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Report 15, September 2008

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Short Title: ESPI Report 15, September 2008
Editor, Publisher: ESPI European Space Policy Institute
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European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Background

Objectives of this study

Chapter 1 - Global political and economic trends

1.1 Global economic outlook

1.2 Political developments

1.2.1 Europe

1.2.2 Asia

1.2.3 Africa

1.2.4 Americas

1.2.5 The Middle East

1.3 Major scientific achievements

1.4 Selected Focus

1.4.1 Europe in 2007/08

1.4.2 The United States in 2007/08

1.4.3 Russia in 2007/08

1.4.4 Japan in 2007/08

1.4.5 China in 2007/08

1.4.6 India in 2007/08

Chapter 2 - Global space sector - size and developments

2.1 Global space budgets and revenues

2.2 Overview of institutional space budgets

2.3 Overview of commercial space markets

2.3.1 Satellite services

Direct Broadcast Services

Fixed Satellite Services

Mobile Satellite Services

2.3.2 Satellite manufacturing

2.3.3 Launch sector

2.3.4 Ground equipment

2.3.5 Insurance sector

2.3.6 Emerging commercial markets

Chapter 3 – Global space policies and strategies

3.1 Europe

3.2 European Space Agency

3.3 European Union

3.4 Eumetsat

3.5 National governments

3.5.1 France

3.5.2 Germany

3.5.3 Italy

3.5.4 The United Kingdom

3.6 The United States

3.6.1 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

3.6.2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

3.6.3 Department of Defense (DoD)

3.7 Russia

3.8 Japan

3.9 China

Report 15, September 2008

3.10 India

3.11 Emerging space powers

3.11.1 Africa

3.11.2 Asia

3.11.3 The Middle East

3.11.4 Oceania

3.11.5 South America

3.12 International sectoral comparisons

3.12.1 Launch sector

3.12.2 Missions launched

3.12.3 Overall assessment

Chapter 4 - European institutional market

4.1 European institutional market

4.2 Civilian space expenditure

4.3 European Space Agency

4.4 Eumetsat

4.5 National agencies

4.5.1 France

4.5.2 Germany

4.5.3 Italy

4.6 European Union

4.7 Security-related space expenditures

4.8 The institutional market and its impact on the industrial base

Chapter 5 - Space industry evolutions

5.1 Industrial evolutions in Europe

5.2 Industrial evolutions in the United States

5.3 Industrial evolutions in Russia

5.4 Industrial evolutions in Japan

5.5 Industrial evolutions in China

5.6 Trans-Atlantic industrial comparison

5.6.1 State of the European space industry

5.6.2 State of the United States’ space industry

5.7 Sectoral overview

5.7.1 Launch sector

2007 results

Launch contracts awarded in 2007

5.7.2 Satellite manufacturing sector

2007 results

Satellites contracts awarded in 2007

5.7.3 Satellite operators

Chapter 6 – The defence perspective

6.1 Recent trends in military expenditure

6.2 Global space military context

6.3 European space military context

6.3.1 National initiatives

6.3.2 European Union level

6.3.3 European Space Agency

6.3.4 Other European institutions

6.4 The United States

100

6.5 Russia

102

6.6 Japan

102

6.7 China

102

6.8 India

103

6.9 Other space actors

103

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Chapter 7 – The specific roles of institutions

105

7.1 European institutions

105

7.1.1 Council of the European Union and its Presidencies

105

7.1.2 European Commission

107

7.1.3 European Union Agencies

109

7.1.4 European Parliament

109

7.2 Other institutions

110

7.2.1 Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU)

110

7.2.2 European Interparliamentary Space Conference (EISC)

110

7.2.3 Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies (NEREUS)

111

7.3 International institutions

112

7.3.1 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)

112

7.3.2 UNGA Committees

112

Disarmament and International Security Committee

113

Special Political and Decolonisation Committee

113

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

113

7.3.3 Other UN bodies and organs monitoring outer space activities

114

7.4 Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

117

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Introduction

B a c k g r o u n d

From 2002 until 2005, the European Space
Agency (ESA) published annual reports that

provided an overview of the European space

sector in a global context. These reports
entitled “The European Space Sector in a

Global Context” took into account the

geopolitical and economic changes that

occurred in a given year and which were of
importance for the European space sector.

These aspects were then analysed in a

boarder context. ESA’s annual analysis also
presented facts and figures of other space

powers in order to be able to view the

development of the European space sector in
a larger perspective.

O b j e c t i v e s o f t h i s S t u d y

In 2006, ESA’s DG Policy Office tasked the

European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) based
in Vienna (Austria) under a specific contract

to conduct a nine-month study on global

issues and trends in the space sector
covering the period 1 January 2006 to 30

June 2007. ESA’s DG Policy Office

commissioned a similar study in 2007 for the

period 2007/2008. The ESPI study “Space
Policies, Issues and Trends in 2007/2008”

aims to present in a single document,

comprehensive data and analyses
characterising global space activities from 1

July 2007 to 30 June 2008.

This report provides an overview of the

European space sector in a global context. It

takes into account geopolitical and economic

changes that are of relevance and importance
for current and future developments in the

European space sector. It provides facts and

figures on the latest European activities,
while putting them into perspective with the

situations of other major space-faring

countries, notably the United States, Russia,
Japan, China and India.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Chapter 1 - Global political and
economic trends

2007 and the first half of 2008 was a period

marked by the confirmation of several key
trends that appeared in recent years such as

the economic and political rise of powers

from the “South” like China and India as well

as the recovery of Russia, while the “North”
witnessed limited growth, particularly the

United States. Climate change and global

warming are increasingly being perceived as
serious global threats demanding an urgent

and coordinated global response. In addition,

skyrocketing prices of natural resources such
as oil and gas, but also the rise of primary

products’ prices is further aggravating the

global economic situation.

1 . 1 G l o b a l e c o n o m i c
o u t l o o k

The expansion of the world economy

remained robust in 2007 (Table 1). However,

global economic growth slowed markedly in
the final quarter of 2007 following major

losses in the financial sector originating in the

U.S. subprime sector and the associated

losses reported by banks. The financial crisis
is now spreading beyond the U.S. subprime

market, and financial institutions in other

International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook

Update: Global Slowdown and Rising Inflation.” 17 July
2008.

countries have also been affected. The

International Monetary Fund (IMF) is
anticipating potential losses and write-downs

in the financial sector of about 945 billion

U.S. dollars, with banks suffering slightly

more than half of total losses, with the rest
affecting insurance companies, pension

funds, hedge funds and other investors.

Consequently, near-term growth prospects of
all major economies have weakened (Table

1).

According to the IMF, the world output in

2007 reached 5%: a similar level to 2006
(Table 1). Global economic growth is

projected at 4.1% in 2008 and 3.9% in 2009

(Table 1). The projections for advanced
economies have been reduced significantly in

recent months and there are looming threats

of recession for the second half of 2008. This

is the result of deteriorating market
conditions and limited U.S. growth which are

affecting economic activities in other

advanced economies. The main risks to the
outlook for global growth are that on-going

turmoil in financial markets (partly due to

liquidity shortages and increasing credit
risks) would further reduce domestic demand

in advanced economies and therefore create

significant spillovers into emerging markets

and developing economies. Nonetheless,

International Monetary Fund “Global Financial Stability

Report: Containing Systemic Risks and Restoring
Financial Soundness.” Apr. 2008.

Table 1 Overview of the World Economic Outlook Projection (Source IMF)

Country

2006

2007

2008

(projection)

2009

(projection)

The United States

2.9

2.2

1.3

0.8

Germany 2.9

2.5

2.0 1.0

France 2.2

2.2

1.6

1.4

Italy 1.8

1.5

0.5

Spain

3.9

3.8

1.8

1.2

The United Kingdom

2.9

3.1

1.8

1.7

Euro zone

2.8

2.6

1.7

1.2

European Union

3.3

3.1

1.8

1.7

Japan 2.4

2.1

1.5

Russia 7.4

8.1

7.7

7.3

China 11.6

11.9

9.7

9.8

India 9.8

9.3

8.0

World output

5.1

5.0

4.1

3.9

Report 15, September 2008

emerging economies are expected to

continue to grow at a rapid pace in 2008.

This could counterbalance moderate growth
in major economies.

In the United States, the Federal Reserve has

been cutting interests rates in response to
increasing downside risks to activity.

However, the United States could fall into

recession in 2008 and recover only modestly
in 2009. The projected growth rate for 2008

in the United States has been lowered to

1.3% for 2008 down from 2.2% in 2007
(Table 1). In 2007, the euro zone expanded

at a robust pace, with growth estimated at

2.6% (Table 1). However, growth has been

lowered to 1.7% for 2008. Growth in the
European Union (EU) was 3.1% in 2007 and

is projected at 1.8% in 2008, but recent

estimates are less optimistic (Table 1). Japan
has been quite resistant to the global

economic downturn up to now, with a

forecasted growth of 1.5% in 2008 compared
to 2.1% in 2007 (Table 1).

As aforementioned, unlike advanced

economies, emerging economies have been
less affected by the financial market

turbulence thus far and have continued to

grow at a rapid pace. These economies have,
in particular, benefited from the strong

momentum of domestic demand. According

to IMF projections, emerging and developing
economies, including in Africa and Latin

America, are expected to witness strong

growth rates. Nonetheless, growth in

emerging markets and developing economies
is expected to ease moderately from 8% in

2007 to 6.9% in 2008.

China’s economy will

sustain further momentum despite the fact
that its growth is projected to decelerate

from 11.9% in 2007 to about 9.7% in 2008.

India’s economy is also expected to continue
to grow very rapidly (about 8% in 2008,

down from 9.3% in 2007) as well as Russia’s

(7.7% in 2008 down from 8.1% in 2007)

(Table 1).

Despite market turmoil and slow growth in

major economies, prices of energy
commodities reached record prices when

expressed in U.S. dollars in the first half of

2008 (i.e. crude oil) reflecting solid growth in
demand in the face of sluggish supply and

on-going geopolitical concerns. Several

staples like soybean, corn, and wheat, prices

reached also high price levels due to among
others higher biofuel demand in the United

States and the European Union. As a

consequence, the cost of feeding livestock is
rising. Furthermore, poor harvests in many

Ibid.

countries have led to further price hikes

causing some major food shortages in certain

parts of the world, triggering public protests
(e.g. Haiti, Senegal). Inflation has increased

considerably since mid-2007 in both

advanced and emerging market economies

driven by a combination of increasing food
and energy prices as well as credit growth

and sustained demand.

1.2 Political developments

In 2007/2008, transnational security threats

and particularly terrorist attacks as well as

significant military events and new and

emerging conflicts menacing world peace and
stability and are calling for increasing reliance

on space technologies and activities to

monitor some of these events.

1.2.1 Europe

The threat of terrorist attacks on European

soil remained high in the past months,

particularly as German security forces

arrested in September 2007 three suspects
thought to be planning a massive terrorist

attack on American targets in Germany,

including the Ramstein Air Base on Frankfurt
airport. The arrests came a day after eight

terrorist suspects were apprehended in

Denmark.

1.2.2 Asia

Pakistan witnessed several destabilising
moments in recent months. First, in July

2007, a week-long siege of the Lal Masjid or

Red Mosque in Islamabad, lead to nearly 100
deaths as about 200 Pakistani commandos

stormed the compound and met strong

resistance from militants sheltering inside.
Then, a series of bombs exploded throughout

the country in response to this event. Fierce

fighting occurred also in the South Waziristan

region of Pakistan between the army and
Taliban militants in January 2008. Benazir

Bhutto, twice prime minister of Pakistan, also

returned home after eight years in exile to
participate in the general election. However,

her assassination on 27 December 2007 led

to times of political turmoil. Finally, at the
end of March 2008, Yousaf Raza Gillani

(Pakistan People’s Party) became Prime

Minister as chief of a coalition government.

International inspectors confirmed in July

2007 that North Korea's plutonium-producing

nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, north of
Pyongyang, and four other facilities there

have been shut down. Consequently,

American and North Korean officials held

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

talks in Geneva (Switzerland) in September

2007 where both sides agreed that North

Korea should reveal and disable all its nuclear
facilities by the end of the year. However, in

April 2008 the United States expressed

concern that North Korea had still not kept its

promise to declare all its nuclear programmes
which it was supposed to divulge by the end

of 2007. In June 2008, North Korea finally

handed in a list of nuclear facilities, thus
complying with its international obligations.

While North and South Korea held the first
inter-Korean summit since 2000 in October

2007, at which Kim Jong Il, North Korea's

dictator, met South Korea's President, Roh

Moo-hyun and agreed to seek a formal end to
the civil war of the 1950s, tensions

heightened again in the Korean peninsula.

North Korea expelled South Korean officials
from their joint industrial park at Kaesong in

April 2008. It also issued a warning that the

policies of newly elected South Korea's
president, Lee Myung-bak would lead to

catastrophe.

In September 2007, heavy protests led by
monks in Myanmar (the country formerly

known as Burma) were violently repressed.

Furthermore, a cyclone devastated the
southern part of the country flooding large

areas with salted water and killing an

estimated 78 000 people with 56 000
reported as missing. The junta in power was

severely criticised after it failed to evacuate

the risky areas and refused to let

international aid into the country in the early
aftermath of the catastrophe.

In Sri Lanka, following a series of bomb
attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil

Eelam, the government abrogated a 2002

ceasefire agreement with the Tigers in
January 2008.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban continued their

resurgence despite the surge in soldiers sent
in the context of the NATO-led mission; the

killings of foreign troops in Afghanistan are

now at a similar level as in Iraq. Moreover, in
mid-June, an attack was staged by Taliban

against a prison in Kandahar, freeing about

1200 prisoners, including 450 Taliban
members. A United Nations report showed

that Afghanistan's opium production has also

climbed sharply. It is now producing twice

the amount it did just two years ago, and
accounts for 93% of heroin on global

markets. There is also increasing evidence of

direct involvement in the business by Taliban
insurgents to finance part of their activities.

The agreement has remained notionally in force despite

the return of all-out conflict over the past two years.

1.2.3 Africa

Several conflicts, as well as contested
elections, occurred in Africa in the past few

months threatening regional peace and

stability.

In Congo, fighting in the North Kivu province

between the army and rebels of General

Laurent Nkunda has resulted in some 500
000 displaced civilians since the beginning of

2007. In February 2008, forces loyal to

Chad's president, Idriss Déby, thwarted an
attack by rebels on the country's capital,

Ndjamena. An African Union force of more

than 1300 troops invaded Anjouan on 11

March 2008, one of the three islands that
make up the Comoros off the coast of

Mozambique, and toppled its rebel leader,

Mohamed Bacar. He had taken power in July
2007 after winning an election that the

Comorian president declared illegal.

However, the Horn of Africa remains the

centre of attention on the continent. The

United Nations Security Council voted in

August 2007 to send a peacekeeping force of
up to 26,000 soldiers and police to the Darfur

region of Sudan, where at least 200 000

people have been killed and about 2.5 million
made homeless since 2003. In Somalia,

humanitarian agencies estimate that 20 000

people a month were fleeing violence in
Mogadishu.

Food and sanitary problems,

already major issues, continue to worsen.

Protests in Kenya against the re-election of
President Mwai Kibaki in December 2007 led

to widespread violence and a death toll that

exceeded 1 000, most of which occurred
between rival ethnic groups throughout the

country, especially in the Rift Valley.

Negotiations between representatives of the
incumbent, Mwai Kibaki, and his challenger,

Raila Odinga, were held under the aegis of

the former United Nations (UN) Secretary-

General, Kofi Annan.

Following the 29 March 2008 elections in

Zimbabwe, the country has been plunged
into a political crisis with the government

refusing to announce who won the race for

Presidency between the President Robert
Mugabe and its rival Morgan Tsvangirai. It

appears that Morgan Tsvangirai should be the

winner of the first race, but as a consequence

to the latter’s incarceration and violent
repression of his followers, Mr. Tsvangirai

chose not to participate in the second

electoral process, leaving Mr. Mugabe as the

Islamic fighters control part of South Somalia, and

Ugandan and Ethiopian troops present on the ground
struggle to maintain the status quo.

Report 15, September 2008

only candidate, and as such, “winner”. The

international community has actively been

denouncing these elections and economic
sanctions will be implemented against Mr.

Mugabe’s government.

South Africa witnessed xenophobic violence
and assassinations by indigenous gangs

against immigrants from Mozambique, Malawi

and Zimbabwe that were accused of stealing
jobs and of being criminals.

Terrorism is also becoming of major concern
on the African continent. Nigeria's oil-rich

Niger Delta region witnessed frequent attacks

on oil infrastructure as well as the kidnapping

of foreign oil workers. Piracy attacks on
foreign vessels on the shore of Somalia also

increased in the first half of 2008. A suicide

bomber in Algeria killed more than ten people
in an attack on barracks in July 2007. Then,

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an Algerian

group affiliated to Osama bin Laden's
organisation claimed responsibility for two

car-bombs in Algiers in December 2007

which killed 76 people, including 11 United

Nations employees.

1.2.4 Americas

The situation of hostages held by the left-

wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

(FARC) guerrillas was a focal point in Latin
America in the past months. Venezuelan

President, Hugo Chávez tried to secure an

agreement under which the rebels would

release their kidnapped hostages in exchange
for the liberation of guerrilla prisoners.

However, as Colombian forces bombed a

guerrilla camp just across the border in
Ecuador in March 2008 killing one of the

FARC's senior commanders, Ecuador and

Venezuela (temporarily) broke diplomatic
relations with Columbia. The FARC’s situation

is becoming more precarious after the death

of their spiritual leader and the diminution of

their occupied territories.

Fidel Castro’s brother, Raul Castro was

designated as the former leader’s successor.
Raul wishes to raise living standards in Cuba,

but not to depart from socialism.

1.2.5 The Middle East

In July 2007, the Israeli air force bombed a

target in Syria suspected of being a nuclear
power plant in development, but neither the

Israelis nor the Syrians disclosed what the

target was.

Lebanon witnessed its worse political crisis

since the 1975-1990 civil war due to the
fierce power struggle between the pro-

Western government and the Syria-backed

opposition. The Lebanese Parliament has

unsuccessfully attempted for nine months
since September 2007 to vote for a

President. After months of delay, on 25 May

2008, General Michel Sleiman, the

Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces
was elected President as the consensus

candidate.

U.S. President George W. Bush hosted a

Middle East Peace Summit in Annapolis (USA)

on 27 November 2007 to try to bring peace
and stability in the Middle East region.

Besides the Israeli and Palestinian

delegations, Saudi Arabia, Syria and other

Arab states attended the summit. The
conference ended with a commitment to the

goal of a Palestinian state, and a promise of

immediate talks, but with no mention of
borders, Jerusalem or Jewish settlements on

the West Bank. Despite this political effort,

fighting flared across Israel's border with
Gaza. Moreover, Hamas claimed

responsibility in February 2008 for its first

suicide-bombing since 2004, after two

Palestinians attacked the Israeli town of
Dimona. However, Israel accepted a truce

with Hamas in June 2008 to prevent further

rocket firing on Israeli territories as well as
further violence from Israel on the Gaza strip.

In October 2007, the Turkish Parliament gave
the government approval for a cross-border

operation and military incursion into Northern

Iraq after Turkish soldiers were killed by

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels some
of whom may have come from bases in

northern Iraq. The Turkish ground offensive

occurred in February 2008 and considerably
weakened the Kurdish militants.

While in December 2007, a report by
America's National Intelligence Council

concluded that Iran did have a nuclear-

weapons programme up until 2003, but that

it had since been halted, in March 2008, the
United Nations Security Council imposed a

third, more punishing, range of sanctions

against Iran for failing to stop enriching
uranium. Mahmoud Ahadinedjad visited Iraq

at the beginning of March 2008. As the first

regional leader to do so, the Iranian
President highlighted his country’s influence

on Iraq and on the Middle-East region in

general.

In Iraq, the five-year old conflict is

stabilising, as the number of Iraqi civilian

deaths began to decline by 2007’s end. In
addition, the Iraqi Red Crescent reported that

some 25 000 refugees (out of about 1.5

million) who had fled to Syria had returned to
Iraq between September and the beginning

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

of December 2007. However, no hope of

lasting and enduring peace and stability are

expected in the near future, as attacks and
conflicts continue throughout the country.

Australian troops started withdrawing from

the country in June 2008, as the death tolls

of U.S. troops decreased.

1 . 3 M a j o r s c i e n t i f i c
a c h i e v e m e n t s

From mid-2007 until mid-2008, two
international observance years relating to

space occurred, namely the International

Polar Year (IPY) and the International
Heliophysical Year (IHY).

In addition, the

official opening of the international Year of

Planet Earth (IPYE) took place on 12-13

February at the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) headquarters in Paris (France).

The IPYE is a joint initiative by the
International Union of Geological Sciences

(IUGS) and UNESCO and was proclaimed by

the 60

United Nations General Assembly as

a United Nations International Year. The

research themes of the year were chosen for

their societal relevance, multi-disciplinarity

and outreach potential (Groundwater,
Climate, Earth and Health, Deep Earth,

Megacities, Resources, Hazards, Ocean, Soil,

Earth and Life). The IPYE addresses the
decision-makers and the general public

through a large series of national and

international events on geo-scientific
knowledge to support global society, as

expressed in the IPYE’s subtitle: Earth

Science for Society.

The next related international observance

related to space activities will be the 2009

International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009),
which will coincide with the 400

anniversary

of the first recorded astronomical observations

with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the
publication of Johannes Kepler’s Astronomia

nova in the 17

Century. This initiative will be

an opportunity for citizens to gain a deeper

insight into astronomy and will serve as a
platform to inform the public about the latest

astronomical discoveries as well as

emphasising the role of astronomy in science
education.

In recent months, climate change has topped
the political agenda of most of the countries

around the world as the consequences of

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 8-9.

global warming are becoming increasingly

salient. In particular, according to recent data

from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), the year 2007 was the

fifth-warmest on record for global land and

ocean surface temperatures. In addition, when

taken separately, the global land surface was
the warmest on record, while the global ocean

temperature was the ninth-warmest since

records began in 1880. Moreover, seven of the
eight warmest years on record have occurred

since 2001.

Consequently, the sea ice

covering the Arctic has shrunk in September
2007 to its lowest level since satellite

measurements began nearly 30 years ago or

by about one million square kilometres over

the past year, according to the European
Space Agency (ESA).

On 16 November 2007, the Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC) concluded its work on a “synthesis

report” of the Fourth Assessment Report
(AR4) on climate change in Valencia (Spain).

