International Space Cooperation
History / Engineering / Management
Introduction
By exploring the history of cooperation between nations for outer space endeavors, the various
technological and engineering benefits for all involved can be fully realized as well as strategies
for better management of these endeavors.
History
When the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) launched the Sputnik-1 satellite in October 1957, a
competition between them and the United States (U.S.) sparked, transitioning humanity into the
Space Age. Despite this competition (known as the Space Race), the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) also actively sought collaboration with other spacefaring nations
of the time. This collaboration began in 1959 with the United Kingdom’s British National Space
Committee and resulted in the launch of the Ariel 1 satellite on April 26, 1962. The success of
this project laid the foundation for continued cooperation with Europe during the early 1960s.
During this time, a new multinational entity was established to facilitate their space science
activities: the European Space Research Organization (ESRO, predecessor of the European
Space Agency, or ESA) (Logsdon, 1996). Logsdon (1996) also mentions that although the
cooperative sentiment between the U.S., Europe, and also Canada at the time was strongly
positive and beneficial, some nations were not so open to partnering right away. For instance,
Japan waited until they had developed their own autonomous space science program and launch
vehicle before cooperating with the U.S., which took place in the 1970s.
, For the U.S., the Apollo program was naturally competitive and independent. Its goal was
to demonstrate the technological prowess the U.S. had to the world by being the first to set foot
on the Moon. However, after the success of the Apollo 11 mission, NASA and President Richard
Nixon’s administration decided to extend their cooperative invitation internationally for further
human spaceflight efforts, mainly during the Space Shuttle program. This strengthened U.S.
space partnership with Canada and in 1975, resulted in a memorandum of understanding (MOU),
tasking Canada with developing the Remote Manipulator System (RMS, also known as the
Canadarm) for the Space Shuttle (Logsdon, 1996). Also, in 1973, a prior MOU was signed
between the U.S. and Europe, detailing the ESRO’s development of Spacelab: a reusable
laboratory that could be flown on the Space Shuttle (Logsdon, 1996).
The most difficult cooperative barriers for the U.S. to break through were with the Soviet
Union. Because of the Space Race, relations between these two space superpowers at the time
were strongly competitive rather than collaborative. Logsdon (1996) mentioned that despite the
Soviet Union’s outright refusal to discuss cooperative possibilities during the Eisenhower
administration, President John F. Kennedy made several efforts seeking to resolve this conflict
since his inauguration in January 1961. However, significant milestones in the Space Race (e.g.,
the first orbital flight by Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin) were outpacing formal U.S.
communications to the Soviet Union and worsened the tensions between them. Eventually in
1962, after the success of John Glenn’s orbital flight, Nikita Khrushchev (First Secretary of the
Soviet Union’s Communist Party) provided an opportunity for cooperation that President
Kennedy seized immediately (Logsdon, 1996). On March 7, 1962, Kennedy proposed to
Khrushchev cooperative endeavors in several areas of space science which was positively
received. Although this initial cooperation between these two dominant space powers was slow
History / Engineering / Management
Introduction
By exploring the history of cooperation between nations for outer space endeavors, the various
technological and engineering benefits for all involved can be fully realized as well as strategies
for better management of these endeavors.
History
When the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) launched the Sputnik-1 satellite in October 1957, a
competition between them and the United States (U.S.) sparked, transitioning humanity into the
Space Age. Despite this competition (known as the Space Race), the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) also actively sought collaboration with other spacefaring nations
of the time. This collaboration began in 1959 with the United Kingdom’s British National Space
Committee and resulted in the launch of the Ariel 1 satellite on April 26, 1962. The success of
this project laid the foundation for continued cooperation with Europe during the early 1960s.
During this time, a new multinational entity was established to facilitate their space science
activities: the European Space Research Organization (ESRO, predecessor of the European
Space Agency, or ESA) (Logsdon, 1996). Logsdon (1996) also mentions that although the
cooperative sentiment between the U.S., Europe, and also Canada at the time was strongly
positive and beneficial, some nations were not so open to partnering right away. For instance,
Japan waited until they had developed their own autonomous space science program and launch
vehicle before cooperating with the U.S., which took place in the 1970s.
, For the U.S., the Apollo program was naturally competitive and independent. Its goal was
to demonstrate the technological prowess the U.S. had to the world by being the first to set foot
on the Moon. However, after the success of the Apollo 11 mission, NASA and President Richard
Nixon’s administration decided to extend their cooperative invitation internationally for further
human spaceflight efforts, mainly during the Space Shuttle program. This strengthened U.S.
space partnership with Canada and in 1975, resulted in a memorandum of understanding (MOU),
tasking Canada with developing the Remote Manipulator System (RMS, also known as the
Canadarm) for the Space Shuttle (Logsdon, 1996). Also, in 1973, a prior MOU was signed
between the U.S. and Europe, detailing the ESRO’s development of Spacelab: a reusable
laboratory that could be flown on the Space Shuttle (Logsdon, 1996).
The most difficult cooperative barriers for the U.S. to break through were with the Soviet
Union. Because of the Space Race, relations between these two space superpowers at the time
were strongly competitive rather than collaborative. Logsdon (1996) mentioned that despite the
Soviet Union’s outright refusal to discuss cooperative possibilities during the Eisenhower
administration, President John F. Kennedy made several efforts seeking to resolve this conflict
since his inauguration in January 1961. However, significant milestones in the Space Race (e.g.,
the first orbital flight by Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin) were outpacing formal U.S.
communications to the Soviet Union and worsened the tensions between them. Eventually in
1962, after the success of John Glenn’s orbital flight, Nikita Khrushchev (First Secretary of the
Soviet Union’s Communist Party) provided an opportunity for cooperation that President
Kennedy seized immediately (Logsdon, 1996). On March 7, 1962, Kennedy proposed to
Khrushchev cooperative endeavors in several areas of space science which was positively
received. Although this initial cooperation between these two dominant space powers was slow
