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10
International Cooperation
Specific issues involving international cooperation are treated
in the various task group reports. The steering group endorses
these treatments. Here the steering group wishes to deal with
some principles common to aD disciplines of space science.
Space science Is now an international activity. More than a
decade ago, the United States clearly dominated space science.
That is no longer the case. The American space science program
is still preeminent, measured in terms of missions ready for launch
or being prepared. But the present crisis in launch capability
has crippled the American program. Measured In terms of the
number and quality of missions actuaBy being launched, the Soviet
Union is now the leader in space science. The European program,
while substantially smaller than the United States and Soviet
programs, has grown to major proportions; Japan's program is
also substantial. All of these space science programing are carried
out by agencies that have access to both earth-orbital and deem
space launch vehicles, although not all are equally capable in this
respect. With four fully independent space science programs now
in existence, it is tune to consider the advantages of expanding
joint participation in some scientific projects.
Cooperation can talre a variety of forms. The simplest level
entails coordinating programs at the planning stages or exchanging
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data after they have been collected. At a more significant level, sci-
ent~sts can participate ~ projects planned and executed by space
agencies of other nations. Other cooperative modes include joint
investigations involving many spacecraft from different communi-
ties. Examples include the International Solar Terrestrial Program
(ISTP) and the orbiting very-long-baseline interferometry system
for radio astronomy, known as QUASAT. A future venture of this
type might be the establishment of an extensive network of ground
stations coordinated with orbiting vehicles. The most ambitious
level of international cooperation involves joint planning and im-
plementation of cooperative projects.
In carrying out the scientific programs recommended in this
report, the steering group believes that international cooperation,
at all the levels listed above, should be considered. From a sci-
entific point of view there can be numerous advantages to mter-
national cooperation. By coordinating or combining resources-
intellectual, technological, and economic scientific advances will
proceed faster and more efficiently. While national imperatives
other than the advance of science may play a role in motivating
international cooperation, it is important that the scientific goals
be heldF in a primary position. The impact of international coop-
eration on the direction and balance of the national space science
program should be carefully considered and evaluated.
Several factors should be considered in formulating the varied
approaches to international cooperation the nation will require.
Among the most important considerations are the past history
of cooperation, and the existing level of communication among
the potential partners on both scientific and technical matters.
Further, the quality and anticipated stability of the political ret
lationship between participating nations should be evaluated. It
is essential that the structure of cooperative programs should be
robust and; resistant to disruption by unanticipated changes in the
relationship that may be imposed for reasons that are outside of the
scientific programs.
It is important to ensure that all sides in any cooperation
should obtain reciprocal advantages and should perceive them to
be so. Thus, cooperation should be arranged to take advantage
of mutually complementary capabilities. Therefore, interIlational
cooperation will be most productive if the separate partners have
strong independent programs. In these cases cooperative ventures
would be seen as a means to enhance these strong independent
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programs, and not as an essential strategy for the conduct of space
science. Certainly, other forms of cooperation, involving nations
that do not have their own means of access to space, should by no
means be excluded. On the contrary, they should be encouraged.
The advantages of international cooperation are inevitably ac-
companied by operational and financial burdens, no matter how
cleanly the technical interactions are arranged. The larger the
number of partners involved, the larger will be these imposed bur-
dens. In general, the complications and burdens of a cooperative
program wiB be minimized if there are fewer major partners. Thus
the steering group recommends that large cooperative projects be
held to only two major partners, at least until a record of suc-
cessfu! experience accumulates. However, where cooperation of
more than two partners offers advantages, the complications and
burdens should be recognized and taken into account.
~ order to implement desirable levels of cooperation, two
essential steps should be taken. First, the United States should
establish a national policy untie respect to the goats of international
cooperation in space science. This policy should be guided by a pri-
mary commitment to enhance the scientific returns clef cooperative
ventures and should establish guidelines to ensure feasibility, max-
imize productivity, and minimize costs of these ventures. Second,
it is essential to establish suitable mechanisms for planning and im-
plementing the various kinds of cooperative encleavors. The most
ambitious approaches to cooperation wiD require unplementation
of agreements at the highest national levels.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
international cooperation