The Synthesis Report brings together the

work of the three previous Working Groups of

the IPCC published in the first half of 2007
which dealt with the human origin of global

warming (February 2007), the likely impacts

of climate change (April 2007) and options
for mitigating climate change (May 2007).

Therefore, the synthesis report provides an

integrated view of climate change, as the
final part of the IPCC’s AR4.

Acknowledging the fact that climate change

and global warming are threats demanding
an urgent global response, a United Nations

Climate Change Conference took place in Bali

(Indonesia) on 3-15 December 2007. More
than 10 000 participants, including

representatives from nearly 190 countries

and observers from intergovernmental and
non-governmental organisations took part in

this event. Negotiations on a successor to the

Kyoto Protocol (post-2012 framework)

dominated the conference. The “Bali
Roadmap” consisting of a number of forward-

looking decisions for more vigorous

international action on climate change was
adopted. This roadmap includes the “Bali

Action Plan” which charts the course for a

new negotiation process to end by the end of
2009 and designed to reduce greenhouse gas

“2007 was Tenth Warmest for U.S., Fifth Worldwide.”

NOAA 15 Jan. 2008
<http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080115_w
armest.html>.

“Satellite Witnesses Lowest Arctic Ice Coverage in

History.” ESA: Observing the Earth 14 Sept. 2007
<http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMYTC13J6F_index_0.html>.

For more information, see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 8.

Report 15, September 2008

emissions. The Bali Conference was followed

by the United Nations Bangkok Climate

Change Talks which took place on 31 March -
4 April 2008 in Bangkok (Thailand). An

agreement was reached for a work

programme structuring negotiations on a

long-term international climate change
agreement planned to be concluded in

Copenhagen (Denmark) by the end of 2009

by delegates from 162 countries. The main
elements of this agreement include a shared

long-term vision and enhanced action on

mitigation, adaptation, technology and
finance. The next major UN Climate Change

meeting was held in Bonn (Germany) in May

2008. This event addressed the issue of

advancing adaptation to climate change
through finance and technology.

Climate change and global warming are thus
increasingly being recognised as becoming

some of the most important issues threatening

long-term world peace and stability. Following
the preoccupation of the 33

G8 meeting held

in Heiligendamm (Germany) on 6-7 June

2007, Climate Change was again on the

agenda of the next G8 in Hokkaido (Japan)
from 7-9 July 2008. The Nobel Peace Prize

2007 was also awarded on 12 October 2007,

jointly to the former U.S. Vice President Al
Gore and the IPCC for their "efforts to build up

and disseminate greater knowledge about

man-made climate change and to lay the
foundations for the measures which are

needed to counteract such change”.

Moreover, on 3 March 2007, Javier Solana,

the High Representative for the Common
Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

released

an eight-page report on “Climate change and

international security” to the EU Council. The
report highlights that climate change will

have a growing impact on international

security, due, among other things, to
increasingly hostile competition between

States for dwindling global resources. One of

the possible consequences could be millions

of “environmental” migrants or refugees
fleeing the consequences of climate change.

The third major UN gathering on climate change will

take place in August 2008 in Ghana and will look more
closely at issues related to enhanced action on mitigation.
Finally, a fourth meeting will be held in Poland in
December 2008 to address the issue of risk management
and risk reduction strategies, technologies and key
elements of a long-term vision for joint action.

“The Nobel Prize 2007” <http://nobelprize.org/

nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/>.

Javier Solana is also the Secretary-General of both the

Council of the European Union (EU) and the Western
European Union (WEU).

Paper from the High Representative and the European

Commission to the European Council. “Climate Change
and International Security.” 4 Mar. 2008.

1 . 4 S e l e c t e d F o c u s

1.4.1 Europe in 2007/08

EU’s economy is projected to grow by about

1.8% compared to 3.1% in 2007, and the
estimate for the euro zone is a 1.7% growth

in 2008.

Europe’s slowdown in late 2007

followed the bleak economic performance of
the United States and the crisis in the

financial sector as well as the increase in the

prices of natural resources. In the spring and

summer of 2008, amidst overall worsening of
economic indicators, inflation reached record

heights in the euro zone. Before this

backdrop, the European Central Bank (ECB)
raised its central rate in summer 2008 to

keep inflation in check.

In continuation of the work commenced

under the Portuguese Presidency of an

Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), EU's

leaders met on 18-19 October 2007 at an
Informal EU summit in Lisbon (Portugal) and

agreed to a new treaty: The “Treaty

amending the Treaty on European Union and
the Treaty establishing the European

Community” known as the “Lisbon Treaty” is

to replace the European Constitution, which
was rejected by voters in France and the

Netherlands in 2005. On 13 December 2007,

during a special Summit also in Lisbon, EU

heads of States and Governments officially
signed the new Treaty, which incorporates

most of the defunct EU Constitution. The

Lisbon Treaty aims to enhance the efficiency
of the EU with a major focus on the

reorganisation of the institutional and

decision-making processes. In particular, the
Lisbon Treaty merges the “three pillars” into

one single EU, which succeeds the European

Community. It introduces a double majority

rule for Council decisions, a permanent
Council President, the position of High

Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs

and Security Policy, a reduction of the
number of Commissioners as well as of the

number of Members of the European

Parliament. Hungary was the first country to
ratify the Treaty on 17 December 2007. As of

end June 2008, the “Treaty of Lisbon” has

been ratified by 23 countries (Austria,

Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,

Malta, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,

Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
the Netherlands and the United Kingdom).

However, the EU now faces a stalemate

International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook

Update: Global Slowdown and Rising Inflation.” 17 July
2008.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

because of Ireland’s negative referendum on

the Lisbon Treaty on 13 June 2008.

On 1 January 2008, Slovenia became the first

of the ten new Eastern European members of

the EU to take over the six-monthly rotating

Presidency of the Council of the European
Union. Slovenia’s Presidency follows its trio

partners Germany and Portugal. The central

issue of the programme of this trio is the
completion of EU’s reform and constitutional

process, the implementation of the Lisbon

Strategy for Growth and Employment, as well
as further progress towards the completion of

the European area of freedom, security and

justice (Cf. Chapter 7). The main priorities of

the Slovenian Presidency were: the future of
the European Union and timely entry into

force of the Lisbon Treaty, the successful

launching of the new Lisbon Strategy cycle, a
step forward in addressing climate-energy

issues, strengthening of the European

perspective for the Western Balkans, and
promoting the dialogue between cultures,

beliefs and traditions in the context of the

European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

In the last few months, Science and

Technology (S&T) has been at the top of the

agenda in Europe. At the Competitiveness
Council held on 22 November 2007, ministers

in charge of competitiveness stressed the

importance of making full use of small and
medium enterprises’ (SMEs) growth potential

by improving their access to finance.

Following a proposal from the Commission,

the member States, through the Regulatory
Committee for Executive Agencies accepted

the creation of two executive agencies on 14

December 2007 to manage the research and
development (R&D) project proposal and

evaluation process for the EU’s seventh

Framework Programme (FP7) to increase the
efficiency of research management of EU-

funded projects. The “European Research

Council Executive Agency" will support the

implementation of the Ideas Programme of
the FP7, which supports frontier research.

The "Research Executive Agency" will

administer the Marie Curie fellowships
schemes, research for the benefit of SMEs

and parts of the Space and Security research

themes. It will also provide evaluation and
support services to all other parts of FP7.

An important milestone for the EU was also

that in 2008, for the first time ever, the
largest share of the EU budget will be used

for measures to boost economic growth and

cohesion in the EU. On 18 December 2007,
the European Parliament adopted the EU

budget amounting to 129.1 billion euros in

commitment appropriations for 2008 (an

increase of 2.2% compared to 2007).

While

agriculture will continue to receive over 40%
of EU budget, about 45% of all EU spending

will be devoted to competitiveness.

The European Institute of Innovation and
Technology (EIT) was approved by the

European Parliament on 11 March 2008, and

concrete research, education and innovation
actions are expected to start by 2010. The

EIT will be a virtual network of universities,

companies and other stakeholders expected
to form Knowledge and Innovation

Communities (KICs).

The first KICs will

focus on renewable energy and next-

generation information and communication
technologies. The EIT will be based in

Budapest (Hungary).

Reflecting the increasing worldwide concerns

about climate change and global warming, a

Strategic Energy Technology plan (STE) was
proposed at the end of 2007. Its aim is to

increase the use of “clean” or low greenhouse

gases (GHGs) emitting energy technologies.

On 23 January 2008, a package of climate
and energy proposals suggested by the

Commission was well received by EU member

States and the European Parliament. Initially
made in March 2007, the “20-20”

commitments were translated into legislative

proposals by the Commission in January
2008. This proposal is designed to bring the

EU’s emissions of GHGs down by 20% by

2020, while the use of renewable energies

should increase by 20% during the same
period. EU efforts to reduce GHGs emissions

will be increased 30% by 2020 provided that

an international agreement is reached for
tackling climate change by the expiry of the

Kyoto Protocol in 2012. According to

conclusions agreed to during the spring
European Council on 14 March 2008,

“comprehensive deliberations” between the

Council and the Parliament on the

Commission’s proposal should produce a deal
before 2008 to be adopted at the latest in

early 2009. A series of others initiatives have

also been adopted in the last months. For
instance, the “Clean Sky” Joint Technology

Initiative (JTI)

was also launched on 5

February 2008 to help the aviation industry
develop environmentally-friendly technology

European Commission “General Budget of the

European Union - The Figures.” Jan. 2008.

Each KIC must have at least three partner organisations,

based in two or more member States with at least one of
the partners being a university and at least one a private
company.

Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) are legal entities

which are proposed as a new way of realising public-
private partnerships (PPPs) in relevant industrial research
and development fields at European level.

Report 15, September 2008

and reduce air and noise pollution. During the

Competitiveness Council on 25 February

2008, EU research ministers also approved
the essential elements for the launch of the

EU “fuel cells and hydrogen” JTI to reduce

GHGs and introduce hydrogen into the

energy system.

The futures of the EU as well as its

enlargement have been also a major element
of the European political agenda in the past

months. In particular, a new high-level

“reflection group” to deal with long-term
issues such as strengthening and

modernising the European model of economic

success and social responsibility, the rule of

law, sustainable development energy and
climate change etc. was launched at the

European Council in December 2007.

On 8 November 2007, the EU justice and

interior ministers cleared the way for the

enlargement of the Schengen area to include
nine of the new Eastern European member

States.

The decision extended the passport-

free travel system to Estonia, Hungary,

Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia,
Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Internal

land and sea border checks were

consequently abolished on 21 December
2007.

In December 2007, the EU initiated a pre-
membership agreement with Bosnia-

Herzegovina at a ceremony in Sarajevo. A full

agreement to start the process which could

eventually make the country a member of
the EU depends, among other things, on the

country's capacity to merge its ethnically

separate police forces. An “indicative
timetable” for concluding EU membership

talks with Croatia by November of next year

was presented by Commission President José
Barroso in March 2008, with 2010 as the

likely entry date provided that a number of

conditions are met by Croatia. Turkey is also

making steady progress in satisfying the EU’s
membership criteria to join the Union. In the

mean time, Kosovo declared independence in

February 2008 making it the seventh country
to emerge from the dissolution of the former

Yugoslavia. The declaration was met with

demonstrations by Serbs in Kosovo as well as
denunciations by the governments of Serbia

and Russia, a split over recognition within the

EU, and arguments between Russia and the

United States at the United Nations.

Thus far, 13 EU member States (Germany, Austria,

Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden) and
two non-EU countries (Norway and Iceland) have been
participating fully in the Schengen acquis.

Cyprus and Malta became the 14

and 15

countries to adopt Europe's single currency –

the euro – on 1 January 2008. The euro in
Slovakia was approved on 7 May 2008 by the

European Commission. Other EU newcomers

wishing to follow suit will have to wait,

because their inflation rates are too high.
Denmark, however, is expected to have a

referendum regarding its eventual euro zone

membership within the next 18 months.

In the last few months, the EU also

reinforced it position in the world stage by
strengthening a series of partnerships.

The first-ever EU-Brazil Summit was held on

4 July 2007 in Lisbon (Portugal). A strategic
partnership agreement with Brazil was

concluded. It was agreed to enhance this

longstanding bilateral relationship, and in
particular, to reinforce the political dialogue

at the highest political level. This agreement

also raises the hope of deeper cooperation
between the EU and Mercosur, the South

American free trade zone.

An EU-African Union Summit in Lisbon was
held on 8-9 December 2007. It was the first

meeting of this kind in seven years since the

Cairo meeting in 2000.

The Summit ended

with the signing of a strategic political

“partnership of equals” aiming to overcome

the “traditional donor-recipient relation-
ship”.

A Joint EU-Africa Strategy providing a

long-term vision for a strategic partnership

between Africa and the EU was adopted as

well as an initial Action Plan 2008-2010
setting out priorities that should be

implemented in the next three years (Cf.

Chapter 7). However, the EU-Africa Summit
failed to reach agreement on comprehensive

trade deals (the so-called Economic

Partnerships Agreements).

The 17

EU-Japan Summit meeting took

place under the Slovenian Presidency on 23

April 2008. The debates focused on global
issues such as energy security and climate

change as well as unresolved issues within

the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Several
regional issues in Asia and the Middle East

were also discussed.

In spring 2008, the fifth EU-Latin America

and the Caribbean (LAC) Summit was held in

Lima (Peru) on 16-17 May 2008. The Summit

The African Union (AU) is an intergovernmental

organisation consisting of 53 African countries.
Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a
successor to the amalgamated African Economic
Community (AEC) and the Organisation of African Unity
(OAU). Its headquarters is in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).

“The Africa-EU Strategic Partnership: Joint Africa-EU

Strategy and Action Plan.” 9 Dec. 2007.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

reiterated the great importance of the EU’s

relations with the LAC and its aspirations to

strengthen the EU-LAC Strategic Partnership.
The Lima Summit focused on the two

themes: poverty, inequality, and inclusion;

and sustainable development with a

particular focus on: climate change;
environment and energy.

Negotiations with Russia on a new Partner-
ship and Cooperation Agreement (PCA)

started in spring 2008, as the current PCA

which came into force on 1 December 1997
was concluded for a ten-year period. The

agreement is to be renewed automatically on

an annual basis unless one side decides to

withdraw.

French President Sarkozy’s push to create a

“Mediterranean Union” has been accepted
and its principle enlarged (under the new title

“Union for the Mediterranean”) at the

European Council held on 13-14 March
2008.

The initiative aims at upgrading the

EU’s relations with its neighbours from North

Africa and the Middle East which have thus

far been dealt with under the umbrella of the
Barcelona Process. The main focus of the new

Union will be to improve energy supply, fight

pollution in the Mediterranean, strengthen
the surveillance of maritime traffic and “civil

security cooperation”, set up a Mediterranean

Erasmus exchange programme for students,
and create a scientific community between

Europe and its southern neighbours. The

agreement also foresees bi-annual summit

meetings between the EU and its partner
countries.

1.4.2 The United States in 2007/08

The subprime loan crisis has been the major

focus of the U.S. economy in recent months,
followed by growing trade deficit and the

near collapse of the U.S. dollars in the spring

of 2008. In 2007, the U.S. economy slowed

markedly and grew only by 2.2% down from
2.9% in 2006.

Despite the Federal

Reserve’s policies, the burst of the housing

bubble and the tightening of credit
availability are having far-reaching effects

resulting in a major contraction of

consumption. In this context, President

The formalisation of bilateral relations between the EU

and individual partner countries has been achieved
through the negotiation of PCAs. The aim of this particular
PCA is to encourage political, commercial, economic and
cultural cooperation between Russia and the EU.

President Sarkozy has originally envisioned the new

Union as involving only the EU’s Mediterranean countries
and its neighbours, but not the EU as a whole.

International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook

Update: Global Slowdown and Rising Inflation.” 17 July
2008.

George W. Bush in his last state-of-the-union

speech on 28 January 2008, urged the U.S.

Congress to quickly pass a 150 billion U.S.
dollar economic stimulus package to ward off

a recession. Soon after, on 28 February

2008, the White House unveiled a 3.1 trillion

U.S. dollars budget plan for 2009 which aims
to boost national security, while stimulating

economic growth.

The nominating process to choose the U.S.’s

presidential candidates on both the

Democratic and Republican side got under
way just after Christmas 2007 with the Iowa

caucuses on 3 January 2008 and the New

Hampshire primary just five days later. In

both camp, the economy, immigration, the
war in Iraq, healthcare, and the environment

dominated the campaign. The Democrat

primary created some dramatic results, with
stronger-than-expected results being at-

tained by Senator Barack Obama creating an

“Obamamania” among a large share of the
Democrats. Nonetheless, Senator Hillary

Rodham-Clinton stayed in the race and the

face-to-face lasted until June 2008. Senator

Barack Obama won the primary elections,
thus representing the Democratic Party in the

November 2008 presidential election. After a

tight race against Senator Hillary Clinton,
both politicians are now showing a united

front in order to secure Democratic electors’

votes. There was no such indecisiveness from
the Republicans as Senator John McCain won

enough delegates to deliver him the party's

nomination as soon as March 2008.

Iraq was far from secure by mid-2008, but

for the first time since the war started, the

country has been edging toward stability.
However, five years after the American-led

invasion of Iraq began in March 2003, more

than 4 000 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq
and Al-Qaeda remains the greatest threat to

Iraq's security. Nonetheless, while 2007

culminated as the deadliest year in Iraq for

U.S. soldiers in November 2007, the U.S.
military reported that for several consecutive

weeks, the number of car bombs, roadside

bombs, mines, rocket attacks, and other
violence had fallen to the lowest level in

nearly two years. However, the conflict in

Afghanistan worsened in spring 2008 with
more U.S. soldiers being killed there than in

Iraq. The estimated cost of the wars in Iraq

and Afghanistan varies depending on federal

agencies. It is, however, estimated that
about 130 billion U.S. dollars have been

spent on the Afghanistan conflict and about

450 billion U.S. dollars for the Iraq conflict
since 2001.

Report 15, September 2008

1.4.3 Russia in 2007/08

Since its collapse in the 1990s, Russia’s

recovery has continued. In 2007, real Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) growth was

sustained an 8.1% increase

principally due

to high oil and commodity prices. However,

inflation rose to almost 12% in December

2007, substantially exceeding the central
bank’s 6.5% to 8% year-end target and

nearly attained 13% in February 2008.

The last year has been a year of transition in

Russia. First, Russia's President, Vladimir

Putin, headed the United Russia ticket which

won two-thirds of the votes in a
parliamentary election in December 2007.

Then, his first deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry

Medvedev, was elected as new President of
the Russian Federation on 2 March 2008 by

winning about 70% of the votes. While

Medvedev selected Putin as his Prime
Minister, enhancing the power he will wield in

his upcoming position, Vladimir Putin was

elected on 15 April 2008 to lead the United

Russia party after he steps down as
President, therefore bolstering his chances

for a potential return to the presidency.

The renewed involvement of Russia in major

topics of world affairs witnessed in recent

years continued in 2007/2008. In particular,
Russia was awarded the 2014 Winter

Olympics. Sochi won over bids from

Pyeongchang (South Korea) and Salzburg

(Austria). In August 2007, Russia also
dispatched a highly publicised expedition to

lay symbolic claim to part of the Arctic

seabed to access potential reserves of natural
resources. It sent two mini-submarines under

the North Pole to scoop samples and put up a

Russian flag.

Russia also continued to use

its “energy superpower” status. In particular,

it settled a gas dispute with Ukraine

moments before Gazprom, Russia's state-

controlled energy conglomerate, planned to
switch off supplies as Ukraine owed back

payments. Russia is not only enlarging its

soft power portfolio, but also its hard power
arsenal. On 12 September 2007 it tested a

giant fuel-air bomb, claimed by its army to

be the world's biggest non-nuclear explosive

International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook

Update: Global Slowdown and Rising Inflation.” 17 July
2008.

International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook.”

Apr. 2008.

Under international law, five countries lying partly in the

Arctic Circle (Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway
and Denmark) are limited to a 200 mile (320 kilometres)
economic zone from their shores. Russia claims a larger
slice, saying its continental shelf extends from Siberia to
the North Pole.

device; bigger than the U.S. Massive

Ordnance Air Burst (Moab) which has

unofficially been named the “Mother Of All
Bombs”. This thermobaric device, which has

no known official name, has been dubbed

“Father of All Bombs” by its Russian

designers.

1.4.4 Japan in 2007/08

In 2007, the Japanese economy remained

resistant to the global economic slowdown

with an estimated annual real GDP growth of
2.1%.

While household spending remained

weak, robust exports to other parts of Asia,

as well as Europe, but also strong business

investment supported most of the Japanese
economy over that period. However, in spring

2008, the rise in inflation posed a major

threat to the projected Japanese’s economic
growth.

Following the election of July 2007, the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is not the

biggest party in the upper house of the Diet

(parliament). However, the LDP still enjoys a

big majority in the lower house. The upper
house of Japan's Diet named as its president

Satsuki Eda of the Democratic Party of Japan.

It is the first time an opposition party has
taken control of the upper house since the

LDP came to power in 1955. Following the

aforementioned defeat of the LDP, Shinzo
Abe resigned on 12 September 2007 as

Japan's Prime Minister, just a year after

taking office. The LDP and the lower house of

the Diet chose on 23 September 2007 the
71-year-old son of an earlier Prime Minister,

Yasuo Fukuda as Japan's 91

Prime Minister.

However, on 12 June 2008, a censure motion
(which carries no legal weight) was voted

against Prime Minister Fukuda.

In the last few months, Japan has been

trying to reinforce its position on the world

stage. For instance, it held the 34

meeting in Hokkaido in July 2008. However,
dire finances and an effort to curb bulging

public debt, led Japan to fall in the ranking of

overall overseas aid according to the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and

Development. Japan's foreign aid has been

used since the 1970s as a policy to boost its
international profile to match its economic

power. Japan nonetheless continues to reach

out to developing countries. In particular, it

invited 40 African leaders in May 2008 to
Japan. The host country especially expressed

its ambition to double its aid to Africa.

Furthermore, in a buoyant regional context,

International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook

Update: Global Slowdown and Rising Inflation.” 17 July
2008.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

the new President Yasuo Fukuda is also

following the so-called “Fukuda Doctrine” that

was asserted by its creator, the late Japanese
Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, to refocus

Japan’s attention in Asia. The “Fukuda

Doctrine” consists of Japan being a country

committed to peace, but also a country that
builds up a relationship of mutual confidence

and trust with Southeast Asian countries in

wide-ranging fields.

1.4.5 China in 2007/08

In 2007, China’s growth was about 11.9%

driven by strong investment growth and net

exports.

