Is Central America involved in Space? The weakness of a state not doing space.
- Paper number
IAC-13,E3,1,11,x19483
- Author
Dr. Veronica La Regina, Italian Space Agency (ASI), Italy
- Year
2013
- Abstract
The number of states with national space agencies has continued a sharp climb after a pause in the 1990s, rising from 40 in 2000 to about 55 in 2009, according to the main press releases of space community. The presence of national space agency is a crucial milestone in the involvement of a state in space affairs. Some of these national space endeavors remain fragile; thus heritage of space agency is linked with its age of establishment. The process of establishment of national space agency does not have only one way; it is highly impacted by national elements and international relations of state. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the geographical distribution of space agencies and it shows their age and their major features in terms of organizational structure, governance and links at global level. The first finding of this work is the absence of space involvement of Central America. States, belonging to this area, present few and weak interests, use and policies for space. On this core issue, paper is investigating and presenting major reasons and concerns. Nowadays space is, inter alia, a key-enabler of other policies (i.e. climate change, marine, transport, broadband and growth); thus a no space faring nation is negatively affected in its growth. In conclusion, the paper assesses the magnitude of weakness for a state not doing space activities with an insight about the case of Central America.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-13,E3,1,11,x19483.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.