INTERNATIONAL-COOPERATION IN-SPACE - DEVELOPING NEW APPROACHES

Realising that we are at a unique point in history that offers unique opportunities to exploit space through renewed international cooperati on, the International Activities Committee (IAC) of the American Insti tute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), in 1991, initiated the o rganisation of a series of workshops on international Space Cooperatio n. To date three such workshops have taken place. The first two, in 19 92 and 1994, were held in the USA, exclusively under. the auspices of the AIAA. Although each of these workshops, which were by invitation o nly, included sixty experts from some fifteen countries, the AIAA deci ded the subject warranted even greater international exposure. Consequ ently, the third workshop, held in May 1996 at ESRIN in Frascati, Ital y, was co-organised with the Confederation of European Aerospace Socie ties. Preliminary planning for the next workshop, which will be held i n Banff, Canada at the end of January 1998, is underway. The format fo r all workshops has been similar. The invited participants, drawn prim arily from the international space sector, provided viewpoints from go vernment, industry and academia. Participants divided into working gro ups mandated to address specific topics. The outcome of their delibera tions has been documented in workshop reports*, and are centred aroun d a series of findings and recommendations. These workshops have prove d themselves to be a valuable forum for reassessing approaches to inte rnational space cooperation. They have highlighted what we did right, and wrong, in the past and how we should proceed in the future. As was deduced from the second workshop, international cooperation is now a necessary strategy for achieving many of the goals currently under con sideration by the space community. This article provides a comprehensi ve assessment of the results of the three workshops held to date and p rovides some insight into the future direction for international coope ration in space.