However, inflation keeps rising. In

this context, China's Prime Minister, Wen
Jiabao, opened the 11

annual session of

China's parliament of the National People's

Congress (NPC) on 5 March 2008 by warning
of the dangers of inflation and of the fallout

from U.S.’s subprime crisis. On this occasion,

it was also announced that based on an
improving economic structure, growing

productivity, energy efficiency and

environmental protection, GDP is expected to

grow only by about 8% in 2008.

The last few months saw the reinforcement of

the current political leadership as well as the
preparations for future transition. China's

ruling Communist Party opened its 17

five-

yearly congress on 15 October 2007. Among
others, the 17

National Congress of the

Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted a

resolution on the amendment to the CPC

Constitution to enshrine the “scientific
outlook on development”. At the end of the

congress, China's Communist Party unveiled

its new leadership team. Hu Jintao remains
party leader, but is expected to retire in

2012. Best placed to succeed him are Xi

Jinping, the party chief in Shanghai, and Li
Keqiang, his counterpart in the Liaoning

Province. During the 11

annual session of

China's parliament of the NPC in March 2008,

China's Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, also
proposed the creation of new “super-

ministries” in order to improve bureaucratic

decision-making efficiency. In particular, a
new ministry for the environment was

created. China's 13-day-and-a-half session of

parliament ended with the appointment of Li
Keqiang as vice-prime minister. Mr. Li is

foreseen as a candidate for top political

positions when the current generation of

leaders retires.

China and Japan’s diplomatic relations

improved with the visit of China’s President

International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook

Update: Global Slowdown and Rising Inflation.” 17 July
2008.

Hu Jintao to Japan in May 2008. China’s

diplomatic relations with Taiwan were re-

established as well through formal talks
during a meeting in Beijing (China). An

agreement to reschedule regular flights

between the two countries was reached.

China also continues to combine its
diplomatic relations and foreign policy to

address the need to find resources, Africa

being a target of choice.

In the mean time,

an alarming number of signs are threatening

the future of its growth as well as its stability

such as rising inflation, pollution etc. An
earthquake devastated the Sichuan province

on 12 May 2008, killing over 70 000 people

and leaving five million people homeless. The

authorities reacted immediately, sending
rescue efforts to the region. Moreover, in

early 2008 outbreaks of protest against

Chinese rule in Tibet triggered repression
from Chinese forces. These protests extended

in ethnic-Tibetan areas of China, during

which fire was opened by Chinese police.
Tibetan uprisings generated reactions of

support the world over, resulting in

disruptions of the Olympic flame’s relay in

world cities.

1.4.6 India in 2007/08

In its 60

year of independence from Britain

in 2007, India’s economy grew by an

estimated 9.3%.

India is now increasingly

establishing itself as dominant economic

actor for the future. Its companies are

increasingly taking over major foreign

companies and developing global strategies
to gain market shares outside India. For

instance, on 10 January 2008 Tata Motors

presented the results of its attempt to
manufacture the cheapest car in the world

with the Nano (also called “the people’s car”),

but in late December 2007 Tata Motors was
also the winning bidder in the auction for the

two Ford Motor luxury auto brands: Jaguar

and Land Rover.

The period between July 2007 and June 2008

was also one of political change for India. On

25 July 2007, India swore in its first female
President, Pratibha Patil who succeeded Dr.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Moreover, in an

important foreign policy move, India's Prime
Minister, Manmohan Singh, visited China in

early January 2008 for the first time since

taking office in 2004. In particular, both

countries promised to increase trade and

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6, Sept.
2007: 11.

International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook

Update: Global Slowdown and Rising Inflation.” 17 July
2008.

Report 15, September 2008

military cooperation. However, a major

development of India’s foreign policy is the

growing ties with Africa to counter the
influence of China in the region as India is

looking for new sources of energy for its

booming economy. In this context, in July

2007, the Indian government launched the
Pan-African E-network project in cooperation

with the African Union to develop Africa’s

information and satellite communications
technologies. The initiative has been called

Africa’s largest infrastructure project. It aims

to eventually connect 53 African countries to
a satellite and fiber-optic network with

education and telemedicine being the most

important components of this cooperation

including as well e-commerce, e-governance,
infotainment, resource-mapping and

meteorological services. Ethiopia, South

Africa, Ghana and Mauritius are the initial
countries involved in this project. The Indian

government hopes thus to gain a foothold in

Africa and create goodwill between India and
Africa, but also increase its sales in

information and communication technologies

to Africa. The first India-Africa summit took

place in New Delhi (India) on 8-9 April 2008
in order to build and expand India’s economic

and diplomatic ties across the African

continent, but also to secure its access to the
African rim of the Indian Ocean, which New

Delhi has long seen as its strategic backyard.

The two-day summit was attended by 14
African leaders.

Despite a booming economy and increasing

international ties, as well as involvement in
world affairs, India continues to be plagued

by internal issues. In late August 2007, two

bombs killed more than 40 people in
Hyderabad. Another 19 bombs were

discovered and disabled. Several bombs

exploded in Jaipur in May 2008, revendicated
by a group called Indian Mujahideen.

Violence still occurs in the north, as the clash

at the beginning of June led by the Gujjar

tribe demonstrates. The tribe demands to be
included in a list of disadvantaged tribal

groups. Moreover, in September 2007,

around 25 000 poor people, mainly landless
farmers, converged on New Delhi after

marching from various parts of India to

demand a land reform and protest against
the loss of their land to industrial

development.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Chapter 2 – Global space sector - size
and developments

The objective in producing this chapter is to

establish a consistent and solid baseline of
figures that are reliable to the extent possible

to provide an easily identifiable measure of

the size of the global space sector. This

report aggregates the institutional budget
and commercial revenues data for 2007 to

obtain an overview of the size of the global

space sector. Governmental space
expenditures are not always easy to obtain,

as neither every country nor space agency

publishes detailed annual expenditure on
space activities. Moreover, given the opaque

nature of defence budgets, the task of

tracking military space spending is extremely

difficult. Sizing the commercial space sector
is also difficult due to the secrecy

surrounding commercial contracts etc., and it

also depends on the definition of the sector
adapted and the data source selected.

ESPI estimations of the space sector draw on
many sources of publicly available

information from published sources of

industry trade associations, articles in the

mainstream business press and industry
magazines and, when available, private

information sources, as well as interviews

with space leaders from governments and
industries. Widely used references for global

economic data and space surveys use the

U.S. dollar for their comparative analyses.
ESPI therefore used the U.S. dollar as

currency of reference in this Chapter despite

the possible distortion linked to the

fluctuation of exchange rates, especially with
respect to the depreciation of the U.S. dollar

versus the main other major currencies.

2 . 1 G l o b a l s p a c e
b u d g e t s a n d r e v e n u e s

Estimating the overall size of the space

sector is difficult since it depends on the
definition of the sector adopted and the data

source selected. Consequently the overall

size of the space sector can only be

Portraying national space budgets and commercial

revenues in a single currency can result in strong
distortions. What may look like growth in space
expenditure could turn out to be no more than a reflection
of a strengthening of a particular currency and vice-versa.

approximated, and estimates will vary from

one study to the other. However, there is a
consensus that the annual revenues of the

space sector keep increasing in overall terms

from one year to the next due to higher

institutional investments in space on the one
hand, and to sustained demand for new

applications and services on the other.

Global space budgets and commercial space

revenues are estimated by ESPI to be about

185.610 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, up from
177.415 billion U.S. dollars in 2006.

The

revenues of the total space industry are

estimated to have reached 114.205 billion

U.S. dollars up from 111.615 billion U.S.
dollars in 2006 (Figure 1). Institutional space

budgets (including civil and military budgets)

accounted for an estimated 71.405 billion
U.S. dollars in 2007, compared to 65.8 billion

U.S. dollars in 2006 (Figure 1).

2.2 Overview of
institutional space budgets

Institutional space budgets accounted for an

estimated 38.4% of global space activities in

2007 with an estimated 71.405 billion U.S.
dollars (+5.605 billion U.S. dollars compared

to 2006) (Figure 1).

Public spending for

space programmes at a global level remained
robust in 2007 following the sustained

budgetary allocation to the U.S. space budget

as well as continued growth in space
expenditure by the space agencies in Asia

and Russia.

The 2008 Space Report from the Space Foundation

sizes the global space activity revenues and budgets in
2007 at 251.16 billion U.S. dollars. The difference in
estimate is due to a narrower definition of the space sector
and its actors by ESPI. The difference for the two main
sub-sectors (institutional budgets and commercial
revenues) is indicated as footnotes to the analyses.

The 2008 Space Report estimates the size of the global

institutional space budgets at 77.25 billion U.S. dollars.
However, in this ESPI study only the direct unclassified
activities of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) are
included in the analysis as opposed to the Space Report,
which includes the overall MDA budget of 9.4 billion U.S.
dollars in its analysis.

Report 15, September 2008

However, the currency fluctuations have an

insidious effect on the size of the overall
institutional space sector. In particular, the

effect of the depreciation of the U.S. dollars

versus other major currencies, and especially

the euro, has to be emphasised.

This tends

to increase the size of institutional budget

devoted to institutional space activities when

expressed in U.S. dollar in parts of the world
with strong currencies, while in fact, the

budgets remain more or less constant when

expressed in their national currency.

It is considered that military/intelligence

investments represented, like in 2006, the

biggest part of public allocations to space
activities with about 52% of the world public

budgets. The military/intelligence segment is

dominated by the United States that invested
an estimated 35.5 billion U.S. dollars in this

domain in 2007. This figure includes DoD

space, the National Reconnaissance Office
(NRO), the National Geospatial-Intelligence

Agency (NGA) and part of the Missile Defense

Agency (MDA). However, the size of the

overall military/intelligence sector is certainly
underestimated due to the secrecy of defence

budgets in general, particularly for Russia

and China.

The euro has reached several record heights in the last

few months compared to the U.S. dollar. On 20 September
2007, the euro was worth 1.40 U.S. dollars, then on 26
February 2008, 1.50 U.S. dollars and on 22 April 2008
1.60 U.S. dollars, compared to 1.17 U.S. dollars when the
euro was introduced (+37%), but + 95% compared to its
lowest level in October 2000 (0.82 U.S. dollars).

While the total budget for civilian space

programmes are less important than the total
budgets of space military/intelligence (34.34

billion U.S. dollars were dedicated to civilian

space programmes in 2007), they are more

commonly implemented. The continuing
internationalisation and globalisation of space

affairs is leading to an increasing level of

institutional budgets allocated to civilian
space activities at a global level.

However,

while the number of countries investing in

space is growing, the difference in
investments among countries remains high,

with the major space-faring countries

representing an overwhelming majority of the

world’s institutional expenditures in space
activities (and particularly military/

intelligence ones). In general, it has been

observed that North America, Europe and
Asia are the main regions investing in

institutional space activities. The difference in

dynamics in terms of institutional
investments underlined in 2006 continued in

2007, with Asia, among others, improving its

space efforts.

In 2007, the United States and Europe

concentrated most of the resources with

about 89% of world public funding for space
activities. The United States with a budget of

about 53.586 billion U.S. dollars (a similar

level as 2006) was the main space power and
clear hegemon according to the budget

criterion. The United States accounted for

75% of global government space spending

Peter, Nicolas. “The changing geopolitics of space

activities.” Space Policy 22.2 (May 2006): 100-109.

65,800

111,615

71,405

114,205

100

120

illio

. d

lla

2006

2007

Institutional space budget

Commercial space revenues

Figure 1 Overall size of the space sector in 2006 and 2007

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

based on available information. The relative

stagnation of the United States’ overall space

budget in 2007 compared to 2006 is linked to
the fact that many U.S. government agencies

were subject to a “continuing resolution” for

Fiscal Year 2007. This is a year-long spending

resolution, also known as the Byrd/Obey plan
(from Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and

Representative David Obey (D-Wis.) (Cf.

Chapter 3). Most of the U.S. agencies were
therefore funded at the same level as the

previous year. In 2007, when considering

Europe’s consolidated budget, it spent an
estimated 9.89 billion U.S. dollars on space

activities representing about 14% of the

world’s public funding for space activities (Cf.

Chapter 4).

When looking at individual countries, the

United States is, as aforementioned, by far
the biggest spender in space activities

followed distantly by France, Japan, China,

Russia, Germany, Italy which are all
estimated to have spent more than 1 billion

U.S. dollars in 2007 (Figure 2). Without

considering the increase in the estimation of

size of the Chinese space budget, the
hierarchy is similar to that of 2006.

China’s space budget estimate generates much

speculation and is complex to appraise. The figures
presented in this study have to be considered with caution.
The value for China is estimated to have increased by
taking into account the new White Paper on Space, but
also the plans of the Commission of Science, Technology
and Industry for National Defence (COSTIND) and China
Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
(CASTC).

While the budget devoted to space

activities is a good indicator to appraise

national efforts and support in that domain,
for certain economies such as Russia, India

and China, relying solely on the absolute

volume of institutional funding is

misleading due, among other things, to
significant differences in production costs,

standards of living, as well as purchasing

power from one country to the other.
Consequently other indicators have to be

used, particularly the share of the Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) devoted to
institutional space activities in a country

and the amount of money spent per capita,

to appraise the overall national efforts and

support to space activities.

When looking at the share of GDP devoted

to institutional space activities, the United
States is the clear leader followed distantly

by Russia, France and India (Figure 3).

Twenty-two countries spent more than
0.02% of their GDP on space activities

(Figure 3).

anc

Jap

sia

rma

Ita

Indi

nad

Spai

h Ko

53586

2938 2210

2000

1836 1629

1289 964 927

384

351

338

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

ill

.S.

Figure 2 Estimate of the public space budgets of the major space powers in 2007

Report 15, September 2008

anc

Ita

erm

h Ko

0,39

0,14

0,11

0,09

0,06 0,06

0,05 0,05

0,04 0,03

0,03

0,02

0,000

0,050

0,100

0,150

0,200

0,250

0,300

0,350

0,400

ace ef

a p

rcen

Most of the countries invest between 0.022%
and 0.062% of their GDP on space affairs

(Figure 3). The good performance of several

European countries (Belgium, Finland
Switzerland, Luxembourg Sweden, Norway,

and the Netherlands) has to be underlined

(Figure 3).

When looking at the countries investing more
than 300 millions U.S. dollars in 2007, most

of the space powers spent between 0.022%

and 0.14% of their GDP for public space
activities (Figure 4). A first cluster of

countries investing more than 0.1% of their

GDP is discerned in the group composed of

Russia, France and the United States (Figure 4).

uss

anc

India

ina Ita

Jap

any

and

rael

itz

rea UK

Lux

bour

eden

anada Sp

ain

the

rlands

orw

str

0,39

0,14

0,11

0,09

0,06 0,06

0,05 0,05 0,05

0,04

0,04 0,04 0,04

0,03 0,03 0,03

0,03

0,02 0,02

0,00

0,05

0,10

0,15

0,20

0,25

0,30

0,35

0,40

ace ef

as a

rcen

Figure 3 Estimate of the public space budgets as a percentage of GDP of the major space actors in 2007

Figure 4 Estimate of the major space powers’ public space budgets as a percentage of GDP in 2007

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

anc

Ita

any

pan

ussi

h K

175

100

120

140

160

180

ace b

t p

r cap

a i

Lux

Ita

itz

rma

nla

eden

e N

her

ria

h Ko

ina

Ind

175

23 22 20

20 18 18

17 15

13 12 10

100

120

140

160

180

ace

budge

t pe

r c

lla

A second cluster of countries investing

more than 0.05% and less than 0.1% of their
GDP into public space activities consists of

India, China and Italy (Figure 4). A third

cluster of countries investing between 0.04%

and 0.05% of their GDP is made up of Japan,
Germany, and South Korea. A further cluster

made of the United Kingdom, Canada and

Spain which can be singled out as countries
investing between 0.02 and 0.03% of their

GDP in public space activities.

When looking at the national public

investment per capita, the United States is
again the leader and spent an estimated 175

U.S. dollars per citizen in 2007 (Figure 5).

France, the second-biggest spender per

capita, spent about 48 U.S. dollars per citizen
for public space activities. Like for the

previous indicator, the important national

effort of Belgium, Switzerland, Norway,
Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands

and Austria are noteworthy (Figure 5).

Figure 5 Estimate of the major space actors’ public space budgets per capita in 2007

Figure 6 Estimate of the major space powers’ public space budgets per capita in 2007

Report 15, September 2008

France

Japan

China

Russia

Germany

Italy

India

Canada

Spain

South Korea

0,02

0,04

0,06

0,08

0,1

0,12

0,14

0,16

-5

Spa ce budge t pe r ca pita in U.S. dolla rs

budge

t a

The major space powers, which invested

more than 300 million U.S. dollars in public

space investment in 2007, spent between 7
and 48 U.S. dollars per inhabitant (excluding

the United States) (Figure 6). The limited

performance of India and China on this
metric is principally due to the size of their

population.

Mapping the share of the budget devoted to

space affairs as a percentage of GPD

compared with the space budget per capita is
another informative metric.

However, the

singularity of the United States is again

The diameter of the spheres in Figures 6 and 7 indicate

the size of the national budget devoted to space activities
as an element of comparison.

USA

France

Japan

China

Russia

Germany

Italy

India

Canada

Spain

South Korea

0,00

0,05

0,10

0,15

0,20

0,25

0,30

0,35

0,40

0,45

0,50

-5

100

115

130

145

160

175

190

Space budget per capita in U.S. dollars

rce

f G

Figure 8 Mapping of the share of GDP devoted to institutional space expenditure compared to the spending

per capita of the major space powers in 2007 (without the United States)

Figure 7 Mapping of the share of GDP devoted to institutional space expenditure

compared to the spending per capita of the major space powers in 2007

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

illustrated (Figure 7). It was the only country

in 2007 that spent more than 0.15% of its

GDP on space affairs and more than 50 U.S.
dollars per citizen on space activities.

When looking at the other countries by

removing the United States, several clusters
can be distinguished (Figure 8). A first cluster

made up of Russia and France is discerned,

as both invest more than 12 U.S. dollars per
capita and more than 0.1% of their GDP on

public space activities (Figure 8). A second

cluster of countries made up of Italy,
Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom

can be seen. The countries of this cluster

spend more than 15 U.S. dollars per capita

and more than 0.033 of their GDP on public
space actors (Figure 8). A third cluster made

up of Canada, Spain and South Korea

composed of countries spending more than
seven U.S. dollars per capita and between

0.024% and 0.03% of their GDP on public

space activities can be identified (Figure 8).
The last cluster is made up of India and

China, with both countries investing less than

three U.S. dollars per inhabitants and

between 0.06% and 0.09% of their GDP
(Figure 8).

Civilian space spending is not always limited
to a national space agency, but they

represent the majority of a country’s civilian

space budget. When looking at the Top 10

agencies according to their budget, not

surprisingly, the list is dominated by the

United States, with five of the ten agencies
being U.S. agencies. Like in 2006, the DoD is

the biggest space agency in the world

followed by NASA (Figure 9). These two

agencies concentrate 54.30% of all public
funding spent on space in the world (38.78

billion U.S. dollars in 2007). The United

States also has two intelligence-related
agencies in this Top 10: the NRO, in charge

of developing and operating dedicated

intelligence and reconnaissance space
assets,and the NGA, in charge with exploiting

the data gathered. The last U.S. agency in

this Top 10 is the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S.
meteorological agency. Europe has two

agencies in this Top 10: ESA, the second

biggest civilian space agency in the world,
and CNES the French space agency. Japan,

Russia and India complete the list (Figure

9).

Compared to 2006, a slight evolution of

the rankings can be observed with CNES

overtaking JAXA and Roskosmos overtaking

NOAA in the 2007 hierarchy.

Chinese agencies are excluded from the list, because

gauging their respective size is impossible.

JAX

osk

2007

2006

udge

t in billion U

. dolla

Figure 9 Estimate of the Top 10 space institutions according to their space budget in 2007 and 2006.

(* Estimation of the Space Foundation for the DoD, NRO and NGA data.)

Report 15, September 2008

Table 2 Estimated breakdown of global

commercial space revenues in 2007

2.3 Overview of
commercial space markets

This section looks at the global economic

activity associated with commercial space

infrastructure and commercial space products
and services. There are many estimates of the

size of the commercial sector, but the lack of

consistency as well as the absence of
methodology for each analysis are common

features of most of the information published.

The quantitative information presented in this
section comes mainly from sectoral overviews

as well as open-source primary data from

revenues published by selected firms in each

sub-sector. Therefore, the compilation
presented comes from multiple sources and

reflects the best information available at the

time of publication.

ESPI results indicate that the annual revenues

of the commercial space sector increased in
overall terms from 2006 to 2007. This is due,

on the one hand, to the aforementioned

sustained institutional investments in space

and, on the other hand, to the growing
demand for new applications and services in

space communications as well as space-based

positioning and new business models in space-
based Earth observation (development of a

web-based portal using satellites imagery).

The revenues of the world commercial space
markets reached an estimated 114.205 billion

U.S. dollars in 2007 up from 111.615 billion

U.S. dollars in 2006 and therefore represent

the largest component of the global space
sector (Figure 10).

Commercial space

revenues were principally concentrated on

satellite services and ground equipment.
Those two segments combined represented

about 95% of the world commercial space

markets in 2007 (Table 2).

Most of the overall sectoral data comes from

the Satellite Industry Association

(SIA)/Futron 2008 Study entitled “State of
the Satellite Industry Report”. According to

this publication the world satellite industry

revenues reached 123 billion U.S. dollars in
2007 up from 106.1 billion U.S. dollars

(+16%) in 2006 and attained an average

growth of 11.5% for the period 2002-2007
(Figure 10).

The Space Foundation publication “The Space Report

2008” estimates the size of the global commercial space
revenues at 173.91 billion U.S. dollars for 2007. The major
difference with ESPI’s estimate is due to the addition of the
GPS equipment and chipsets markets in the Space
Foundation study that is, however, already accounted for
in its ground equipment section.

This SIA/Futron estimate however takes both

institutional and commercial revenues into consideration.

2.3.1 Satellite services

Satellite services grew more than 18% from

2006 to 2007 reaching about 73.9 billion U.S.

dollars compared to 19% from 2005 to 2006
(Figure 10). All segments of world satellite

services revenues grew (Figure 10). Satellite

services are the major source of commercial
revenues for the space sector (Figure 10). In

broad terms, the satellite services market is

made up of three sectors: Direct Broadcast
Services (DBS), the Fixed Satellite Services

(FSS), and Mobile Satellite Services (MSS).

