and is an equal partner with North America (including the United States, Canada, and Taiwan) in 75 percent of ALMA (Japan is a 25 percent partner). ESO is now aggressively planning a 42-meter European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), which is significantly larger than the Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope planned for completion in 2018. Investments in the SKA being made by Europe, South Africa, and Australia far exceed those of the United States. In space astronomy, the European Space Agency has just launched the successful Herschel and Planck telescopes with a combined cost of more than $2 billion and is planning its next Cosmic Vision missions.

Astronomy planning exercises are now conducted around the world. The European Union recently completed its first decadal survey in astronomy, the ASTRONET study,¹ and similar activities have been conducted for European astroparticle physics (ASPERA)² and space astronomy.³ Australia’s 10-year (2006-2015) strategic plan⁴ strongly emphasizes international partnerships for the largest projects. Although there is remarkable convergence on the most compelling science questions and considerable overlap in plans for facilities, there is relatively little or no formal international input to or coordination between these activities.

Additional, major international activities include those involving Australia (e.g., Gemini partner, SKA precursor programs), Japan (e.g., JAXA, Subaru), and China (e.g., FAST).