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U.S. -EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN SPACE SCIENCE 69 



European collaboration. At the same time, Europe has developed its 

 own launch capability in the Ariane series of expendable boosters and is 

 using that autonomous capability not only to launch its own spacecraft 

 but also to compete with the space shuttle for other launch contracts. 

 European countries are also developing satellites for earth observation 

 and communications and exploring the potential of space manufactur- 

 ing, with the objective of competing with the United States for eco- 

 nomic payoffs from space. 



Further scientific cooperation in space between the United States and 

 Europe will occur in this mixed context of collaboration and competi- 

 tion. The state of that cooperation is vigorous, as both the United States 

 and Europe continue the fascinating adventure of exploring the nature 

 of the solar system and the cosmos that is made possible by space 

 technology. 



ORIGINS OF U.S. COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS 



As the late Homer Newell, one of the U.S. pioneers in space science 

 and an early and strong advocate of international cooperation in space, 

 has noted, "With roots in the International Geophysical Year, which 

 had already generated a lively interest in the potential of satellites for 

 scientific research, one might argue that the appearance of an interna- 

 tional component in the NASA space science program was inevitable. "- 

 The International Geophysical Year (IGY), organized under the spon- 

 sorship of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), was an 

 18-month (July 1957-Deccmber 1958) effort involving 66 countries, 

 some 60,000 scientists, and the expenditure of hundreds of millions of 

 dollars; both the Soviet Union and the United States agreed in 1955 to 

 launch scientific satellites as part of IGY activities. 



There was in place at the very start of the space age, therefore, a nas- 

 cent international community of scientists who saw space technology as 

 providing exciting opportunities for extending and expanding their in- 

 vestigations. This community was quick to press NASA to keep its pro- 

 gram open to international involvement. This pressure was congenial, 

 since one reason that the United States had decided to house its major 

 space activities in a separate, civilian government agency was to present 

 to the world an image of peaceful intent and open style; this was in 

 deliberate contrast to Soviet space activities, which were controlled by 

 the military services and conducted with great secrecy. 



There were those in 1958 who argued that the U.S. space program 

 should be under military control and not opened to international 

 cooperation because "the tools of space research— rockets, radio, 

 radar, guidance, stabilization— were all common to both the military 