Satellites telephony and DBS represented

three quarters of total satellite services
revenues in 2007 and reached an estimated

55.4 billion U.S. dollars, up from 46.9 billion

U.S. dollars in 2006 (Figure 11). When
adding satellite radio, the broadcasting

segment totalled 57.5 billion U.S. dollars in

2007. MSS grew modestly to reach 2.1 billion
U.S. dollars in 2007, up by 100 million U.S.

dollars from 2006 (Figure 11). Finally, FSS

and other elements such as transponder

agreements, network management services,
remote sensing and end-user broadband

grew by 2.2 billion U.S. dollars to reach 14.3

billion U.S. dollars in 2007 (Figure 11).

Direct Broadcast Services

DBS is principally made up of direct-to-home

(DTH) television and satellite radio services.

In 2007, It represented the largest portion of

communications satellite services and also
satellite services revenues with 57.5 billion

U.S. dollars as aforementioned (Figure 11).

In the domain of DTH, High Definition
Television (HDTV) has become a major driver

in terms of the demand for satellite capacity

for new services. In the United States, which
is the biggest market, there are two major

DTH services providers: DISH Network

(formerly Echostar Communications Cor-

poration) and Direct TV.

In the ESPI study, the government’s space spending has
been separated when possible from commercial revenues
to avoid double counting.

Sector of Activity

Revenues in

Billion Dollars

Satellite manufacturing

3.8

Launch industry

1.54

Ground equipment

34.3

Direct Broadcast Services

57.5

Fixed Satellite Services

14.3

Mobile Satellite Services

2.1

Insurance 0.6
Space Tourism

0.065

Total 114.205

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

3,7

35,6

21,5

3,2

9,8

39,8

22,8

2,8

10,2

46,9

25,2

7,8

52,8

28,8

2,7

62,6

34,3

3,2

11,6

73,9

100

120

140

on U

dol

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Ground equipment

Launch Industry

Satellite Manufacturing

Satellite services

The revenues of the DTH market in the

United States were estimated at about

26.617 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, up from
23.564 billion U.S. dollars in 2006. The

largest provider of DTH in the United States

is DirectTV, which at the end of 2007 had
over 16.9 million subscribers and revenues

Satellite Industry Association/Futron “State of the

Satellite Industry Report.” June 2008.

Ibid.

estimated at about 15.527 billion U.S. dollars

compared to about 13.744 billion U.S. dollars

in 2006. For 2007, DISH Network reported
total revenues of 11.09 billion U.S. dollars

compared with 9.82 billion U.S. dollars in

2006, which is an increase of 13% from last
year.

It added approximately 675 000 net

“DISH Network Reports Fourth Quarter 2007 Financial

Results.” Reuters Press Release, 26 Feb. 2008
<http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS145484
+26-Feb-2008+PNW20080226 >.

Figure 10 World satellite revenues per sector (source SIA/Futron)

Figure 11 World satellite services revenues (source SIA/Futron)

25,3

1,3

28,5

1,6

9,8

35,6

1,8

9,8

1,7

10,1

48,5

12,1

57,5

2,1

14,3

illi

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Broadcasting

Mobile

Fixed and Other

Report 15, September 2008

new subscribers leading to a total of about

13.78 million subscribers at the end of

2007.

While DTH is the dominant DBS segment,

another of the fastest growing DBS segments

is satellite radio. Satellite radio continued to
experience strong growth in 2007 fuelled

principally by subscriber growth. One of the

factors explaining the growing market

penetration of satellite radio is the increasing
availability of receivers, pre-installed or

offered as an option, in automobiles. In

2007, the revenues of this sector were of
about 2.072 billion U.S. dollars from three

firms, XM Satellite Radio, Sirius Satellite

Radio and WorldSpace, compared to about
1.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2006 (Table 3).

Most of the primary sources of revenues for

this sector are U.S.-based and come from

subscription fees, with most of the customers
subscribing to satellite radio services on an

annual or a monthly basis like for DTH.

Additional revenues are derived from
activation fees, the sale of advertising, and

the direct sale of radios and accessories.

Fixed Satellite Services

The FSS sector is the most well-established

sector in the satellite industry. According to
SIA/Futron FSS, revenues reached an

estimated 14.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2007

(Figure 11). Most of the revenues come from
the leasing of transponder capacity to

commercial and governmental customers for

video distribution and broadcasting as well as
for high-speed data distribution and internet

access. However, video applications currently

use most of FSS capacity representing about

71% of the total global C- and Ku- band FSS
transponder revenues in 2007 according to

the consulting firm Northern Sky Research

(NSR). High demand in Europe, the Middle
East/North Africa and some sectors of the

North American market continue to drive

growth in the FSS sector. Another element
driving FSS growth is the emergence of new

national operators launching their first

Ibid.

satellites such as Vietnam’s Vinasat and

Venezuela’s Venesat, or ordering new

satellites this year like Malaysia’s Measat.

Over the last several years, deregulation,

privatisation and consolidation have
significantly reshaped the FSS sector. In

particular, regional and national operators

have been acquired by larger companies and

the shareholdings of several major groups
have evolved in recent months (Cf. Chapter

5). The four biggest FSS operators now

represent altogether about 72% of the global
FSS market (Figure 12).

The Luxembourg-based SES, the industry
leader, reported strong revenues last year

despite the weakness of the U.S. dollar,

largely because of improvements at New

Skies, which manages SES capacity outside
of its core European and North American

markets. SES reported revenues in 2007 of

about 1610.7 million euros (about 2416
million U.S. dollars).

Intelsat, the second FSS operator reported
revenues of 2183.08 million U.S. dollars in

2007, an increase of about 520.4 million

U.S. dollars from last year,

principally

fuelled by the impact of the PanAmSat
acquisition in July 2006.

Most of Intelsat revenues in 2007 came from
transponder services (about 1654.321

million U.S. dollars) and by managed

services (264.038 million U.S. dollars).
When looking at sectors of revenues,

network services represented 47% of

Intelsat revenues followed by the media

sector, which represented about 37% of its

Lardier, Christian and Théo Pirard. ”Le Marché des

Satcoms à l’Heure de l’Embellie.” Air & Cosmos 22 Feb.
2008: 28-29.

“SES Reports Another Year of Strong Financial

Performance.” SES Press Release, 18 Feb. 2008
<http://www.ses.com/ses/PDFs/MediaRoom/FY2007-
et.pdf >.

“Intelsat Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007

Results.” Intelsat News Release, 20 Mar. 2008
<http://www.intelsat.com/_files/investors/financial/2008/20
08-16.pdf >.

Company

Revenues in

2007 in million

U.S. dollars

Revenues in

2006 in million

U.S. dollars

Subscribers in

2007

Subscribers in

2006

XM Satellite
Radio

1136.542 933.417 9027.000 7629.000

Sirius Satellite

Radio

922.066 637.235 8321.785 6024.555

WorldSpace 13.784

15.611

174.166

199.105

Total 2072.392

1586.263

17522.951

13852.660

Table 3 Satellite radio services revenues in 2007

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

revenues in 2007. The commercial sector

was the main source of revenues for

Intelsat, but overall, the government sector
represented 14% of Intelsat revenues in

2007, with the main customers being the

U.S. government and NATO-countries, as

well as military intelligence communities.

Eutelsat, the third ranking FSS operator has

reported rising revenues. For the 2007/2008
period,

Eutelsat had revenues of 877.8

million euros, up 5.9% from the previous

year, driven mainly by the strong dynamic
of video applications and value-added

services.

Telesat is now the fourth-largest FSS
operator in the industry following the

takeover of Telesat Canada by Loral Space &

Communications (Cf. Chapter 5). In 2007,
its total satellite services revenues were

about 241.2 million U.S. dollars with 123.4

million U.S. dollars coming from Loral
Skynet and 117.8 million U.S. dollars

coming from Telesat Canada.

In most market studies, remote sensing
revenues are included in FSS data.

Revenues for space-based Earth observation

are growing due to continuing military and

Eutelsat yearly results go from July to June.

“Eutelsat Communications Reports 2007-2008 Results

Exceeding Objectives.” 31 July 2008.

intelligence contracts as well as the

increasing development of mapping services

and, in particular, web-based portal-like
Google Earth or Virtual Earth. The

commercial high resolution Earth imagery

industry is growing and is also becoming an

increasing input in the rapidly expanding
geospatial industry. The market of optical

imagery can be split into two main

segments: the Very High Resolution (VHR)
satellites imagery market and the Medium

Resolution (MR) satellite imagery market.

According to BCC Research, the remote
sensing market was estimated at about 7.3

billion U.S dollars in 2007, with an estimated

1.9 billion U.S. dollars for Earth imagery and

related solutions for imagery and products
with a resolution of three metres or better.

The United States is the biggest market for
remote sensing as producer and user of

geospatial information, particularly for its

military and intelligence sector. This reliance
on commercial information and data is

mainly policy-driven, principally following

the 25 April 2003 “U.S Commercial Remote

Sensing Policy” whereby it is required that
U.S. Governmental agencies “rely to the

maximum practical extent on commercial

remote sensing capabilities for filling

Wilson, James. “Remote Sensing Technologies and

Global Markets.” BCC Research IAS022A Feb. 2007.

26%

24%

14%

28%

SES

Intelsat

Eutelsat

Telesat Canada

Other FSS operators

Figure 12 Estimated market shares of the main FSS operators in 2007

Report 15, September 2008

imagery and geospatial needs”.

The major

purchaser of commercial satellite imagery in

the United States is the NGA.

GeoEye and DigitalGlobe are the leaders of

the Very High Resolution (VHR) market.

2007, GeoEye reported revenues of 183.8
million U.S. dollars (147.448 million U.S.

dollars revenues from imagery and the rest

from other services) up by 22% compared
to 2006 revenues. The growth of 36.6

million U.S. dollars was attributable to a

13.3 million U.S. dollars increase on
deliveries of production services to the U.S.

Government, as well as a 10.4 million U.S.

dollars increase in other imagery sales.

While the U.S Government is GeoEye’s
largest single customer with about 100.5

million U.S. dollars in 2007 (55% of total

revenues), 36% of GeoEye total revenues
came form international customers (about

65.8 million U.S dollars). GeoEye (which

operates the Ikonos high resolution and
OrbView-2 low resolution satellites) is also

in the final preparation stages of its new

satellite GeoEye-1 scheduled to be launched

in the second half of 2008.

GeoEye-1 will

be the world’s highest-resolution commercial

remote sensing satellite with a ground

resolution of 0.41 metres in panchromatic
mode. In October 2007, GeoEye also

announced its intention to construct and

launch a new high-resolution satellite,
GeoEye-2. The contracts for satellite

equipments and parts have already been

initiated. The contract with a satellite builder

is expected to be signed in the second half
of 2008.

DigitalGlobe had revenues estimated at
151.7 million U.S. dollars in 2007, up by

42% from the previous year (106.8 million

U.S dollars). The company’s biggest
customer, accounting for 58% of its

revenues, is the NGA. An overall 68.2% of

its revenues come from defence and

intelligence customers (both in the United
States and international) and 31.8% from

commercial customers. DigitalGlobe

generated 76.3% of its revenues in the
United States and Canada (compared to

“U.S Commercial Remote Sensing Policy.” 25 Apr. 2003

<http://www.ostp.gov/galleries/press_release_files/fact_sh
eet_commercial_remote_sensing_policy_april_25_2003.p
df>.

The NGA acquires imagery and derived products on

behalf of its clients in the U.S defence, intelligence and law
enforcement agencies.

ImageSat International is another provider of VHR

satellite imagery, but information about its activities and
results are scarce.

At the time the NGA Next View contract was signed, the

launch of GeoEye1 was anticipated to take place during
the first quarter of 2007.

71.2% in 2006) and 23.7% in the rest of the

world (compared to 28.8% in 2006). In

2007, 90.9 million U.S. dollars revenues (or
almost 88%) of its defence and intelligence

revenues were generated within the United

States and Canada while 12.5 million U.S.

dollars of revenues were generated by other
international defence and intelligence

customers. In contrast, only 51.8% of its

48.3 million U.S. dollars commercial
revenues were generated in North America

compared to 23.3 million U.S. dollars in the

rest of the world. DigitalGlobe, which owns
the high-resolution QuickBrid satellite

(launched in 2001), completed the

commissioning on 26 November 2007 of the

WorldView-1 satellite launched on 18
September 2007. WorldView-1 is part of the

NGA NextView programme and was partially

financed through an agreement with the
NGA.

DigitalGlobe plans to complete the

construction of its second next-generation

satellite, WorldView-2 in late 2008 for a
launch in mid-2009. On 14 April 2008,

DigitalGlobe announced that the company

filled a registration statement with the

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
relating to a proposal initial public offering

(IPO) of its common stock of up to 205

million U.S. dollars.

Spot Image is the leader of the Medium

Resolution (MR) satellite imagery market.

In 2007, the company reported 94.6 million

euros of revenues, a 30% increase over

2006.

Spot Image’s main market in 2007

was in Asia-Pacific with 36% of revenues,
followed by Europe (34%), North America

(13%), the Middle East (6%), Africa (6%)

and Latin America (5%).

The Spot 5

satellite, launched in May 2002, is the main

source of revenues for Spot Image. The

French company expects in 2008 to order a
new medium-resolution spacecraft,

tentatively named Spot 6, with a launch

planned in 2012. In addition, while all five of

Spot’s previous satellites have been paid for
by government funds, Spot 6 will be

financed by private-sector partners. The

French space agency, CNES, will not be a
financial contributor to Spot 6, but the

French Defence Ministry and other civilian

governmental bodies are likely to remain
major customers.

QuickBird has a 0.61 metre panchromatic resolution and

a 2.44 metre resolution in multi-spectral and WolrdView-1
a 0.5 metre panchromatic resolution.

Other actors in the MR segment are selling extra

capabilities like India or Japan.

de Selding, Peter. “Spot Image’s Next Satellite Top Be

Built Mainly with Private Capital.” Space News 19.3 (21
Jan. 2008): 1+.

Ibid.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Up to now the commercial satellite imagery

business has consisted mainly of optical

imagery. However, in 2007 the successful
launches of TerraSAR-X and Radarsat-2

complemented the only operating Synthetic-

Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite (Radarsat-1)

and are consequently expected to boost the
radar imagery segment in the near future.

The main actors in this segment are

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates's
(MDA) Geospatial Services and InfoTerra.

MDA’s Geospatial Services holds the

exclusive distribution rights to Canada's SAR
satellites including Radarsat-2 launched on

14 December 2007; it is a follow-on to the

pioneer Radarsat-1 system launched in

1995. InfoTerra, a subsidiary of Astrium
services, received the first data on 15

January

2008 acquired by its first

commercial high resolution radar satellite
TerraSAR-X.

It holds the exclusive

commercial exploitation rights for TerraSAR-

X imagery and provides a variety of geo-
information products and services. Infoterra

had in 2007 a turnover of over 60 million

euros.

Mobile Satellite Services

In 2007, MSS revenues were estimated at
about 2.1 billion U.S. dollars by SIA/Futron

(Figure 11). MSS operators provide voice

and data services using a network of one or
more satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) or

geostationary orbit (GEO) and associated

ground facilities. The overall growth of MSS

revenues was driven by a growing demand
for TV and broadband as well as voice and

data services, but also by the rollout of new

applications requiring higher bandwidth. The
increasing availability of lower-cost,

lightweight terminals is also helping to drive

up demand.

The main MSS actors are the global

operators Globalstar, Iridium, Orbcomm,

and Inmarsat as well as several regional
operators providing voice, data and paging

services.

Globalstar which operates a 48 in-orbit

satellites fleet reported 21 324 new

subscribers in 2007, for a total of 284 126 on
31 December 2007 compared to 262 802 at

the end of 2006.

Globalstar posted for 2007

total revenues of about 98.398 million U.S.

The 5 RapidEye radar satellites will also be launched in

the second quarter of 2008.

TerraSar-X was launched on 15 June 2007 and will be

complemented by TanDEM-X in 2009.

“Globalstar, Inc. Announces Annual and Forth Quarter

Results for 2007.” PrimeNewswire Press Releases 12 Mar.
2008.

dollars (78.313 million U.S. dollars from

service revenues and the rest coming from

subscriber equipment sale) compared to
136.671 million U.S. dollars in 2006 (92.037

million U.S. dollars from service revenues

and the rest coming from subscriber

equipment sale).

In 2007, Globalstar’s Top

10 customers accounted for, in aggregate,

approximately 16% of its total revenues, with

the revenues from its largest customer being
6.2 million U.S. dollars or 6%.

Service sales

to U.S. government agencies constituted

approximately 11% of its total service
revenues for 2007.

Iridium offers narrow-band data, fax and

voice communications services through 66
low-Earth orbiting cross-linked satellites

operating as a fully meshed network. In

2007, Iridium revenues were about 260.4
million U.S. dollars, a 23% increase over its

2006 revenues.

This growth was principally

fuelled by an increase in the worldwide
subscriber base, which reached 234 000 at

the end of the year, a 34% increase over

2006.

Iridium reported continued strong

growth in the machine-to-machine (M2M)
market. It posted significant increases in the

volume of voice and data traffic on its

network in 2007 as well. North American
traffic was up by about 44% and the volume

of traffic in the Australia/Asia-Pacific region

increased by 47% over the same period.

For Iridium, customers operating in

international waters represent the biggest

commercial user group (about 44%).

Approximately 7% of its traffic also comes
from polar regions situated outside the

coverage provided by MSS providers using

GEO platforms.

Orbcomm operates a constellation of 29 LEO

satellites in the global commercial wireless
messaging system optimised for narrowband

communications, particularly for M2M

interface and telematics. In 2007, it began to

provide terrestrial-based cellular
communication services as well, through two

re-seller agreements with major cellular

wireless providers. At the end of last year,
Orbcomm had approximately 351 000 billable

subscriber communicators activated (an

increase by about 56.2% compared to 2006).
In 2007, Orbcomm registered total revenues

amounting to 28.152 million U.S. dollars,

Ibid.

“Iridium® Satellite Announces Q4 and Fiscal Year 2007

Results.” Iridium Press Releases 25 Feb. 2007.

Ibid.

“Iridium Use Grows Among Maritime, U.S. Customers.”

Space News 17 Sept. 2007.

Report 15, September 2008

compared to 24.250 million U.S. dollars in

2006 with 17.717 million U.S. dollars coming

from service revenues and 10.435 million
U.S. dollars from product sales.

The other main global MSS provider is the

United Kingdom-based Inmarsat, which owns
and operates a GEO satellite network and

provides communications services, such as

telephony, fax, video, email and high-speed
data services. In particular, Inmarsat is the

leading provider of satellite communications

services to the maritime sector. In 2007, it
posted revenues of 576.5 million U.S. dollars

up from 500.1 million U.S. dollars in 2006.

In 2007, Inmarsat’s maritime revenues

increased by 9% to represent 57% of its
revenues, land mobile sector increased by

8% to represent estimated revenues of 23%,

aeronautical revenues increased by 44% to
represent revenues of about 8%, and leasing

revenues increased by 10% accounting for

12% of total revenues.

Several regional MSS operators possessing

GEO satellites are also providing satellite-

based mobile telephone services to limited
geographical regions. Mobile Satellite

Ventures (MSV) provide a range of mobile

satellite communication services using two
GEO satellites and support data delivery of

voice, fax and dispatched radio services in

the United States and Canada. ICO Global
Communications successfully launched its

GEO satellite to cover North America on 14

April 2008, joining ICO's F2 MEO satellite

already in orbit. Thuraya, the United Arab
Emirates-based operator, launched its

voice/data commercial services in the Asia

Pacific region in spring 2008 following the
launch of its third satellite, Thuraya-3 in

January 2008. The Asian Cellular Satellite

System (ACeS) provides combined cellular
telephone and satellite communication

services from GEO in the Asia Pacific Region,

and particularly, throughout Southeast Asia,

including Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
China and India.

Hybrid spectrum featuring L- and S-band
digital broadcasting standards are an

emerging domain of growth in the MSS

sector. The hybrid system of smaller and less
costly hand terminals and ground towers

known as the “Ancillary Terrestrial

Component” (ATC) substantially increases

Inmarsat plc “Annual Report and Accounts 2007.”

Reuters News Release 3 Apr. 2008
<http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS122811
+03-Apr-2008+RNS20080403>.

Ibid.

bandwidth and reception, including indoors.

This technology also allows for the

development of new services like mobile
TV/audio, two-way broadband etc. After the

introduction of GEO mobile TV networks in

South Korea and Japan in 2004, the first GEO

spacecraft are poised for launch to cover
North America by ICO, TerreStar to

complement the recently launched MSV’s

satellite. In Europe, the European
Commission adopted a resolution on the

“harmonised use of radio spectrum in the 2

GHz bands for the implementation of systems
providing MSS” on 14 February 2007.

Its

aim is to simplify the licensing process and

reduce the risk of market fragmentation by

reserving S-band for MSS use and for hybrid
MSS systems associated to a Complementary

Ground Component (equivalent to the U.S.

ATC system) (Cf. Chapter 3 and 7). Five
companies are expected to bid for S-band

MSS in Europe: Inmarsat, ICO Global,

TerreStar Corp, Solaris Mobile (a joint
venture Eutelsat and SES), and Ondas Media.

2.3.2 Satellite manufacturing

According to SIA/Futron satellite manu-

facturing revenues declined from 12 billion

U.S. dollars in 2006, to 11.6 billion U.S.
dollars in 2007 (Figure 13). However,

satellite manufacturing revenues from

commercial customers grew by 27% to reach
3.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2007.

Companies involved in this sector design and

manufacture satellites, space systems and
space systems components for commercial

and government customers whose

applications include DBS, FSS, MSS, space-
based Earth observation or positioning,

navigation and timing.

2.3.3 Launch sector

Worldwide launch industry revenues

increased by 19% to reach 3.2 billion U.S.
dollars in 2007, a similar level as 2003

(Figure 14).

The U.S. government has granted mobile satellite

operators the right to use their satellite spectrum for
ground-based communications networks called Ancillary
Terrestrial Components (ATCs).

European Union. European Commission. “Commission

Decision of the 14 February 2007 on the Harmonised Use
of Radio Spectrum in the 2 GHz Frequency Bands for the
Implementation of Systems Providing Mobil Satellite
Services” 2007/98/EC. Official Journal of the European
Union 15 Feb. 2007.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

9,8

10,2

7,8

11,6

on U

. dol

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

3,7

3,2

2,8

2,7

3,2

0,5

1,5

2,5

3,5

ill

ion U

. doll

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Based on estimates from the U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2007, the

revenues of the 23 commercial launches

identified by ESPI were evaluated at about
1547.5 million U.S. dollars, an increase of

about 125 million U.S. dollars from 2006. The

breakdown of the international commercial

launch sector in 2007 was as follows: Europe
had about 840 million U.S. dollars in

Satellite Industry Association/Futron “State of the

Satellite Industry Report.” June 2008.

