Design of an International Collaboration Mechanism for Space Exploration
- Paper number
IAC-07-E3.4.04
- Author
Ms. Audrey Schaffer, George Washington University, United States
- Year
2007
- Abstract
Since the Vision for Space Exploration announcement, NASA has engaged other space agencies in informal discussions on goals, capabilities, and timelines for future space exploration. Until recently, most of these multilateral discussions have been one-time activities, occurring as conferences, workshops, and informal meetings. As more nations gain political and programmatic support for exploration programs, formal international collaboration should increase to raise available resources, eliminate duplication, and improve international relationships, among other things. This paper defines a multilateral international collaboration mechanism for space exploration to formalize the series of informal discussions that have occurred within the space agency community over the past three years. A more formal mechanism can give structure and regularity to nascent international collaboration efforts. Here “collaboration” may include all types of interactions between space agencies or nations. Interactions could be as loose as coordination of independent roadmaps or as tight as cooperation on specific missions. The design of the proposed mechanism draws from the successful features of many existing international collaboration mechanisms and meets a set of desirable criteria for participation by the major space powers. These criteria were developed by synthesizing information from interviews of space agency and government representatives. Interviews were conducted with six professionals the U.S space policy community, representing either NASA or the White House, and with formal and informal space agency and government representatives from nine additional space-faring nations. These interviews represent original and timely research into the current requirements for international collaboration in space exploration. Existing international collaboration mechanisms were then considered as models for the proposed space exploration mechanism. Successful features of several current or past mechanisms were examined for relevance to the globally driven criteria. Whether a feature of an existing mechanism was successful was gauged by additional interviews with space professionals who participated in the formation or operation of each mechanism. The result is a mechanism proposal that blends the flexibility of a coordination forum, such as the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites, with the political clout of a more formal cooperative agreement such as the International Space Station. Features from the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, Antarctica Treaty System, Inter-Agency Consultative Group, ITER, and European Space Agency were also considered and in some cases incorporated into the exploration mechanism design. Combining interview data with a current viewpoint on existing collaboration forums represents a fresh approach to the design of an international collaboration mechanism for space exploration.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-E3.4.04.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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