A Vision for a Central American Space Agency
- Paper number
IAC-16,E3,1,6,x35538
- Coauthor
Mr. Luis Salaverria, El Salvador
- Year
2016
- Abstract
Historically, the progress of a civilization has been linked to the successful triumph over great challenges. Societies like individuals grow when challenged and stagnate when they accept conformity. Today, Central America, as a region experiences many great common challenges that if we are to live in a peaceful and prosperous society we must overcome together, such as the impact of climate change, land use and deforestation, drought and famine, catastrophe response, criminal activity and drug trafficking among several others. While the solution to these problems is vast and complex, we feel that exploiting space from a regional standpoint could provide our governments tools to better understand our problems and coming up with solutions, while at the same time lessening each country’s financial burden of maintaining an active space agency, and also taking advantage of a general pool of scientists and engineers across the Central American countries. This paper explores the possibility of a regional space agency from a technological, social, economic and political point of view. It also examines each country’s willingness to participate in such an endeavor both in the governmental and general public levels. Moreover, it discusses how to create this regional space agency without internal rivalry, imbalance of power, and lack of consensus that could affect it negatively in the future. The results of this research is a road map of what national space societies, space researchers, space visionaries and government/financial decision makers could do to create this regional space agency and not be left behind by the rest of the world in terms of technological maturity and scientific research.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-16,E3,1,6,x35538.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.