Satellite Industry Association/Futron “State of the

Satellite Industry Report.” June 2008.

revenues, Russia had about 476.5 million
U.S. dollars in revenues, and the United

States an estimated 150 million U.S. dollars

in revenues. Multinational revenues (Sea
Launch) were estimated at about 70 million

U.S. dollars and Indian revenues at about 11

million U.S. dollars.

The low level of revenues of Russian launch

services providers compared to their high

level of activity is mainly a result of the fact
that they are particularly active in the LEO

market which has a lower price tag than

launches to deliver satellites to GEO, the

Figure 13 World satellite manufacturing revenues (source SIA/Futron)

Figure 14 World launch industry revenues (source SIA/Futron)

Report 15, September 2008

21,5

22,8

25,2

28,8

34,3

ill

ion U

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

most lucrative market. On the contrary,

Europe’s good results can be explained by

the fact that Arianespace is launching two
payloads to GEO at the same time, and

therefore has higher revenues per launch.

2.3.4 Ground equipment

In 2007, ground equipment was the largest

source of revenues for space infrastructures.
Worldwide ground equipment revenues, the

second largest segment of space industry

revenues, reached 34.3 billion U.S. dollars in
2007, which is up 19% from 2006 (Figure

15). This rise was fuelled mostly by revenues

from consumer equipment due to an increase

in end-user terminal numbers in all sectors.

Total ground equipment revenues include

both network and consumer equipment.
Ground equipment revenues include

infrastructure elements (such as mobile

terminals, gateways, control stations) as well
as end-user equipment (like very small

aperture terminals (VSATs) and ultra small

aperture terminals (USATs)), but also

consumer equipment (DTH broadcast
satellites dishes, satellite phones and digital

audio radio satellite (DARS) equipment) and

GPS primary-use hardware. However, this

Ibid.

estimate excludes revenues from consumer

electronics incorporating GPS technology

such as mobile phones.

The global market for satellite navigation

hardware and services continued to soar in

2007. The sub-segment of end-user
electronics incorporating GPS chip sets such

as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and cell

phones is one of the fastest-growing
markets. ABI Research estimates last year’s

market for satellite navigation hardware for

the automotive industry alone at 33 billion
U.S. dollars, a six billion U.S. increase

compared to 2006.

This growth is believed

to be linked to falling prices for all types of

hardware and to the increase in the volume
of Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs) from

12 million units in 2006 to more than 24

million units in 2007.

There are also an

estimated 5.1 million mobile phones

equipped with satellite navigation.

For

2008, the PND market is expected to
continue to grow strongly by about 50% with

38 million units to be sold compared to 24.5

million units in 2007. The European market is

expected to grow by 40% from 15 million
units to 21 million units and in the United

States by 80% from 9.5 million units to 17

million units.

Brinton, Turner. “Satellite Navigation Market Continues

to Soar Worldwide.” Space News 14 Jan. 2008.

Ibid.

TomTom Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

2007.” TomTom News 21 Feb. 2008
<http://www.tomtom.com/news/category.php?ID=4&NID=4
94&Year=2008&Language=1>.

Figure 15 World ground segment equipment revenues (source SIA/Futron)

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

The two leaders in PNDs, Garmin and

TomTom posted record results in 2007 in

terms of sales, as well as revenues. Garmin
recorded total revenues of 3.18 billion U.S.

dollars, up by 79% in 2006 due to strong

sales in the automotive and mobile/segment

and sold 12 million PNDs units in 2007.

TomTom posted revenues of 1.73 billion

euros, up by 27% from 2006, and sold 9.6

million PNDs up by 104% compared to last
year.

2.3.5 Insurance sector

According to Aon, in 2007, the space

insurance market was estimated to be worth

about 600 million U.S. dollars in launch and
in-orbit premium.

In this context, several

new insurers entered the market including

Atrium, Asia Capital Re, Axa Corporate
Solutions, Elseco, Glacier Re and Korea Re.

However, according to Aon, after several

years of reducing premiums, space insurers
are targeting premium increases up to 30%

following losses in 2007. These included the

failures of the Sea Launch rocket carrying the

NSS-8 satellite, the Proton carrying the JCSat
11 and the Proton rocket carrying the AMC-

14 satellite, as well as the helium leak of the

Rascom 1 satellite. In total, claims are
estimated to reach about 835 million U.S.

dollars for 2007, prompting the

aforementioned reassessment of insurer’s
premium rating.

2.3.6 Emerging commercial markets

The size of the commercial orbital and

suborbital human spaceflight sector was

estimated at about 65 million U.S. dollars in
2007.

In the domain of orbital space tourism, in April
2007, Charles Simony became the fifth space

tourist. Then, on 28 September 2007, Space

Adventures announced that game developer

and son of former NASA astronaut, Richard
Garriott, would fly to the International Space

Station (ISS) in October 2008 onboard a

Soyuz as the sixth space tourist for a ten-day
flight for an estimated 30 million U.S. dollars.

Garriott will be conducting research for

“Garmin Reports Best Quarter and Best Year in

Company History, Announces Share Repurchase Program,
Offers 2008 Guidance.” PR Newswire 20 Feb. 2008
<http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGarmin/invRelations/relea
ses/Q42007EarningsPressRelease.pdf>.

“TomTom Reports fourth quarter and full year results

2007” TomTom News, 21 Feb. 2008
<http://www.tomtom.com/news/category.php?ID=4&NID=4
94&Year=2008&Language=1>.

“Pivotal Time for Space Insurance as Insurers Look for

Rates to Lift-off.” Aon News Release 20 Mar. 2008.

Ibid.

ExtremoZyme Inc., on protein crystallisation

experiments with proteins, which have

important cellular functions and are usually
associated with common human diseases. It is

expected that these experiments will enable

researchers to learn more about the molecular

details of these proteins which is essential for
protein engineering and structure-guided drug

design.

On 11 June 2007, it was announced that

Google co-founder Sergey Brin put down a

five million U.S. dollars deposit towards a
future orbital flight as the first member of the

newly established “Orbital Mission Explorers

Circle” created by Space Adventures. This

programme allows individuals to reserve
seats on future orbital spaceflights. Six

“Founding Explorer” positions in the “Orbital

Mission Explorers Circle” have been created
with Brin being the first “Founding Explorer”.

Space Adventures acquired Zero Gravity Corp

in early 2008 which provides weightless flight
experience (Cf. Chapter 5).

On 1 February 2008, Bigelow Aerospace

announced that progress was being made in
negotiations with United Launch Alliance

(ULA) for six initial launches for Bigelow’s

commercial space station to begin assembly
and early operation, starting around 2011.

Once the orbital facility becomes fully

operational, Bigelow expects to conduct a
dozen launches per year. Bigelow and ULA

have already been working together to study

the possibility to human-rate the Atlas V

launch vehicle.

While it is difficult to accurately gauge the

eventual size of suborbital space tourism as a
space business, the emerging private space-

travel industry has seen some developments

in the past months that might lead to a price
competition years before the first privately-

financed vehicles are scheduled to begin

flying. For the last few years, commercial

suborbital spaceflight has been virtually
synonymous with a single company: Virgin

Galactic, but other newcomers are poised to

enter the market.

In New York (USA), on 23 January 2008

Virgin Galactic unveiled the design of its
launch system the SpaceShipTwo (SS2)

planned to carry customers in space

, and

its carrier aircraft, the White Knight II (WK2).

An estimated 250 prospective customers
have signed up for suborbital trips through

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 27.

While SpaceShipOne could carry only 3 persons, SS2

will carry 2 pilots and 6 paying customers.

Report 15, September 2008

direct contact with Virgin Galactic or its

network of about 90 agents worldwide,

generating about 35 million U.S. dollars in
ticket purchases and deposits. Virgin Galactic

has reported an after-tax profit of 274 800

U.S. dollars in the first publicly available

financial account since the establishment of
the company in June 2006.

Total costs for

the project are estimated at 250 million U.S.

dollars and the first commercial flight is
foreseen for 2010-2011. About 100 million

U.S. dollars are estimated to have been spent

thus far. Pending successful developments, a
fleet of two MK2s and five SS2s will be

constructed and Virgin Galactic has an option

to buy seven more SS2s. In the first year of

operation, Virgin Galactic foresees one flight
per week just over 40 weeks and generating

50 million U.S. dollars. However, after three

years of operations, Virgin Galactic plans to
conduct ten flights per week for 50 weeks

generating revenues of about 600 million

U.S. dollars per year.

Virgin Galactic’s first launch site will be in

Sierra County in the United States. In this

context, following the successful spaceport
tax referendum in the Doña Ana County,

New Mexico, towards the development of

Spaceport America in April 2007, another
successful referendum was conducted and

passed in Sierra County, also in New Mexico

on 24 April 2008. Like in the Doña Ana
County vote, an increase in the sales tax in

the county was at stake to finance part of

the project.

Virgin Galactic’s second launch

site is foreseen to be at Sweden’s Esrange
launch site with flights beginning in the

2012-2013 timeframe. Swedish authorities

hope in this context to lower the cost and
regulatory barriers to the operation by

having space tourism classified as a

sounding rocket and granted the tax
advantages of hot-air balloon flights. South

Australia and Victoria, both in Australia, are

also being considered as launch sites for

Virgin Galactic.

On 26 March 2008, XCOR Aerospace unveiled

plans for a rocket-powered suborbital space

Coppinger, Rob. “Sales are Rocketing at Virgin

Galactic.“ Flight Global 25 Mar. 2008
<http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/03/25/222290/s
ales-are-rocketing-at-virgin-galactic.html >.

Ibid.

A provision of State law, indicate that the money that the

tax would have collected in the Doña Ana County could
not be spent until a spaceport “tax district” is created, and
that cannot be done until another county or locality
approves the tax.

Deery, Shannon and Elissa Doherty. “SA on Shortlist for

Space Base.” 13 Apr. 2008
<http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,235
30233-2682,00.html >.

plane, to be known as the Lynx, designed to

carry a pilot and a passenger or payload

taking off and landing from a conventional
airport. The foreseen inaugural launch date

for this two-seat spaceship is 2010. The

vehicle will be substantially smaller, slower,

and less expensive that other suborbital
vehicles by flying only to a peak altitude of

60 kilometres above the Earth for a two-

minute weightlessness period rather than
above 100 kilometres. XCOR hopes to make

its spaceflights available for considerably less

than Virgin Galactic’s ones, on the order of
100 000 U.S. dollars compared to 200 000

U.S. dollars for Virgin Galactic and 267 000

U.S. dollars for EADS Astrium. Moreover, the

company would sell blocks of rides to
resellers who would offer value-added

services. The U.S. Air Force Research

Laboratory has already agreed to use the
Lynx as a platform to test the performance of

space hardware in weightlessness conditions.

In the future XCOR aims to roll out a more
powerful version of the Lynx, featuring dual

engines to reach higher altitudes.

On 13 June 2007, EADS Astrium disclosed
the basic design of the space plane it

proposes to build for suborbital space tourism

venture. Astrium intends to build a four-
passenger rocket-equipped jet designed to

take off from a normal runway (liquid

methane and liquid oxygen engine) by raising
about one billion euros to complete the

vehicle’s development and order the first

models. However, as of mid-2008, the search

for financial partners was not successful.
In the field of suborbital flights, in 2007, nine

flights were conducted under the authority of

the FAA experimental permits for the
development of reusable suborbital rockets,

three more than in 2006. All 2007 flights

were conducted by two companies (Blue
Origin and Armadillo Aerospace) and all nine

flights used vertical-takeoff and landing with

three different vehicles (Table 4).

Following the success of the ten million U.S.

dollars Ansari X Prize, the X Prize Foundation

launched a new space prize on 17 September
2007 by teaming up with Google Inc. to offer

up to 30 million U.S. dollars for the first

privately funded team to send a robot to the
moon, travel 500 metres and transmit video

(so-called “Mooncast”), images and data back

to the Earth. The first team able to

accomplish this before 30 December 2012
will win 20 million U.S. dollars.

For more information, see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 27.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

After that deadline, the prize drops to 15

million U.S. dollars for two more years, and
then expires entirely. Unlike the original

Ansari X Prize, the Google Lunar X Prize has

a second place with a purse of five million

U.S. dollars with the deadline set at the end
of 2014 as well. An additional five million

U.S. dollars have been reserved for “bonus”

prizes such as taking images of Apollo and/or
other human artefacts left on the moon. Like

the Ansari X Prize, the Google Lunar X Prize

is intended for the private sector, since at
least 90% of the funding for each team must

come from private sources. A series of

partnerships to help potential teams has also

been announced, in particular, with Space X
and the Universal Space Network providing

services to teams at discounted prices.

On 22 February 2008, the X Prize Foundation

and Google announced the first ten teams to

Chandah, FredNet, LunaTrex, Micro-Space,

Quantum3, Southern California Selene Group

(SCSG)) and three from Europe (Aeronautics
and Cosmonautics Romanian Association

(ARCA) from Romania, Odyssey Moon from

the Isle of Man and Team Italia from Italy).
As of the end of June, 13 teams were

registered, the above plus a “Mystery Team”,

the team Stellar and JURBAN all from the
United States and Advaeros, a multinational

team. In the mean time, SCSG withdrew

from the contest.

Flight date

Operator

Vehicle

Launch Site

22 March 2007

Blue Origin

Goddard

West Texas Launch Site

19 April 2007

Blue Origin

Goddard

West Texas Launch Site

2 June 2007

Armadillo Aerospace

Pixel

Oklahoma Spaceport

2 June 2007

Armadillo Aerospace

Pixel

Oklahoma Spaceport

20 October 2007

Armadillo Aerospace

MOD 1

Holloman AFB

27 October 2007

Armadillo Aerospace

MOD 1

Holloman AFB

27 October 2007

Armadillo Aerospace

MOD 1

Holloman AFB

28 October 2007

Armadillo Aerospace

MOD 1

Holloman AFB

28 October 2007

Armadillo Aerospace

MOD 1

Holloman AFB

Table 4 2007 FAA-Permitted Flight Events (source FAA)

Report 15, September 2008

Chapter 3 – Global Space Policies and
Strategies

In the period ranging from mid-2007 to mid-

2008, major developments occurred in several

space-faring countries at the policy and
strategy levels, notably in Japan where the

new “Basic Space Law” has finally been

adopted. This period was, however, marked

by fewer major policies put forth by the major
space actors compared to the 2006/2007

period. Nonetheless, the new developments

witnessed in the implement-tation of the
policies recently adopted as well as in the

developments of new strategies by emerging

space actors in various parts of the world tend
to underline the growing quest for enhancing

national competitiveness in an ever-increasing

international and global space context.

3 . 1 E u r o p e

The period 2007/2008 was particularly

dynamic and successful for Europe (defined

as the EU, ESA, Eumetsat and their member
States). Following the adoption of the first

European Space Policy in May 2007,

subsequent months focused on implementing

this policy. Major developments also occurred
at the programmatic-level such as the

resolution of some of the difficulties of the

Galileo programme, but also policy
statements on space affairs by the executive

or legislative branch in France, Germany and

the United Kingdom.

3 . 2 E u r o p e a n S p a c e
A g e n c y

After the adoption of the European Space

Policy, efforts in recent months have focused
on implementing it and other programmatic

elements as well as on preparing the ESA

Council meeting at the Ministerial Level
scheduled for November 2008. ESA was also

particularly active in 2007/2008 on the

technical and scientific side.

The year 2008 was a historical period for

human spaceflight activities in Europe. First,

the European Columbus orbital laboratory
launched by NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis

(STS-122 mission) was attached to the

International Space Station (ISS) on 11

February 2008. The hatch between the ISS
and Columbus was opened a day later. This

significant milestone marks Europe’s new

status as a full partner and co-owner of the

International Space Station (ISS).

Second,

the first ESA re-supply and reboot vehicle,

the Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) named

Jules Verne, successfully performed a fully-
automated docking procedure with the ISS

on 3 April 2008. The 19-tons ATV aims to

deliver cargo, propellant, water, oxygen and
propulsion capability to the station.

As ESA

now contributes to ISS operations mainly

through ATV, the Agency can expect to

regularly send European astronauts to
perform long-duration stays onboard as

members of the resident crew. Subsequent to

these two milestones, ESA opened a call for
astronauts on 19 May 2008 to recruit four

candidates from its 17 member States to

become join the European Astronauts Corps.
This is the first call to recruit European

astronauts since 1992. Final appointments

will be officially announced in 2009.

Progress was also achieved in the Galileo and

the Global Monitoring for Environment and

Security (GMES) programmes to ensure the
transition from the pre-operational phase to

the operational phase.

For Galileo, GIOVE-B was successfully

launched on 27 April 2008 and began

transmitting navigation signals on 7 May

2008. Europe now has two GIOVE satellites in
orbit (GIOVE-A and B). Following the re-

profiling of the Galileo programme, ESA is

now the maître d’oeuvre for the whole
programme (Cf. Chapter 7). Finally, in late

June 2008, the selection process for the

Galileo contractor for the six work packages
of the Galileo satellite navigation system

started.

The Commission and ESA have

Further European-built ISS elements are still under

preparation to be launched to the ISS within the decade,
such as the Material Science Laboratory (MSL), the
Muscle Atrophy Research and Exercise System (MARES)
and the European Robotic Arm (ERA), the Node-3 and the
Cupola observation deck.

The ATV carries about three times as much payload

mass as Russia’s Progress freighters.

The six work packages are system support, ground

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

opted for the procurement procedure of

“Competitive Dialogue” (Cf. Chapter 7).

On 27 September 2007, ESA’s member States

participating in the GMES programme

approved the transition to Phase-2 of Segment

1 of the GMES Space Component Programme
allowing it to make progress on the

development of the Sentinel satellite series

and, in particular, to build Sentinel 1, 2 and 3
with the necessary ground segment. The

oversubscription of the programme by the ESA

Council at the Ministerial Level in Berlin
(Germany) in 2005 was confirmed with an

oversubscription to Phase-2 of 116%. On 14

April 2008, Thales Alenia Space signed a 305

million euros contract to provide the Sentinel-
3 satellite, which is dedicated to oceanography

and land vegetation monitoring, with a

planned launch for 2012. Then, on 17 April
2008 ESA and Astrium signed a 195 million

euros contract for the Sentinel-2 satellite

devoted to monitoring the land environment
with a planned launch for 2012.

On 27 May 2008, ESA and Astrium also

signed a 263 million euros contract for the
development of the sixth Earth Explorer

mission of ESA’s Living Planet Programme,

the Earth Care satellite. This satellite will
address the need for a better understanding

of the interaction between clouds, radiative

and aerosol processes that play a role in
climate regulation. It is scheduled for launch

in 2013.

In the field of communications, ESA and
Inmarsat announced on 23 November 2007

the formal signature of the contract for the

Alphasat satellite, making Inmarsat the first
customer of the Alphabus platform jointly

developed by Astrium and Thales Alenia

Space and initiated by a partnership between
ESA and CNES. Alphasat will be available for

launch in 2012. In addition to the Inmarsat

payload, it will carry three ESA-produced

Technology Demonstration Payloads (TDPs).

The development of ESA future scientific

missions is also on-going. Among others, on
18 January 2008, the industrial contract of

BepiColombo was signed between ESA and

Astrium. BepiColombo will consist of two
spacecraft, one orbiter for planetary

investigation led by ESA, and one for

magnetospheric studies led by the Japanese

space agency (JAXA). After a six-year
journey BepiColombo is expected to make

the most extensive and detailed study of

Mercury ever attempted.

mission segment, ground control segment, space segment
(satellites), launch services and operations.

New scientific missions are also being

considered for development in the context of

the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025, with the
themes ranging from the conditions for life

and planetary formations, to the origin and

future of the solar system, and the origin,

structure and evolution of the universe. The
initial selection of missions was made in

summer 2007. Nine missions were selected

from 50 proposals gathered within the
framework of a dedicated call in spring 2007.

For the domain of the solar system the

following missions were short listed: Laplace,
a mission studying the Jovian system;

Tandem a new mission to Saturn; Titan and

Enceladus; Cross-scale to study near-Earth

space, and Marco Polo an asteroid sample-
return mission.. In the field of astronomy,

Euclid a mission to study dark matter and

energy, Plato a planet finder mission, Xeus a
next generation X-ray space observatory,

Spica a next generation infrared observatory,

and LISA a space interferometer to detect
gravitational waves were short-listed. The

assessment cycle will end in 2011, with a first

selection foreseen in 2009. At the end of this

process two missions (one class M mission
and one class L mission) will be selected to

be launched in the 2017-2018 horizons.

ESA was also active in defining future

exploration activities individually or within the

framework of international cooperation. In
particular, the International Space

Exploration Conference was organised by ESA

and DLR on 8-9 November 2007 in Berlin

(Germany) to discuss future missions to the
moon, Mars, and beyond. The conference

was a first step for the definition of a

roadmap for space exploration which will be
presented to the ESA Council on Ministerial

Level in November 2008.

Progress was also made on launch vehicles

development such as on rocket engines in the

context of ESA’s Future Launchers

Preparatory Programme (FLPP) with the first
hot firing test in February 2007 of a reduced-

scale demonstrator version of a staged

combustion rocket engine. Major milestones
in the development of the Vega launcher,

which will serve the small to mid-sized

satellite launch market, were also achieved in
2007/2008. A prototype of the P80 rocket

motor which will power the first stage of the

3-stage vehicle was successfully tested on 4

December 2007 at the Guiana Space Centre
(GSC), concluding the qualification of the

engine. Then, on 27 March 2008, the second

stage engine, Zefiro 23, completed a static
firing test at the Salto Di Quirra Inter-force

Test Range in Italy, achieving the

qualification testing of the engine. Progress
on the construction of Soyuz’s launch site at

Report 15, September 2008

the GSC continued and the assembly work on

the Soyuz launch pad is expected to start in

August 2008. The first Soyuz launch from
Kourou is planned for spring 2009.

In the last few months, ESA’s membership

has evolved. An agreement on closer
cooperation between ESA and Slovenia was

signed on 28 May 2008 making Slovenia the

second recent EU member State to sign a
cooperative agreement with ESA after Estonia

in June 2007. It is now expected that in a few

years Slovenia will become a European
Cooperating State. On 28 April 2008, Poland

signed the Plan for European Cooperating

State Charter as a follow-up to its signature

of the European Cooperating State
Agreement in April 2007. Poland is the fourth

country to subscribe to the Plan for European

Cooperating State (PECS) after Hungary, the
Czech Republic and Romania.

