The President’s exploration initiative involves both human and robotic space flights to the Moon, Mars, and “worlds beyond,” as well as space-based observatories and other spacecraft to answer the question of whether there is life elsewhere in the universe. This broadly scoped exploration program opens a wide range of opportunities for international participation.
The number of countries involved in space activities is probably larger than most people realize. The list of “launching countries” ¿ those that have their own launch vehicles and launch sites ¿ includes the United States, Russia, Europe, China, Japan, India, and Israel. Like the United States, Russia, Europe, and Japan have sent spacecraft to the Moon and beyond (see Appendix 1).
Although the United States, Russia, and China are the only countries capable of launching people into space, astronauts and cosmonauts from 29 other countries have journeyed into space on American or Russian spacecraft.1 Many countries have their own communications or remote sensing satellites.2 Virtually every country in the world uses satellites, primarily for communications, weather, navigation, and remote sensing.
NASA’s authority to conduct international space activities is codified in Section 205 of the 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act, which created NASA.
Since that time, the agency has engaged in thousands of cooperative arrangements ranging from the exchange of data, to training scientists how to interpret remote sensing imagery, to foreign experiments on US satellites and US experiments on foreign satellites, to joint development of spacecraft, to construction of the International Space Station (ISS).
Cooperation has been undertaken not only with US allies, but with our rivals as well. Even at the height of US-Soviet space competition in the early days of the Space Age, the two countries also worked together¿at the United Nations through the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and through bilateral cooperative agreements as early as 1962.
While the number of potential partners for the new exploration initiative is large, it is likely that attention will focus first on countries with whom the United States has traditionally cooperated in large space endeavors such as ISS (which involves Canada, Europe, Russia, and Japan), and those with the ability to launch spacecraft. You asked that I focus my remarks on the potential roles that Europe, Russia, and India could play.
Complete Testimony of Marcia S. Smith – 1MB PDF File
Specialist In Aerospace
And Telecommunications Policy
Congressional Research Service
Testimony at today’s hearings
