States' traditional partners in space. Cooperation in robotic space science and earth remote sensing is proceeding well, within the stringent limits of current Russian (and U.S.) space budgets. Including Russia in the International Space Station program provides technical and political benefits to the space station partners, but placing the Russian contribution in the critical path to completion also poses programmatic and political risks.

The story of European-Russian collaboration in space is little known and its importance all too often understated. Because France was the principal interlocutor between these nations, such cooperation did not receive the attention it deserved in English-language literature. This book rectifies that history, showing how Russia and Europe forged a successful partnership that has continued to the present day. Space writer Brian Harvey provides an in-depth picture of how this European-Russian relationship evolved and what factors—scientific, political and industrial—propelled it over the decades. The history begins in the cold war period with the first collaborative ventures between the Soviet Union and European countries, primarily France, followed later by Germany and other European countries. Next, the chapters turn to the missions when European astronauts flew to Russian space stations, the Soyuz rocket made a new home in European territory in the South American jungle and science missions were flown to study deep space. Their climax is the joint mission to explore Mars, called ExoMars, which has already sent a mission to Mars. Through this close examination of these European-Russian efforts, readers will appreciate an altogether new perspective on the history of space exploration, no longer defined by competition, but rather by collaboration and cooperation.

The year 2007 saw the fiftieth anniversary of the Space Age, which began with the launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in October 1957. Space is crucial to the politics of the postmodern world. It has seen competition and cooperation in the past fifty years, and is in danger of becoming a battlefield in the next fifty. The International Politics of Space is the first book to bring these crucial themes together and provide a clear and vital picture of how politically important space has become, and what its exploitation might mean for all our futures. Michael Sheehan analyzes the space programmes of the United States, Russia, China, India and the European Space Agency, and explains how central space has become to issues of war and peace, international law, justice and international development, and cooperation between the worlds leading states. It highlights the significance of China and India’s commitment to space, and explains how the theories and concepts we use to describe and explain space are fundamental to the possibility of avoiding conflict in space in the future.