ESA also continues to expand its international
cooperation efforts. On 8 May 2008, the

cooperation agreement between Argentina

and ESA was renewed for five years. ESA also

reinforced its cooperation with China. The ESA
ground station network, and in particular, its

three ESTRACK (European Space Tracking)

stations provided direct support to critical
phases of Chinese Chang’e-1 lunar mission. In

return for ESA’s tracking services, China will

share scientific data generated by the mission.
Furthermore, following the success of the

Earth observation Dragon Programme, the

programme’s second phase, Dragon 2 started

in May 2008 for four years. From 16 projects
in Dragon 1, the number of projects has been

increased to 25 under Dragon 2. The Dragon

Programme is designed to encourage
increased exploitation of ESA and Chinese

Earth observation satellite data by China. ESA

continued as well to investigate potential
cooperation with NASA, particularly in the

domain of space exploration. ESA and NASA

worked on comparative lunar architectures as

well as preliminary elements of Mars sample
return missions.

The European Space Astronomy Centre
(ESAC) located on the outskirts of Madrid

(Spain) was inaugurated on 7 February 2008,

making it the sixth ESA establishment (plus
ESA headquarters, liaison offices in

Washington and Moscow and an office in

Brussels) and the first in Spain. ESAC is

ESA’s centre for space science covering
astronomy as well as solar system explo-

ration activities.

3 . 3 E u r o p e a n U n i o n

While the EU does not yet have direct
responsibility for space issues despite the

adoption of the May 2007 European Space

Policy, it is foreseen that the role of the EU
will increase in the near future with the entry

into force of the “Lisbon Treaty”, or an

alternative document.

A new treaty, the

“Treaty amending the Treaty on European

Union and the Treaty establishing the

European Community” known as the “Lisbon

Treaty” is set to replace the European
Constitution, which was rejected by voters in

France and the Netherlands in 2005 (Cf.

Chapter 1).

The “Lisbon Treaty” aims to

enhance the efficiency of the EU with a major

focus on the reorganisation of the

institutional and decision making processes of
the EU. It creates the legal framework for

action by the EU in certain areas not pre-

viously explicitly covered including space.

Using a very similar wording as in the Treaty
Establishing a Constitution for Europe of 2004

(“the Draft Constitutional Treaty”), the Lisbon

Treaty refers to “space” in two articles.

Article 4.3 states that:

•

“In the areas of research, technological

development and space, the Union shall

have competence to carry out activities,

in particular to define and implement
programmes; however, the exercise of

that competence shall not result in

Member States being prevented from
exercising theirs."

Article 189, included in the Title XIX headed
"Research and technological development

and space", states that:

•

“To promote scientific and technical
progress, industrial competitiveness and

the implementation of its policies, the

Union shall draw up a European space
policy. To this end, it may promote joint

initiatives, support research and

technological development and
coordinate the efforts needed for the

exploration and exploitation of space.

•

In order to reach the objectives referred

to in paragraph 1, the European

The consequences of the rejection on 12 June 2008 of

the referendum in Ireland for the adoption of the “Lisbon
Treaty” are still unclear, but the ratification process is
expected to continue and no major modifications to the
articles dealing with space affaires are foreseen should a
new document be drafted.

This treaty was scheduled to enter into force on 1

January 2009 provided that all 27 member States would
have ratified it.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Parliament and the Council, acting in

accordance with the ordinary legislative

procedure, shall establish the necessary
measures, which may take the form of a

European space programme, excluding

any harmonisation of the laws and

regulations of the Member States.

•

The Union shall establish any appropriate

relations with the European Space

Agency.

•

This Article shall be without prejudice to

the other provisions of this Title.”

The provisions of the Lisbon Treaty thus

clearly assign the area of competence for the

space field as a “support competence” to the

European Union.

In the 2007/2008 period, the three main

areas of activities of the EU and its services
were their involvement in the Galileo and the

GMES programmes, as well as the mobile

satellite services (MSS) regulations.

The Commission Communication of 19

September 2007 entitled “Progressing

Galileo: Re-Profiling the European GNSS
Programmes” reassessed the importance of

Galileo both geopolitically and commercially.

This Communication aimed at salvaging the
European Global Navigation Satellite System

(GNSS) programmes, and in particular, to

clarify that Galileo and EGNOS project
deployment phases will be funded by the

European Community. In an effort to secure

those projects, a proposition to use unspent

agriculture funds as well as administration
funds has been made for a total of 2.42

billion euros for the 2007-2013 period (Cf.

Chapter 7).

Subsequently, a proposed

amendment to the “Decision of the European

Parliament and of the Council, amending the

Inter-institutional Agreement of 17 May 2006
on budgetary discipline and sound financial

management as regards the multi-annual

financial framework” was presented by the

Commission on 5 December 2007 in order to
adjust the 2007-2013 budget of the EU to

extract 2.7 billion euros for the Galileo and

the European Institute of Innovation and
Technology projects.

97 , 98

Following the

It is estimated that altogether, Galileo’s cost should be

about 4.9 billion euros with 1.5 billion euros already spent,
1 billion euros previously set aside and the supplementary
2.4 billion euros.

“Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council,

amending the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006
on budgetary discipline and sound financial management
as regards the multiannual financial framework.” presented
by the Commission, COM (2007) 783 final, Brussels 5 Dec.
2007.

On 11 December 2007, the Council adopted the

amended version of EU’s financial framework for 2007-
2013.

adoption of the aforementioned amended

proposal by the European Parliament and

Council, the management structure of the
programme was modified with, among

others, the creation of a Galileo Inter-

institutional Panel (GIP) composed of seven

representatives (three from the Council,
three from the European Parliament and 1

from the Commission) scheduled to meet

four times per year to cooperate on decisions
on annual work programmes (Cf. Chapter 7).

Furthermore, while ESA is now the maître

d’oeuvre and has the authority to issue the
contract, the EU rules will prevail over the

ESA geographic return policy, since Galileo is

being funded by EU funds. Altogether, the

developments of the last few months
illustrate that for various political

stakeholders in Europe, Galileo remains a

justifiable enterprise solely on the basis that
it will provide Europe with autonomy

regarding space-based global positioning,

naviation and timing rather than just for
economic motives. On 25 June 2008, the

Commission issued an Invitation to tender for

the six work packages of the Galileo satellite

navigation system, and on 1 July 2008, the
Commission and ESA launched the pro-

urement of the programme (Cf. Chapter 7).

At a technical level, major progress on

Galileo was also made in 2007/2008. The

U.S. and the EU “joint compatibility and
interoperability working group” solved

technical challenges in July 2007 to ensure

that the Galileo and the GPS systems are

compatible for joint security issues and
commercial purposes.

However, because of

this agreement to make compatible signals

between the future GPS III and Galileo
satellites, GIOVE-B’s launch was delayed

from March to April 2008 in order to modify

the Navigation Signal Generation Unit
(NGSU) and to wait for seasonal eclipse

phenomena to pass.

100

GIOVE-B was

successfully launched on 27 April 2008 on a

Starsem rocket from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome and since 7 May 2008, it has

been transmitting the GPS-Galileo common

signal.

Progress was also made on the other EU

flagship programme, GMES. In particular, the
European Commission approved new funding

to purchase a new family of space-based

“US and EU Announce Final Design for GPS-Galileo

Common Civil Signal.” IP/07/1180 27

July 2007.

100

Coppinger, Rob. “GIOVE-B signal generator modified

as launch slips to April.” Spaceflight 16 Jan. 2008
<http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/01/16/220838/gi
ove-b-signal-generator-modified-as-launch-slips-to-
april.html >.

Report 15, September 2008

platforms.

101

On 28 February 2008, ESA and

the European Commission signed an

agreement for transferring the management
of funds of a volume of 624 million euros of

the Commission’s budget to ESA in order to

build GMES components. Funding will be

distributed into two stages: 419 million euros
for segment 1 and 295 million euros for

segment 2.

102

Another major development in European

space affairs is the proposal for the selection

and authorisation of systems providing MSS
that has been presented by the Commission

and agreed upon by the European Parliament

and the Council. This initiative aims to

promote a competitive internal market for
MSS to ensure that those transnational

services work at their best potential. On 22

August 2007, the Commission transmitted to
the European Parliament and the Council, a

proposal providing a legal framework for new

mechanisms on the selection and
authorisation of systems providing MSS (Cf.

Chapter 7). It lays down Community

procedure for the common selection at EU-

level of MSS operators; it also mentions
provisions for the coordinated authorisation

by national authorities of selected operators

to use the radio spectrum for the operation of
such systems in the EU.

103

The Commission proposal has been
subsequently examined by the Transport,

Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council

during the Portuguese and Slovenian

Presidencies (Cf. Chapter 7). Negotiations with
the European Parliament started under the

Slovenian Presidency, and on 18 April 2008, a

compromise was reached on the Commission
proposal. On 21 May 2008, the European

Parliament adopted on the basis of a first-

reading compromise the Commission’s
proposal (652-16-10) with only one provision

stating that no more than 15 MHz from Earth

to space and 15 MHz from space to Earth can

be assigned to one applicant. Then, on 16
June 2008, a decision of the European

Parliament and the Council on the selection

and authorisation of systems providing MSS
was published. Finally, the Council (on

Agriculture and Fisheries) adopted a decision

taken by a qualified majority vote of the

101

de Selding, Peter. “Europe Makes Earth Observation a

Priority.” Space News 19.14 (7 Apr. 2008): 20.

102

“GMES secures European Commission funding.“ Space

News, business report 15 Feb. 2008.

103

Under current EU communications’ rules, national

authorities licence operators of satellite communications
and, the existing regulations of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) only have procedures for
radio frequency coordination to avoid unacceptable
interference between satellites, but not for licensing those
systems.

European Parliament and the Council on 23

June 2008, establishing a common framework

for the selection and authorisation of systems
providing MSS. The target date for completing

the EU selection process is early 2009.

Space is increasingly being used as a tool for
foreign diplomacy by the EU and its

services.

104

The EU established a series of

bilateral dialogues with other space powers,
particularly the United States and Russia.

The most recent EU-US Dialogue on Civil
Space cooperation took place on 28 May

2008.

105

The agenda items of the meeting

were space policy updates, satellite

navigation, space exploration, regulatory
issues, Earth observation, United Nations

issues and security issues. The information

exchange was considered very positive by
both sides and specific areas of cooperation

have been identified in Earth observation by

the United Nations Committee on the
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS)

regarding coordination and security issues.

The third meeting of the Steering Board of
the EU-Russia Dialogue on Space Cooperation

took place on 24 June 2008 in Paris (France).

Set up in March 2006, the dialogue covers
space applications (satellite navigation, Earth

observation and communications) access to

space (launchers and future space
transportation systems) space science and

space technology development. At the last

meeting, the three partners (EC, ESA and the

Russian Federal Space Agency) reported on
the progress in establishing a regular

dialogue at the working level in the

aforementioned fields. The Steering Board
identified priorities for the period 2008-2009

in each of the following sectors: Earth

observation, satellite navigation, satellite
communication, fundamental space science,

applied space science and technology, launch

systems and Crew Space Transportation

System.

While the EU already has existing relations

and cooperation with major space powers, it
is also extending its reach. In particular,

during the EU-Africa Summit, a “GMES for

Africa” event was organised in December
2007.

106

Mutual commitments and strategic

partnerships have been reiterated and eight

104

Peter, Nicolas. “The EU’s Emergent Space Diplomacy.”

Space Policy 23.2 (May 2007): 97-107.

105

This dialogue set up in 2006 aims to facilitate the

exchange of information and to foster mutual
understanding of policies, programmes, priorities and
structures.

106

Pisani, Pierre-Henri. “"GMES and Africa" A Hopeful

Case for Euro-African Cooperation in Space
Development.” ESPI Perspectives 6 Apr. 2008.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

priority actions have been proposed,

including one action explicitly concerning

space activities (Cf. Chapter 7).

Within the EU, a “space Code of Conduct” is

currently under development within the

European Council’s Working Group on Global
Arms Control and Disarmament matters

(CODUN) that discusses small arms and other

disarmament issues including space (Cf.
Chapter 6).

107

Finally, following Vice-President for Justice,
Freedom and Security Marco Frattini’s

resignation in April 2008, a series of

leadership changes occurred in the

Commission. Vice-president Jacques Barrot
previously in charge of Transport replaced Mr

Frattini as Vice President for Justice, Freedom

and Security for the rest of the mandate.
Consequently, on May 2008, Antonio Tajani

replaced Mr Barrot as Vice-President for

Transport.

3 . 4 E u m e t s a t

In 2007/2008, the European Organisation for

the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

(Eumetsat) continued its evolution by
starting new activities. During its 63

Council

meeting in December 2007, several decisions

were taken:

•

The green light was given for the

necessary activities to start in January

2008 for the Meteosat Third Generation
(MTG) preparatory programme;

•

A six-year contract for EUNETCast Europe

Service (2009-2014) was approved;

•

The EUMETCast South America service

was extended for an additional 2 years;

•

A cooperation with NOAA on the use of
the McMurdo station in Antarctica was

approved in order to receive data from

Metop-A;

•

A memorandum of understanding (MOU)
was approved with Canada to foster

cooperation regarding weather, climate

and environment monitoring activities.

108

107

The Working Group on Global Arms Control and

Disarmament (CODUN) is one of the two preparatory
bodies of the General Affairs and External Relations
Council (GAREC) which meets at ministerial level, the
other is the Working Group on Non-Proliferation. CODUN
meets once a month in Brussels and is attended by senior
disarmament and non-proliferation officials from the EU
member States. The Working Groups are served by
personnel from the non-proliferation and disarmament
sections of the Council’s General Secretariat. Officials
from the EC participate in all meetings.

108

“Eumetsat Agrees to provide Data for GMES.”

Eumersat Press Release 3 July 2008

Following the successful launch of the first

Metop polar-orbiting satellite (Metop-A) in

October 2006, Eumetsat continued to expand
its core mission of providing operational

meteorological observations in recent

months. In particular, it included ocean

surface topography in its portfolio, following
the successful launch of Jason-2 ocean

altimetry satellite on 20 June 2008. Jason-2’s

Ocean Surface Topography Mission is
expected to provide a vital contribution to the

monitoring of climate change, ocean

circulation and weather. It is the continuation
of the existing successful cooperation

between the United States (NASA, NOAA)

and Europe (CNES, Eumetsat). Eumetsat will

act as an interface for near-real-time product
distribution to European users. On 27 March

2007, Eumetsat and the European

Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC)
also signed an agreement to initiate

collaboration in order to join their efforts

regarding environmental challenges created
by climate change, with an emphasis on

developing countries.

109

Completing Eumetsat's push into new
activities, the European meteorological

agency continues to broaden its geographical

presence. In addition to cooperation with the
United States on its Meteosat spacecraft

placed over the Indian Ocean Region,

Eumetsat will continue its involvement in
South America (see above), but also in

Africa. On 4 April 2008, Eumetsat and the

African Union Commission have signed a

MOU on how Eumetsat will contribute to the
African Monitoring of the Environment for

Sustainable Development (AMESD) project by

providing data from its satellites as well as
technical assistance and training.

110

Eumetsat

continued to reinforce its trans-Atlantic ties

as well. Besides the Jason-2 mission with the
United States, on 18 October 2007, as

aforementioned, it initiated a MOU with

Canada to advance cooperation in satellite

monitoring activities. In particular, under this
agreement, Europe and Canada will work

together to improve weather, climate and

environmental monitoring through the
observation of the atmosphere and oceans.

<http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/Media/Press_Releas
es/706470?l=en >.

109

The agreement signed foresees the provision of data

generated by the JRC’s African, Caribbean and Pacific
(ACP) Observatory for Sustainable Development to African
countries via EUMETCast, which is Eumetsat’s near-real-
time broadcast system for environmental data.

110

AMESD, is the follow-on initiative to Preparation for the

Use of Meteosat Second Generation in Africa (PUMA). It is
an international cooperation programme aimed at
providing all African countries with the resources required
to manage their environment more effectively and ensure
long-term sustainable development in the region.

Report 15, September 2008

Finally, Eumetsat also extended it member-

ship in 2007/2008, with Slovenia becoming

the latest full member of the organisation in
February 2008. It now has 21 member States

(Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland,

France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,

Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom)

and nine cooperating States (Bulgaria, the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland,

Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania).

3.5 National governments

The major European space countries (France,
Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom)

were the most active in 2007/08 in terms of

policy and strategy development. However,
other European countries are also updating

their national guidelines. In particular,

Finland is currently in the process of
developing its sixth national strategy for

space research and development activities

covering all national public sectors activities.

3.5.1 France

A series of high-level policy documents were
released in France in the past months,

illustrating the sustained support of space at

a high political level.

On 11 February 2008, the French President,

Nicolas Sarkozy, gave a structuring policy

speech underlining that the highest French
authorities recognize space activities as

critical strategic assets. The tenets of this

speech can be analysed as follow: politicize
space issues through a dedicated Presidential

speech; indicate and frame the orientations

of the upcoming French EU Presidency and its
main objectives; recall the importance of the

European dimension of space activities as a

condition for the success of an ambitious

space policy; foster space cooperation for
building up the European Security and

Defence Policy (ESDP); build bridges between

civil space and defence; encourage a growing
involvement of the EU in space affairs by

bringing, among others, Galileo to a

successful outcome and by funding the
Guiana Space Centre (GSC); strengthen

Europe’s assets in space exploration and set

up a strong cooperation with the United

States; underline Ariane’s role as a
cornerstone of space policy and European

space autonomy.

One of the core messages was that the EU

should embrace more responsibilities in space

affairs. In his speech, the French President

mentioned four “programmes” to reinforce

the EU’s role: navigation (Galileo), Earth

observation (GMES), climate change, and
space surveillance. He also expressed his

wish to significantly increase France’s

national space defence budget. President

Sarkozy also underlined the importance of
space in a national and European defence

policy context, Europe’s autonomous

decision-making capabilities and as a
significant building block of the ESDP (Cf.

Chapter 6). Finally, he called for the creation

of a stricter set of rules to regulate States
behaviour in space.

On 17 June 2008, the French White Paper on

defence and national security was presented.
The White Paper describes France’s defence

and security programme for the next 15

years. A modification of defence decision-
making processes, as well as a reorientation

of spending are described in order to address

new security threats (transnational terrorism,
etc.) and more traditional ones (ballistic

missile and nuclear, bacteriologic and

chemical threats, etc.). In particular, this

document underlined that France’s plans to
greatly expand its military space capabilities

is part of a move to reinforce its

reconnaissance/intelligence capabilities by
increasing public support for military space

and by developing and acquiring new

capabilities (Cf. Chapter 6).

Following the publication of the report issued

on 7 February 2007 by the French

Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of
Scientific and Technological Choices on

Europe’s space policy (the so-called “Cabal

Report”),

111 , 112

a new report led by Serge

Grouard and Odile Saugues was published by

the French Parliamentary Committee on

National Defence and Armed Forces on 5
February 2008 underlining the importance

attached to space affairs by the French

legislative branch. This report addresses the

strategic and industrial roles of the space
sector. Furthermore, a colloquium entitled

“Space at the service of the European

citizens” organised by the French
Parliamentary Group for Space (GPE) on 5

June 2008 was held in the French National

Assembly. Four main themes were con-
sidered: space and competitiveness, access

111

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 34.

112

For more information see Madders, Kevin. “The Cabal

Report of the French Parliament on Space Policy- A
Blueprint for European Space Ambitions or Another Cry in
the Wilderness?” Yearbook on Space policy 2006/2007:
New Impetus for Europe. Eds. European Space Policy
Institute: Kai-Uwe Schrogl, Charlotte Mathieu and Nicolas
Peter. Wien: Springer, 2008: 128-135.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

to space, space exploration, and the

governance of European space activities.

A French space law was adopted in spring

2008 after years of discussions.

113

This new

law provides France with a legal framework

for activities in space. It stresses that the
evolution of the space sector, with the role of

new actors from the private sector, highlights

the need for a national legal framework
regulating relations between the French

government and private operators.

Therefore, the main objective is to create a
safe national framework, while ensuring the

competitiveness of space activities. The Act

on space activities was adopted by the

French Parliament on 9 April 2008 and
entered into force

on 3 June 2008. The main

propositions focus on the creation of an

authorisation regime allowing French
authorities to have effective control over

space activities. This authorisation is

necessary in all the cases in which the French
State might be considered responsible and

liable. Moreover, the text establishes a

financial guarantee by the State above a

certain ceiling amount payable by the
operator in case of damages caused by its

activities. The Act also provides an insurance

coverage obligation for risks in orbit. There
are also more specific points like the

governance of the Guiana Space Centre,

Intellectual Property (IP) Rights (in particular
any discovery made on board of a satellite

registered in France will be considered made

on French territory and will be covered by the

French IP regime).

114

As a result of the recent policy changes,

CNES, the French space agency, is observing
a shift in its funding management and

distribution which should expand through the

2008-2013 period. Indeed, expenses are
redirected from “mutualised resources” and

central directions to the benefit of

programmes such as launchers, space

science, and the preparation for the future of
defence and security.

115

3.5.2 Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her

views on space matters on 14 February 2008
while discussing with the STS-122 crew and

113

France was one of the last countries in Europe involved

in space which still did not have a specific law regulating
space activities.

114

The reader can access the translated version of the Act

by looking at Schmidt-Tedd, Bernhard and Isabelle Arnold.
“The French Act Relating to Space Activities. From
International Law Idealism to National Industrial
Pragmatism.” ESPI Perspectives 11 Aug. 2008.

115

Lardier, Christian. “Le Cnes fait le plein de

programmes.” Air & Cosmos (1 Feb. 2008) : 38-39.

particularly the European Astronauts Klaus

Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts during the

commissioning of the Columbus module.

116

Among other things, in her address,

Chancellor Merkel showed concern regarding

the necessity to address young people to

embrace engineering professions and
mentioned her willingness to create a

favourable environment to this effect.

117

The

cooperative nature of space activities was
also highlighted. On the programmatic side,

while she underlined the success of the

Columbus orbital module she gave a “gentle
warning” on Galileo.

118

In reaction to Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech in

Kourou, DLR, the German space agency
expressed its agreement that more space

cooperation should be pursued with the

United States regarding Mars exploration and
that Europe should develop its own space

surveillance technology in order to be

autonomous in this area. However, it also
expressed its desire that space issues remain

with ESA and not be transferred to the EU,

arguing that space remains a different

priority depending on countries, thus
responding to President Sarkozy’s proposal

that the EU should ensure the maintenance

of the Kourou space centre.

