International cooperation in space exploration
For the last four decades, space exploration in Europe has been growing through the efforts of the European Space Agency (ESA) in combination with those of several European national space agencies. To fulfil its aspirations, it must continue to do so in an international context by aligning its goals with other global players in the space industry. Scientists working on the COFSEP (Analysis of cooperation opportunities for Europe in future space exploration programmes) project sought to define these goals. With the support of the EU, they accumulated essential information to outline the European space exploration programme's objectives and exploit Europe's capabilities within a global context over the next 15 years. A series of reports on past, current and future activities of European space agencies were prepared. In addition, separate profile reports were drafted for each major player in the field. COFSEP researchers looked at the pros and cons of partnering with different countries, including Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. From their studies, the researchers found that Europe, Japan and the United States have planned missions to the Moon, Mars, near-Earth asteroids and other planetary objects. On the other hand, China and India are focused principally on the Moon. Space exploration requires enabling capacities that Russia and the United States have undoubtedly acquired as well as extensive experience in both manned and unmanned missions. The COFSEP team assessed possibilities of cooperation with Russia and the United States as well as other nations in science-driven robotic missions and manned spaceflight. It eyed Russia for lunar exploration, Japan and the United States for scientific missions, and India for technological development. However, Europe should also strengthen ties with Brazil and South Korea on research and development. To benchmark space exploration programmes and related industrial capabilities worldwide, COFSEP researchers carried out strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analyses. The analyses' findings, along with the emerging reports, will undoubtedly help policymakers and all stakeholders in making informed decisions and solidifying Europe's space aspirations in a global context.
Keywords
International cooperation, space exploration, European Space Agency, robotic mission, space flight
