SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 1 launch vehicle from Kwajelein Atoll in the Pacific on July 13, 2009, placing Malaysia’s RazakSAT remote sensing satellite into low Earth orbit. Malaysia’s Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ongkili, said that this is the first remote sensing satellite in Near Equatorial Orbit (NEqO) as opposed to polar orbit. The satellite is named after Malaysia’s second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. It is Malaysia’s second remote sensing satellite. The first, TiungSAT-1, was launched in 2000.

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 1 launch vehicle from Kwajelein Atoll in the Pacific on July 13, 2009, placing Malaysia’s RazakSAT remote sensing satellite into low Earth orbit. Malaysia’s Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ongkili, said that this is the first remote sensing satellite in Near Equatorial Orbit (NEqO) as opposed to polar orbit. The satellite is named after Malaysia’s second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. It is Malaysia’s second remote sensing satellite. The first, TiungSAT-1, was launched in 2000.

Anatoly Zak has posted an interesting article on his website, RussianSpaceWeb.com, explaining Russia’s plans for a successor to the International Space Station — OPSEK, an “orbital assembly workshop.” Russian space agency head Gen. Anatoly Perminov discussed this concept in his conversation with the Augustine panel on June 17.

The June 17, 2009 meeting of the Augustine Panel on the future of the U.S. human spaceflight programs included teleconferenced briefings by the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), Jean-Jacques Dordain, and the Head of the Russian Space Agency, Gen. Anatoly Perminov.

Dordain responded to questions provided in advance by the Panel that focused on ESA’s views on the future of the International Space Station (ISS) and what ESA had learned from its participation in the program. Dordain praised the partnership itself – the United States, Russia, ESA, Japan, and Canada – referring to it as the “G5” (drawing a parallel to the “G8” industrialized nations that meet annually on economic issues). He argued strongly that one strength of the partnership is keeping it open to new members. Just as Russia joined the original partners in 1993, he asked whether the program might benefit now by adding China, India, or South Korea.

Regarding the future of the ISS, he lamented the fact that the ISS program had by necessity been divided into two successive parts following the Columbia space shuttle tragedy: first assembly and then utilization. As a consequence, a long period has transpired when it has been difficult to demonstrate the value of the ISS since little research is conducted. Ideally, he argued, utilization would begin while assembly was underway to build interest in and support for the program. Be that as it may, he stressed that ISS is coming into the utilization period and now is the time to reap the benefits. As to how long it should operate, he recommended that all the partners jointly look at that question every three years to assess whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

Gen. Perminov also responded to questions provided in advance. Through an interpreter, he recommended that the ISS continue to operate “to 2020 at a minimum.” He laid out Russia’s human spaceflight plans between now and 2020, which include construction by the end of the ISS life cycle “the first elements of the orbital assembly experimental piloted space complex which will become a basis for engineering development for future human missions to Mars beyond 2030.” Like Dordain, he praised the existing ISS international partnership and opened the door to welcoming other countries into partnerships for large-scale space projects.

The Dordain and Perminov presentations, in English, along with others from the day-long meeting, are available on the panel’s website: http://hsf.nasa.gov/.

The long-awaited expansion of the permanent crew size of the International Space Station (ISS) to six is about to become a reality. The result should be a substantial increase in the amount of scientific research that can be conducted aboard the orbiting complex.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft was launched this morning from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan with three crew members — one each from Canada, Belgium and Russia. They are scheduled to dock with the ISS on Friday and will join the three current ISS crew – one each from the United States, Russia and Japan. The makeup of the crew highlights the international character of the ISS endeavor. The ISS is being built by a partnership composed of the United States, Russia, 11 members of the European Space Agency, Japan, and Canada.

While it is common to have six crew members aboard the ISS for about a week during crew changeovers, and larger complements while the space shuttle is docked, those are temporary. The “six person crew” milestone indicates that six people will be aboard the ISS permanently. Like the 2- and 3-person permanent crews that have been the norm since the first crew arrived in November 2000, the individuals who comprise the crew will change on a regular basis. Regular tours of duty are 4-6 months for any one person.

Routine operation and maintenance of the ISS complex is estimated to consume essentially full time for two to two and a half members of the crew. Consequently, when only three permanent crew are aboard, little time is available for scientific research, which was one of the basic rationales for building the ISS. The increased crew size should mean increased scientific research which may help build support for continued ISS operations. Currently, NASA expects to discontinue its support of the ISS after 2016, although discussions are ongoing among NASA and the other partners about whether that date should be extended

The United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is scheduled to meet June 3-12, 2009 in Vienna, Austria.

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Launching Countries

NASA and International Cooperation in Space

For More Information

LAUNCHING COUNTRIES

Almost every country in the world is a “space-faring” country in the sense that they use satellites for communications and weather forecasting, and increasingly for satellite navigation and resource management. A smaller number of countries, along with companies and international organizations, own satellites. But the most attention is paid to the few countries with an ability to launch satellites. The following are the launching countries of the world today in the order in which they first placed a satellite into orbit.

Russia (1957)*
United States (1958)
Japan (1970)
China (1970)
European Space Agency (1979)**
India (1980)
Israel (1988)
Iran (2009)

*Formerly the Soviet Union.
** The European Space Agency (ESA) is a multi-national agency that currently has 18 members. Two of its members, France and Britain, launched satellites into space early in the space age (France from 1965-1976, Britain in 1971) as part of their national space programs before joining together with other European countries to build the Ariane launch vehicle. Since neither launches satellites individually today, they are not included in the list above. Ariane launches are conducted by the French company Arianespace.

Download SpacePolicyOnline.com fact sheets, Box Score of 2009 Space Launches and Box Score of 2010 Space Launches , showing how many successes and failures the launching countries had in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Further information about the space activities of the non-U.S. launching countries can be found at the websites of their government space agencies. All have English-language websites.

China National Space Administration

European Space Agency

Indian Space Research Organization

Iranian Space Agency

Israel Space Agency

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos)

NASA AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN SPACE

International cooperation in space activities has been a hallmark of the U.S. space program since its inception. Section 205 of the 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act permits NASA to engage in international cooperative efforts.

Sec. 205. The Administration, under the foreign policy guidance of the President, may engage in a program of international cooperation in work done pursuant to this Act, and in the peaceful application of the results thereof, pursuant to agreements made by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

The language requiring international agreements to be made with the “advice and consent of the Senate” was the subject of a comment by President Eisenhower in his signing statement on the Act: “I regard this section merely as recognizing that international treaties may be made in this field, and as not precluding, in appropriate cases, less formal arrangements for cooperation. To construe the section otherwise would raise substantial constitutional questions.”

According to Michael O’Brien, NASA’s Assistant Administrator for External Relations, NASA has been involved with more than 3,000 agreements with over 100 nations or international organizations in its first 50 years. (Testimony to a subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology on April 2, 2008).

Today, the most far-reaching international space program is the International Space Station. The ISS is being built by the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and 11 members of ESA (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom).

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. is a “think tank” that “provides strategic insights and policy solutions to decisionmakers in government, international institutions, the private sector and civil society.” Its Technology and Public Policy Program hosts the Space Initiative.

The European Space Policy Institute is a European think tank that provides “decisionmakers with an independent view and analysis on mid- to long-term issues relevant to the use of space.” It writes an annual “Yearbook on Space Policy“.

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