119

In spring

2008, DLR underlined its willingness to

continue to lead scientific research in the

future regarding aviation and space
exploration. For such purposes, DLR will

promote relations between civilian and

defence applications and will develop cross-

sectional tasks, for example, business start-
up support and promotion of young

talents.

120

The astronaut Thomas Reiter, who has spent

almost a year conducting research in space,

joined the Executive Board of DLR with
responsibility for space research and

development (R&D).

121

116

STS-122 crew members included Schlegel, from

Germany, and NASA astronauts Stephen Frick, Rex
Walheim, Stanley Love, Alan Poindexter and Leland
Melvin.

117

Pisani, Pierre-Henri. “European leaders charter course

for space.” ESPI Flash Report 4 Mar. 2008.

118

Ibid.

119

de Selding, Peter. “Italian, German Space Officials

Welcome Sarkozy’s Space Proposals.” Space News 19.7
(18 Feb. 2008): 5.

120

“Research for the Future- shaping the future.“ DLR

press release 28 May 2008
<http://www.dlr.de/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-
1/86_read-12602>.

121

Thomas Reiter is the European astronaut who has

acquired the longest experience of space.

Report 15, September 2008

3.5.3 Italy

In 2007, Italy held the chairmanship of the
ninth European Interparliamentary Space

Conference (EISC), a permanent forum to

foster cooperation on space policy issues

between European national parliaments. A
series of events were organised in the

course of the year by the VAST Committee

(Committee for the Evaluation of Scientific
and Technological Options) of the Chamber

of Deputies among which was the EISC

Plenary Meeting (Cf. Chapter 7).

In 2007, the first European-built module to

be permanently attached to ISS, the Node 2

module, or “Harmony”, was launched on 23
October 2007 onboard the STS-120 mission

along with Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli.

Harmony was the first addition to the ISS
work and living space in six years. It was

developed for NASA under an ASI contract

with Thales Alenia Space as prime
contractor. On the programmatic level, the

board of the Italian Space Agency, ASI,

approved the funding of three new satellite

missions: PRISMA (Earth Observation),
MIOSAT (small optical mission) and

ATHENA-FIDUS

122

(ASI-CNES geostationary

satellite for communications).

123

3.5.4 The United Kingdom

The British space policy is in transition. The

House of Commons’ Science and Technology

Committee started a “major and wide-

ranging inquiry” in the fall of 2006.

124

As a

result, a report entitled “2007: A Space

Policy” was released on 17 July 2007.

125

The

report underlined the fact that space is a
significant area of science and policy and

that it is necessary for the Government to

take a strategic approach to space activities
such as robotic exploration, satellite

navigation and Earth observation with a

longer-term vision. The report called for a

forthcoming civil space strategy to be able
to inspire and motivate the UK space sector.

122

“Green Light for Three New Missions PRISMA,

MIOSAT and ATHENA-FIdus.”. ASI press release 21 Dec.
2007 <
http://www.asi.it/SiteEN/ContentSite.aspx?Area=Comunica
ti+Stampa >.

123

“ASI and Defence Join Forces on ATHENA-FIDUS: a

Dual, Itlaian/French Telecommunication System.” ASI
Press Release 23

Jan. 2008.

124

For more information, see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 35.

125

United Kingdom, House of Commons. “House of

Commons Science and Technology Committee, 2007: A
space policy: government response to the Committee’s
seventh Report of session 2006-2007.” HC 1042, ordered
by the House of Commons to be printed 9 October 2007,
London: The Stationary Office Limited, 23 Oct. 2007.

It also emphasised the UK Government’s

commitment to space and the need for the

British National Space Centre (BNSC) to
outline its vision and activities for space,

and called for more effective programme

management. In particular, the need to

strengthen the oversight of space
programmes was underlined. The report

called for new funding and mechanisms to

increase support for small and medium
enterprises (SMEs). It also considered UK’s

implication at the European level in ESA and

EU’s programmes. Finally, exploration and
space tourism issues were also addressed. A

memorandum from the Government which

contained responses to the report was

received on 26 September 2007.

On 14 February 2008, the British

Government, following its spring 2007
consultation and a stakeholder event in

summer 2007 as well as the aforementioned

report from the House of Commons Science
and Technology Committee, released its new

strategy and proposals for the UK’s future

involvement in the space sector, the so-

called “UK Civil Space Strategy: 2008 –
2012 and beyond”. The main cornerstones

of this strategy are:

•

Continued UK involvement in Earth

observation, space science and

communications developments;

•

Continued close cooperation with ESA

and the establishment of an ESA facility

at Harwell (Oxfordshire), which will

focus on climate change, robotic space
exploration and applications;

•

Closer involvement in international

initiatives on the future shape of space
exploration to the moon, Mars and

beyond;

•

Setting up a National Space Technology
Programme to support the development

of new, innovative technologies and

services.

The strategy identifies space as a “strategic

economic sector” and as such the British

government proposed a set of amendments
to lower the insurance costs for space

companies. This aims at the development of

space commercial activities on its territory.
Such changes target in particular launching

companies and space tourism.

126

Furthermore, while the UK had rejected the

idea of manned spaceflight since 1986, its
position changed at the beginning of 2008

when the “UK Civil Space Strategy: 2008-

2012 and Beyond” stated that the UK is now

126

de Selding, Peter. “British Government May Ease

Regulations on Space Companies.” Space News 19.7 (18
Feb 2008): 5.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

interested in astronaut-related programmes,

although neither deadlines nor budgetary

estimations were detailed.

127

3 . 6 T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s

Space is not usually mentioned during a U.S.

Presidential campaign, but it has been on

several occasions in the context of the 2008
U.S. campaign. The presidential candidates of

the two big parties, Senator Obama for the

Democrats and Senator McCain for the
Republicans, have both issued statements or

fact sheets concerning their positions on the

U.S. space agenda.

Senator Obama has indicated that he would

maintain a robust programme of human

space exploration and fulfil NASA mission,
reversing an earlier position in which he

planned to delay the Constellation

programme by five years and use up to five
billion U.S. dollars from the NASA budget for

education. Senator Obama announced it

would also endorse a congressional plan to

add another two billion U.S. dollars to NASA’s
budget and agreed to back at least one more

space shuttle mission and to ensure that

NASA has the necessary funding to support
climate change research. Senator McCain is

also a strong supporter of the U.S. space

programme including the U.S. Space
Exploration Policy (USSEP) and supports

going to the moon by 2020, but has also

called for a freeze of discretionary funding.

The Bill H.R. 6063 entitled “To authorize the

programs of the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration, and for other purpose”
was introduced on 15 May 2008.

128

This Act

would strengthen the exploration programme

as well as aeronautics R&D, science research
and applications. It represents a strong

message of the U.S. Congress ahead of the

next administration illustrating that NASA has

a strong support and constituency in the U.S.
Congress. However, the current

administration objects the document as

currently written and especially opposes the

127

Besides the House of Commons Science and

Technology Committee report, a British space policy
advisory group (the UK Space Exploration Working Group)
recommended in a 90-page report on 13 September 2007
that Britain should ends its long-stranding opposition to all
programmes involving astronauts.

128

The Bill was agreed upon by the Space and

Aeronautics Subcommittee on 20 May 2008, and the Full
House Science and Technology Committee on 4 June
2008. The Bill proposal was then fully voted by the House
of Representatives on 18 June 2008. It was then sent to
the Senate and read twice and referred to the Committee
on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

provision that would require NASA to fly an

extra shuttle flight to the ISS to deliver the

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS).

In the United States, space security has

become a major agenda item in high-level

policy circles following the Chinese ASAT test
of January 2007

129

. This event forced the

United States to develop new strategies and

capabilities. In particular, the White House
issued a classified memorandum in the

summer 2007 on the importance of space

situational awareness (SSA) in order to
monitor and identify space objects in space

and determine whether they pose a threat.

130

A blue-ribbon panel, the so-called Allard

Commission, has also been set up to consider
major changes to the U.S. military space

management and particularly to procurement

and operational structures to improve
governance efficiency (Cf. Chapter 6). Finally,

an ASAT test was conducted by the United

States in February 2008 to destroy an old
reconnaissance satellite due to the risk it

would pose upon re-entry to Earth (Cf.

Chapter 6). However, confirming its

longstanding position in the domain of
international space security in international

fora, the United States rejected both the

annual Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer
Space (PAROS) resolution as well as the new

Russian and Chinese draft Treaty on the

Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in
Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force

against Outer Space Objects (PPWT)

presented on February 2008 (Cf. Chapter 7)

arguing that cooperation, transparency and
discussion are the best ways to continue to

use space for peaceful purposes.

131

3.6.1 National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA)

President George W. Bush signed a budget

bill for the Fiscal Year 2008 for NASA on 26

December 2008. This delay in approving the

budget was due to conflicting views between
the U.S. executive and legislative branches.

The biggest change for NASA between the

request and the appropriation concerned the
amount it is foreseen to spend on science

mission and cross-agency support activities.

More funds were allocated for science and

129

For more information, see Neuneck, Götz. “China’s

ASAT Test- A Warning Shot or the beginning of an Arms
Race in Space?” Yearbook on Space policy 2006/2007:
New Impetus for Europe. Eds. European Space Policy
Institute: Kai-Uwe Schrogl, Charlotte Mathieu and Nicolas
Peter. Wien: Springer, 2008: 211-224.

130

Butler, Amy and Michael Bruno. “With Antisatellite

Threat to U.S. Military, War Planners Weigh Options.”
Aviation Week & Space Technology (7 Jan. 2008): 58.

131

“US rejects Russian call for new space treaty.” Space

Daily 12 Feb. 2008.

Report 15, September 2008

aeronautics, and less than requested for

exploration, as well as cross-agency. The

NASA Fiscal Year 2008 budget is divided as

follow:

The request for the Fiscal Year 2009 by the

Government contains a modest rise for
NASA, to reach 17.614 billion U.S. dollars

(+1.8%), but about 500 million U.S. dollars

lower than the Vision for Space Exploration’s

initial request back in 2004. The Exploration
Systems Mission Directorate is planned to

record an 11% increase over the 2008

budget, but the rate of growth would slow in
2010 (Figure 16). The proposed budget

would keep the development of the space

transportation infrastructure on track. While

the Science Mission Directorate would see a

budget decrease (Table 5) additional funds

for Earth observation missions geared

towards studying climate change are
foreseen (+6.8%) as well as planetary

science (+7%), but not astrophysics (-13%).

The new budget proposal reflects a White
House push for greater emphasis on Earth

observation and climate change research.

The budget plans for the upcoming year show

a modest increase of 2.3% to 2.4% until
Fiscal Year 2013 (Figure 16).

The appropriation for the Fiscal Year 2009 to
fund government operations for October

2008-September 2009 has not yet been

concluded. Furthermore, it appears that the

Programme

FY 08 Enacted

In millions U.S.

dollars

FY 09 Request

In millions U.S.

dollars

Science 4706.2

4441.5

Exploration Systems

3143.1

3500.5

Aeronautics 511.7

446.5

Cross-Agency Support Programmes

3242.9

3299.9

Space Operations

5526.2

5774.7

Education 146.8

115.6

Inspector General

32.6

35.15

Total 17309.4

17614.2

Table 5 NASA enacted budget for Fiscal Year 2008 and 2009 budget request

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000

udge

thor

in m

. doll

FY 2007

FY 2008

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

FY 2012

FY 2013

Science

Aeronautics

Exploration

Space Operations

Education

Cross-Agency Support

Inspector General

Figure 16 Summary of NASA Fiscal Year 2009 Budget request

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Fiscal Year appropriations' cycle will only be

finished in spring next year. Consequently, at

least for part of 2009 budget year, NASA will
have to accept a continuing resolution

regarding its budget allocation. However, due

to growing inflation this might lead to a

smaller budget diminution. Consequently,
NASA finds itself facing difficult choices with

little room to manoeuvre to keep its

programmes on track.

As the Shuttle is set to retire in 2010, a gap

of several years is expected before the United
States will have its new human spaceflight

capabilities operational (most likely in March

2015). In this context, as the current

exemption of the Iran, North Korea, and
Syria Non-proliferation Act (INKSNA) is set to

expire in 2011, NASA is currently seeking the

U.S. Congress’ acceptance for its request to
amend the INKSNA (International Space

Station Payments Act (S. 3103)). This would

permit NASA to keep paying Russia to
transport U.S. astronauts to and from the ISS

beyond 2011.

132

However, NASA will not

request the right to make further

extraordinary payments to Russia in order to
purchase more Russian Progress re-supply

vehicles for the ISS after 2011.

133

Indeed,

NASA intends to use one of the commercial
vehicles from the Commercial Orbital

Transportation Services (COTS) programme

to provide ISS logistics starting in 2010.

In August 2006, NASA awarded two COTS

Space Act contracts.

134

Space Exploration

Technologies (SpaceX) completed a
preliminary design in February 2008 for its

Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon

spacecraft which will be part of NASA’s COTS
programme.

135

SpaceX , however, has

renegotiated its COTS agreement with NASA

with the first three planned demonstration
flights deferred by nine months to June

2009; the second flight is now slated for

November 2009 and the final demonstration

flight is March 2010. SpaceX had to add new

132

Portions of that law (INKSA) adopted in 2005 prohibit

"extraordinary payments" both "in cash" and "in kind" from
the U.S. Government to the Russian government,
Roscosmos, and entities under Roscosmos' authority for
the ISS as long as Russia is viewed as a proliferation
threat for nuclear and missile technology.

133

Morring, Frank. “NASA Wants All-commercial ISS

Resupply.” Aviation Week & Space technology 17 Apr.
2008
<http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=ne
ws/progress041708.xml&headline=NASA%20Wants%20Al
l-commercial%20ISS%20Resupply&channel=space >.

134

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007.

135

“Space X Successfully Completes NASA Preliminary

Design Review for Dragon Spacecraft Mission to Approach
International Space Station.” Businesswire 12 Feb. 2008.

hardware development milestones as part of

the agreement renegotiation. Since

Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) failed to meet its
COTS fiscal objective to build, NASA issued a

new invitation to tender, and awarded Orbital

Science Corp (OSC) a new COTS contract

amounting to 171 million U.S. dollars. OSC
will use the leftovers from the RpK contract

as well as its own finances to develop a new

launch vehicle called Taurus II and a service
module named Cygnus. Taurus II is

scheduled to make its first flight in late 2010

from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
located at NASA’s Wallops Space Flight

Facility in Virginia. The first hardware

milestone is slated for June 2009.

NASA is currently focusing its efforts on

developing a new launch infrastructure to

implement its USSEP. The programme
“Project Constellation” is composed of:

•

The CEV, now renamed Orion, an

exploration vehicle for the transportation
of crew;

•

The CLV, renamed Ares I, a two-stage

launcher carrying the Orion vehicle;

•

The Cargo Launch Vehicle (CaLV), named
Ares V, a two-stage heavy-lift launch

vehicle carrying an Earth Departure

Stage together with the Altair vehicle

•

The Altair lunar lander that will eventually

be capable of landing four astronauts on

the moon, providing life support and a
base for week-long initial surface

exploration missions and returning the

crew to the Orion spacecraft that will

bring them back to Earth.

Boeing Space Exploration obtained two major

roles in NASA’s new launcher programme
Ares I in 2007/2008.

136

It won the contract

for the Ares I upper stage that could be

worth as much as 1.13 billion U.S. dollars. It
also won another contract potentially worth

up to 800 million U.S. dollars to build and

outfit an avionics ring which will control the

Ares launch vehicle in flight. This avionics
ring will be mounted on Ares 1 upper stage

and will be outfitted with all electronics

needed to provide guidance, navigation and
control for the entire Ares 1 rocket.

137

NASA is currently studying lunar surface
exploration architecture concepts to support

humans returning to the moon before 2020,

consistent with among others the principles

of the Global Exploration Strategy (GES). In
this context, during six months in 2008

representatives from NASA and ESA have

been engaged in a detailed assessment of the

136

Work on Ares V has not yet started.

137

Berger, Brian. “Boeing Wins Ares Avionics Contract”

Space News, business report 13 Dec. 2007.

Report 15, September 2008

degree to which NASA and ESA’s lunar

exploration architecture concepts could

complement, augment, or enhance the
exploration plans of one another. On 20 June

2008, NASA also finished a study which will

allow technical parameters needed for the

preparation of vehicle requirements for
manned missions to the moon to be

established.

138

Finally, the launch of NASA’s

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the
Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing

Satellite (LCROSS) will be delayed until

spring 2009 due to the payload shift onboard
an Atlas V with a DoD payload launched

instead of NASA’s spacecraft.

NASA has been actively involved in robotic
exploration of other planetary bodies in

2007/2008. On 24 September 2007, NASA

launched the Dawn mission, three months
later than previously planned. This mission

seeks to explore Vesta, a protoplanet and

Ceres. This mission should help the further
understanding of the “transition from the

Solar System’s inner planets”.

139

However,

despite the progress on the lunar front, the

work on an updated Mars Design Reference
Mission has been halted as a result of the

language in the U.S. Appropriation Act of

2008 prohibiting funding of any research,
development or demonstration activities

related exclusively to the human exploration

of Mars. Nonetheless, one of the milestones
of NASA’s exploration activities in 2007/2008

was the successful landing of the Phoenix

mission near the North Pole of Mars on 25

May 2008. It has since performed a series of
soil chemistry tests and discovered that

Martian soil is remarkably Earth-like and

could support a wide array of plants and
organisms.

3.6.2 National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

NOAA’s Fiscal Year 2009 total budget request

is 4.109 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of
5.2% over the Agency’s Fiscal Year 2008

budget. NOAA’s satellite programmes are run

by the National Environmental Satellite, Data,
and Information Service (NESDIS), which

would receive 1.2 billion U.S. dollars

compared to 983 million U.S. dollars in
2008.

140

The main space budget item is the

programme Geostationary Operational

Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R)

138

Schierholz, Stephanie, Grey Hautaluoa, Lynette

Madison and Josh Byerly. “NASA Study Provides Next
Step to Establish Lunar Outpost.” NASA press release 23
June 2008.

139

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

“Highlights in space 2007.” New York 2008: 58.

140

Springer, Jeremy. “GOES-R Weather Satellites Face

Delay.” Space News 4 Feb. 2008.

requesting 477 million U.S. dollars for Fiscal

Year 2009. However, as a result of last year’s

appropriation and the reduction in the current
request for the GOES-R programme, the

launch of the first satellite in the series will

be delayed by five months to April 2015.

141

Another major space item in NOAA’s budget
request is the tri-agency (NOAA, NASA, DoD)

National Polar-Orbiting Operational

Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)
programme at 288 million U.S. dollars.

NOAA took part in the quadripartite pro-
gramme Jason-2 along CNES, NASA and

Eumetsat launched on 20 June 2008 as a

follow-up to the Jason-1 mission launched in

December 2001. Finally, on 1 October 2007,
NOAA’s Space Environment Centre changed

its name to the Space Weather Prediction

Centre.

142

3.6.3 Department of Defense (DoD)

Following the upward trend of the overall

DoD budget, the funding for space

programmes continued to expand, however

only slightly. The U.S. Air Force that is the
executive agent for military space, requested

11.9 billion U.S. dollars for unclassified space

systems and operations for the Fiscal Year
2009 compared to 11.3 billion U.S. dollars in

Fiscal Year 2008, out of a total U.S. Air Force

Fiscal Year 2009 budget request of 143.9
billion U.S. dollars (+7%).

143

The spending plan of the Air Force budget

includes, among others, 2.3 billion U.S.
dollars for the Space-based Infrared System

(SBIRS) missile warning constellation, the

largest unclassified programme element. The
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) is

another major budget item with 1.2 billion

U.S. dollars requested. For the GPS III, space
segment and GPS ground segment, a total of

1.182 billion U.S. dollars has been requested

and 843 million U.S. dollars for the

Transformational Satellite Communication
System (T-Sat).

144

3 . 7 R u s s i a

Russia’s space policy is currently in
transition. While Russia is implementing

three major civil space programmes: the

141

NASA, acting on behalf of NOAA is expected to award

the prime contract for two GOES-R satellite late this year.

142

“NOAA Centre’s New Name Reflects New Era in Space

Weather.” NOAA press release 26 Sept. 2007.

143

Fabey, Michael. “USAF boosts budget by about 7

percent, hikes procurement request.” Aerospace Daily (5
Feb.2008): 1.

144

Ibid.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

2006-2015 Federal Space Programme, the

Federal Target Programme 2002-2011 on

GLONASS and the 2006-2015 Federal Target
Programme on the Development of Russia’s

cosmodromes, on 11 April 2008, Russia’s

Security Council approved a draft space

policy for the period until 2020 and
beyond.

145

The document determines

Russia’s national interests, key objectives,

and priorities in the area of space research,
the utilisation of space and international

space cooperation. This policy thus aims at

retaining Russia’s status as a leading space
power. Among the country’s principal goals

are guaranteed access to space and

maintaining an independent space industry.

President Vladimir Putin’s speech given at
this occasion unfolded into five main themes:

guaranteed access to outer space; need for a

clear outline to build up Russia’s possibilities
for orbiting constellations; increase Russian

presence on the world market for space

apparatus; modernise its technology and
build a more dynamic human resource

potential; need to make effective use of

scientific and resource potentials of related

scientific programmes.

146

In March 2008, the Ministry of Economic

Development and Trade also released the
new policy of long-term development of

Russia and the main space elements

considered are:

•

Development of the Glonass system;

•

Development of orbital constellations

(communications and meteorology etc.);

•

Increase of Russia’s share in the global
space industry;

•

Reorganisation of the Russian space

industry in three or four holdings in
2015;

•

Modernisation of the terrestrial space

infrastructure and technological and
industrial equipment and of launch

pads.

147

This new political drive is leading to new
ambitions in space following its economic

recovery in recent years. The Russian space

industry is also in transition in order to
increase Russia’s competitiveness by

145

The Security Council is a consultative body of the

Russian President that works out the President's decisions
on national security affairs. Composed of key ministers
and agency heads and chaired by the President of Russia.
It draws up crucial documents defining conceptual
approaches to national security.

146

Putin, Vladimir. “Opening Remarks at a Meeting with

the Security Council on Russia’s Space Exploration Policy
for the Period through to 2020 and Beyond.” President of
Russia Official Web Portal, The Kremlin Moscow. 11 Apr.
2008.

147

CNES Bulletin 235. French Embassy in Moscow 25 Mar.

2008.

consolidating the industrial base in national

champions in each branch (Cf. Chapter 5).

Recent main issues for Russia’s space
programme have been to reaffirm its role on

the global scene as a supplier of launch

vehicles, and to be recognised as a major

partner in the ISS programme and the GNSS
field.

Access to space has been one of the main
areas of activities of Russia in recent months.

The Federal Space Forces announced that

they will close the Svobody base and that all
military launches will be done from Plesetsk.

President Putin also signed a decree on 6

November 2007 for the creation of a new

launch site, the Vostochny Cosmodrome in
the Amur region. The new launch site is

expected to open in 2015 and will launch

manned spacecraft in 2018, and all manned
Russian space launches in 2020. In the

meantime, the construction of the Angara

launch pad will start in 2008 at Plesetsk.
Russia’s historic emphasis on human

spaceflight has left a legacy of technical and

operational competence. While there are no

human spaceflight plans to the moon in the
new Federal Space Plan (2006-2015), the

long-term Russian space programme (until

2040) is considering a first human trip to the
moon in 2025, and setting up a base in the

2027-2032 timeframe. With increasing

funding, Russia is also reenergising its lunar
and planetary programmes.

Russia continues its work on its GNSS

constellation, the Glonass system that was
developed during Soviet times. The

Government promised to make Glonass fully

operational by the beginning of 2008 but this
was delayed by equipment and other

technical failures. The system was supposed

to have 24 satellites. This number dwindled
after the 1991 collapse of the U.S.S.R., but

the Russian government is currently

replenishing and expanding the constellation

(it is now planning a constellation of 30
satellites instead of 24 initially planned). Six

satellites will be launched in 2008 and nine in

2009. In 2008, Russia will also launch its first
meteorological satellite (Meteor-M1) since

1991. It has since been relying on foreign

assets and data.

The renewed space interest at the highest

political level in Russia combined with the

budgetary increase devoted to space
activities has led to the reinforcement of

several cooperation and partnerships,

particularly with India. Russia and India have
signed a cooperative agreement to jointly

develop a robotic orbiter and lander to be

launched in 2013. The director of the Russian
Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov and the

Report 15, September 2008

chairman of ISRO Gopalan Nadhavan Nair

signed the agreement on 12 November 2007.

Russia also continues to use manned access
to space as a foreign diplomacy tool. After

the launch of the first Brazilian astronaut in

space in early 2007, it helped both Malaysia

and South Korea to have their first nationals
in space in recent months.

3 . 8 J a p a n

In May 2008, Japan’s new space law was
finally endorsed by the Diet, the Japanese

parliament. It was passed by the Lower

House the week of 12 May 2008, and was

approved by the Upper House on 21 May
2008.

148

The expansion of the use of space

possibilities provided by the new law serves

national security purposes as well as
economic, and public safety aims.

149

Among

others, it commits Japan to a series of major

administrative and conceptual changes.

150

The new law pushes three main elements.

•

Firstly, it sets up a new Minister for

Space Development which will be
appointed by and reporting directly to the

Prime Minister and the creation of a

“Space Development Headquarters” (a
forum of user ministries with strong

authority) which would reside in the

Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office to
coordinate space policies governing civil,

military and commercial activities of

different ministries. The new law places

all space-related projects into one unified
programme, allowing for better

coordination and strategy in space

development.

•

Secondly, the “Basic Law of Space

Activities” reconsiders the assumption of
the “exclusively peaceful purpose” clause

in the Diet resolution of 1969 to allow the

use of space assets by military

authorities (Cf. Chapter 6).

•

Thirdly, elements of the law concern

ways and means to increase the
competitiveness of the Japanese industry.

In particular, the Basic Law calls for the

148

Kallender-Umezu, Paul. “Japan Elevates Space

Management, Lifts 1969 Ban on Military Satellites.” Space
News 19.21 (26 May 2008): 1+.

149

“Japan’s Improved Space Policy.” Editorial. Space

News 19.22 (2 June 2008): 18.

150

For more information, see Suzuki, Kazuto. “Basic Law

for Space Activities: a New Space Policy for Japan for the
21rst Century.” Yearbook on Space policy 2006/2007: New
Impetus for Europe. Eds. European Space Policy Institute:
Kai-Uwe Schrogl, Charlotte Mathieu and Nicolas Peter.
Wien: Springer, 2008: 225.238.

strengthening of industrial capability and

autonomous business foundation from

the public budget to foster the effort of
Japan’s "industrialisation".

The first Space Development Minister Fumio

Kishida, former science policy Minister, was
appointed in June 2008.

151

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA)
second mid-term plan (April 2008 – March

2013) has two main objectives: to contribute

to a secure and prosperous society and to
expand human frontiers. For the first

objective, JAXA contributes by dealing with

environmental issues and disasters on the

global scale by focusing on three areas:
global environment observation, disaster

monitoring and communication, and satellite

positioning. For the second objective, JAXA
will make the most use of the Japanese

Experiment Module (JEM), Kibo (hope), and

will strive to produce world class results in
selected scientific domains (e.g. X-ray

astronomy etc.). JAXA will concentrate its

resources on selected fields where Japan

possesses technical advantage, or is thought
to present societal benefits, or contribute to

comprehensive security. JAXA has also

transformed itself into a mission-oriented
organisation by creating mission directorates

in order to implement this mid-term plan.

Human spaceflight is one of JAXA’s largest

budget lines outside the general budget.

Japan’s participation to the ISS focuses on

the development and exploitation of the JEM,
along with the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).

The first two elements of JEM were launched

on space shuttle missions STS-123 for the
Experiment Logistics Module Pressurised

Section (ELM-PS) (11 March 2008) and STS-

124 (31 May 2008) for the Pressurised
Module (PM). The third element is scheduled

for launch on STS-127 in April 2009. The first

HTV launch is foreseen in 2009. In spring

2008, a new call for recruiting astronauts was
also opened for the first time in nearly a

decade. Up to three applicants will be chosen

for two-year training with NASA. JAXA will
announce its selection in February 2009.

In 2007/2008 the country has also been
actively pursuing robotic exploration. In

particular, in 2007 Japan outpaced its Asian

rivals by launching its lunar probe more than

a month before China deployed its lunar
mission and several months before India’s

lunar mission. The Selenological and

151

“Japan Appoints First Space Development Minister

Officials.” Space Daily 17

June 2008

<http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Japan_appoints_first_
space_development_minister_officials_999.html>

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Engineering Explorer (SELENE) renamed as

“Kaguya” was launched on an H-IIA launch

vehicle flight on 14 September 2007. Kaguya
is JAXA’s first large lunar explorer mission.

152

Furthermore, illustrating its commitment to

space exploration on 1 April 2007, JAXA

established a new branch for space
exploration activities which is called JAXA’s

Space Exploration Center (JSPEC). The core

tasks of the JSPEC are both robotics and
human lunar and other planetary exploration

activities.

On 23 February 2008, JAXA also launched the

Wideband InterNetworking engineering test

and Demonstration Satellite (WINDS)

renamed Kizuna onboard a H-IIA launcher.
Kizuna is part of the e-Japan Priority Policy

Programme to establish the world’s most

advanced information technology network.

JAXA is continuing its effort to reinvigorate

the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency
Forum (APRSAF) by supporting Asian

countries in various application programmes,

and in particular, in Earth observation and

education programmes. The last APR-SAF
annual meeting was held in Bangalore (India)

on 21-23 November 2007. The main theme

of this 14

session was “Space for Human

Empowerment”. This event was co-organised

by ISRO, the Japanese Ministry of Education,

Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of
Japan (MEXT), and JAXA. More than 130

participants from 19 countries and five

regional and international organisations

attended the event. The 15

APRSAF will be

held in December 2008 in Hanoi (Vietnam)

and will be jointly organised and co-

sponsored by the Vietnamese Academy of
Science and Technology (VAST), the

Vietnamese Ministry of Science and

Technology (MOST), MEXT and JAXA.

3 . 9 C h i n a

China has emerged in recent years as a

major space power with ambitious goals

backed by heavy investments and strong
political support as illustrated by the release

of the October 2006 Chinese White Paper on

space activities and the 11

five-year space

development plan in February 2007.

153

In this

context, in order to implement those

guidelines and to streamline and reorganise

Chinese’s institutional structure, at the

152

Japan had previously launched Hiten in 1990,

delivering the small lunar orbiter Hagomoro.

153

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 41.

beginning of March 2008, the COSTIND

(Commission of Science Technology and

Industry for National Defence), which was in
charge of the military industrial complex, was

merged into a new super Ministry called the

Ministry of Industry and Informatisation (MII)

and renamed as the State Administration for
Science, Technology and Industry for

National Defence (SASTIND).

154

The stated

goals of the new organisation (MII) are to
promote coordinated development between

traditional industrial sectors and high

technology and the information and
communications technology industries, to

play a leading role in the indigenous

nurturing of key strategic industries and

support civil-military integration.

2007/2008 was a symbolic year for China’s

space exploration activities, as it successfully
launched its first lunar orbiter, Chang’e 1 on

24 October 2007 onboard a Chinese Long

March 3A from the Xichang launch site.
Chang’e 1 is part of the first phase of the

China Lunar Exploration Programme (CLEP).

This reflects China’s ambitions to master all

space activities and displays a major
accomplishment in China’s space efforts,

which echoes its first human spaceflight

launch. Chinese President Hu Jintao considers
this successful mission to place China among

countries with a real capacity for space

exploration. He expressed his will that
China’s space technology development be

based upon economic development and

called on the Chinese scientific community to

concentrate on “building an innovation-
oriented country”, recognising “independent

innovation” as the key to “building up

comprehensive national strength”.

155

Besides the aforementioned Chang'e-1

mission, China is also getting more and more
involved in robotic space exploration activities.

It aims to land a rover on the moon and

eventually safely return lunar soil samples

back to Earth. China also continues to work on
its new launch vehicle the Long March 5.

Initial tests were passed in spring 2008. The

new launcher is intended to go into service in
2014 from the Wenchang launch base on the

Hainan Island that will be ready by 2012. The

Long March 5 is expected to be able to put 25
tons in LEO and 14 tons in GTO.

154

Other government agencies merged into the MII along

with SASTIND include the Ministry of Information
Industries, State Council Informatisation Office, portions of
the National Development and Reform Commission
responsible for industrial and trade issues and the State
Tobacco Monopoly Administration.

155

“President Hu: China Joins Nations with Capability of

Deep Space Exploration.” Xinhuanet 12 Dec. 2007
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-
12/12/content_7233971.htm >.

Report 15, September 2008

The third manned Shenzhou mission

(Shenzhou-7), which had been foreseen to

take place in late 2007, will carry three
astronauts in late 2008 one of whom is to

perform an extravehicular activity (EVA).

156

In preparation for this upcoming EVA, China

launched two new space tracking ships
(Yuanwang) and its first data relay satellite

(Tianlian I).

On 5 January 2008, China also launched a

major project to monitor the space

environment. The so-called Meridian Chain of
Comprehensive Ground-Based Space

Environment Monitors in the Eastern

Hemisphere (the Meridian Project) will create

a network of ground-based observations to
monitor and forecast the space environment

including space weather and SSA in general.

This network of 15 stations will be completed
within three years. It is coordinated by the

Chinese Academy of Science’s Space Science

and Applied Research (CSSAR). The Meridian
project will use 2 lines of observatories, one

North-South running along the 120

East

longitude with observatories in Mohe, Beijing,

Wuhan, Hainan and the Zhongshan Antarctic
station, and the other line of observatories

being East-West along the 30

parallel of

Latitude North with observatories located in
Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu and Lasa.

157

Chinese space activities are planned to
ensure self-reliance, but the country remains

open for international cooperation. For China,

gaining prestige through space activities is an

important motivation, particularly through
cooperation with space powers to

demonstrate its status, but also with less

competent space actors to use space as an
international diplomacy tool. ESA is a major

partner of China with its support of the

Chang’e-1 mission and the joint programmes
Dragon-1 and Dragon-2. China is seeking

cooperation with the “North”, while at the

same time entering in cooperative activities

with countries from the “South” like Brazil in
the context of the China-Brazil Earth

Resources Satellite (CBERS) programme with

the third CBERS satellite, CBERS 2B launched
in September 2007. China will also design,

manufacture, test and launch by the end of

2008, the Venesat-1 satellite also called the
“Simon Bolivar Satellite” for Venezuela and

Uruguay.

158

The Asia-Pacific Cooperation

Organization (APSCO) is another element of

156

Shenzhou-5 carried one taikonaut Yang Liwei in 2003,

Shenzhou-6 carried two taikonauts in 2005 Fei Junlong
and Nie Haisheng.

157

“China launches major project to monitor space with

network of observatories.” CCTV.com 6 Jan. 2008.

158

Uruguay later joined the 241 million U.S. dollars project,

funding 10% of its costs.

China’s portfolio to reach out to countries

from the “South”. It is a regional space

organisation under Chinese leadership whose
Convention entered into force on 12 October

2006. The first meeting of the Ad Hoc

Committee for Programme Planning for

APSCO was organised in Beijing (China) on
24-26 September 2007. About 40

participants from the nine signatory States to

the APSCO Convention attended this
meeting.

159

3 . 1 0 I n d i a

India’s space policy is currently in transition

and shifting trajectory. Since its inception,
the Indian space programme has been

dominated by a pragmatic approach

consisting of space activities being
dominantly used to support the development

of the country. Space applications have

therefore been the main priorities of the
Indian space programme as well as ensuring

autonomy in access to space. However this is

evolving. In a buoyant regional context, its

space agency, the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) is eager to start a

human spaceflight programme.

160

A manned

spaceflight programme would mark a very
big step for India.

In spring 2008, ISRO submitted its project on
the proposed first manned space mission in

the 2014-2015 timeframe to the Indian

government with a decision expected by the

end of 2008. ISRO has carried out studies for
about four years examining the technological

challenges of a manned space mission and

the Indian capability to undertake it. ISRO
estimated the project leading to a first

manned flight to cost 2.5 billion U.S.

dollars.

161

The decision of the development of

a man-rated GSLV has been taken and

actions have been initiated. ISRO already

validated its re-entry technology in January

2007 with the successful recovery of its
space capsule, the Space-capsule Recovery

Experiment (SRE-1). In the mean time, India

is also considering sending one of its citizens
into space on-board a Russian spacecraft to

acquire the skills necessary for future

manned space missions with a potential trip
to ISS onboard a Soyuz by 2012.

162

159

States which signed the APSCO Convention are:

Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan,
Peru, Thailand and Turkey.

160

India has had only one astronaut to date, Maj Rakesh

Sharma, flying with Russia under the Soviet Intercosmos
programme in April 1984 for a seven-day mission.

161

Jayaraman K.S. “ISRO Seeks Government Approval for

Manned Spaceflight Program.” Space News 13 Nov. 2006.

162

Ibid.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

ISRO is also showing greater interest to

space science and exploration as illustrated

by the development of new programmes and
particularly Chandrayaan-1, the first Indian

planetary mission, foreseen to orbit the moon

in the second half of 2008.

163

India is also

working towards the establishment of a Deep
Space Network (DSN) required for

communication with the spacecraft. In order

to improve space and scientific education, an
Indian Institute of Space and Technology has

also been created and inaugurated on 24

September 2007. This institute will be used
to foster better education in these areas to

meet India’s space ambitions.

164

However, the Indian programme remains
application-driven with an emphasis on the

policy of self-reliance. In this context, in

2007/2008 India continued the development
of space applications. It launched its latest

Earth observation, Cartosat-2A on 28 April

2008 along with nine other satellites (eight
foreign ones). Cartosat-2A has a spatial

resolution of less than one metre and

complements Cartosat-2 launched on 10

January 2007. Cartosat-2A is widely
speculated as the first satellite of a

constellation dedicated to military use (Cf.

Chapter 6). India also continued its work on
developing more reliable and powerful launch

vehicles. In this context, it has developed an

Indian cryogenic engine to power the
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle

(GSLV). In spring 2008, India also confirmed

its entry into the commercial launch market.

Following the successful launch in April 2007
of the Italian astronomical satellite AGILE

onboard a PSLV, in early 2008, Israel’s

TechSAR spy satellite was successfully
launched onboard a PSLV. These two

launches signal India’s intent to be a solid

actor in the launch services market in the
near future.

Indian leadership has continually supported

its space programme politically and
financially and in recent years, the growth in

India’s space budget has been unparalleled

by any other country in the world. The
increasing level of funding thus illustrates the

priority status awarded by the Indian

government to the national space
programme, and the country’s ambition in

space. Furthermore, the 11

Five Year plan

(1 April 2007 - 31 March 2012), approved by

the National Development Council on 19
December 2007, announced India’s will to

undertake 70 space missions compared to

163

Chandrayaan-1 was initially planned for launch on 9

April 2008.

164

“India Space Institute of Technology Inaugurated.”

ISRO press release 24 Sept. 2007

about 26 missions since the 10

plan period

as well as take measures to develop new

technologies for future needs.

165

Its main

direction and goal is to promote economic

and social development through the

expansion and improvements of space

activities. Five main objectives were settled:

•

Improve capacities of space

communication and navigation (through
R&D, use of high power Ka band satellites

etc.)

•

Become leaders in Earth observation
(improvement of imaging capacity and

data processing and applications relative

to agriculture, land and water resource

management, infrastructures etc.)

•

Develop space transportation systems

•

Develop the space science enterprise

•

Promoting spin-offs

166

India is also increasing its presence on the

international scene with new international
cooperation agreements with countries from

the “South”, as well as with countries from

the “North” adding themselves to numerous

existing ones. India has in recent months
reinforced its historical cooperation with

France in the domain of Earth observation

and the United States in the domain of space
exploration. However, India is also expanding

its cooperation with Israel and Russia.

Regarding India’s cooperation with Israel,
following the aforementioned successful

launch of TechSAR on 21 January 2008, ISRO

plans to launch more Israeli spy satellites

onboard Indian rockets.

167

India

cooperating with Russia on updating Russia's

Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass)

as part of a broad space cooperation plan.
The Russo-Indian cooperation has also been

extended to space sciences and exploration

with an Indian instrument set to fly onboard
the Russian Coronas-Photon satellite, Russia

and India signed an agreement for

Chandrayaan-2 mission on the 12 November

2007. This project includes a lunar lander and
a rover, as well as the collection of

samples.

168

165

“India Plans 70 Space Missions in Five Years.” The

Hindu 4

Apr. 2008.

166

Indian 11

Five Year plan presentation

<http://www.cdi.org/pdfs/11th-plan.pdf>.

167

Raghuvanshi, Vivek. “Indian agency plans more Israeli

spy sat launches.“ Defence News Feb. 2008
<http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3366868&c=M
ID&s=AIR >.

168

Bagchi, Indrani. “Indian Study on Manned Moon

Mission in 2008.” The Times of India 14 Nov. 2007
<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Indian_study_on_
manned_moon_mission_in_2008/articleshow/2539048.cm
s >.

Report 15, September 2008

3 . 1 1 E m e r g i n g s p a c e
p o w e r s

Besides the traditional space powers a variety

of new actors have increased their

involvement in space in the last months and
have put forth new strategies and plans.

3.11.1 Africa

In Africa various multilateral projects on

satellite applications are gaining momentum
in Earth observation and communications.

Progress on the African Resource and

Environment Management Constellation

(AMC) are on-going with the participation of
Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The

first African communications satellite entirely

dedicated to Africa covering the whole
continent, RASCOM-QAF1, was launched on

21 December 2007 for the pan-African

operator RASCOM (Regional African Satellite
Communication Organisation)

169

and marks a

great step forward for the continent.

RASCOM-QAF1 aims to provide

communications services to rural areas, as
well as intercity and international phone

lines, direct TV broadcast and internet access

services. This project has been financed
mainly by Libyan funds coming through GTPC

(communications services provider) and LAIP

(Libyan African Investment Portfolio),

170

society created in 2006 to stimulate

investments in Africa. RASCOM-QAF1 is

operated by the private society RascomStar-

QAF created to operate the satellite
(shareholders include LAIP (33%), Rascom

(26%), GPTC (29%) and Thales Alenia Space

(12%)). However, due to a helium leak once
Rascom-QAF 1 was in orbit, its lifespan has

been estimated at 2 years compared to the

15 years originally planned.

171

National developments are also on-going. For

instance, in summer 2008 Angola announced

that it will procure, launch and operate its
first satellite with the help of Russia; the

satellite is a communications satellite dubbed

"Angosat". Other countries are also
developing their strategies and plans,

particularly South Africa.

169

RASCOM, established in 1993, is an intergovernmental

treaty-based organisation which has as its prime objective
the provision, on a commercial basis, of the satellite
capacity required for national and international public
communications services, including sound and television
broadcasting in Africa.

170

Lardier, Christian and Théo Pirard. “L’Afrique à l’Heure

du Spatial.” Air & Cosmos 21 Dec. 2007.

171

de Selding, Peter. “Pan-African Comsat Ready, but

Service Might Last Only a Few Years.” Space News,
Business report 5 Feb. 2008.

While the involvement of South Africa in

space affairs has been modest until now, it is

developing new strategies and capabilities.
Despite the fact that spending on space

programmes remained low, more recently,

the national space programme has been

receiving greater support from the
government. In 2005, South Africa embarked

on a three year capacity-building and satellite

development programme. As a result, a new
satellite named SumbandilaSat is currently

being prepared to be launched in LEO. On 5

December 2007, the Cabinet also approved
the establishment of a national space agency.

This agency will be tasked with coordinating

the use of space technology and local science

research. However the Bill entitled “South
African National Space Agency Bill” is still

being debated in the South African

Parliament as of the end of June 2008. A
draft of the first South African policy is also

currently under development by the

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The
recently approved “Department of Science

and Technology (DST) Ten Year Innovation

Plan” includes space science and technology

as one of the five grand challenges and
consequently, a “National Space Science and

Technology Strategy” has been drafted. It

has been developed with a vision calling “for
South Africa to be among the leading nations

in the innovation utilisation of space science

and technology that enhances economic
growth and sustainable development in order

to improve the quality of life for all”.

172

3.11.2 Asia

In a buoyant regional context, major plans

and activities were proposed by emerging
space actors in Asia in 2007/2008.

South Korea, though it started later than its
Asian counterparts in space activities, is

making notable investments and progress in

developing its indigenous space capability

and it has significantly ramped up its space
programme in recent years. Korea's first

astronaut, Yi So-yeon went to the ISS

onboard the Russian spacecraft Soyouz-TMA-
12 in April 2008.

173

This astronaut project

started on 16 November 2005 and is of very

important technical and social significance for
Korea with more leaps expected in the years

to come. In line with Korea’s hope of

becoming a major space-faring country, its

172

Republic of South Africa. Department of Science and

Technology. “National Space Science and Technology
Strategy .“ <http://www.dst.gov.za/Draft%20National%20S
pace%20Science%20and%20Technology%20Strategy.pdf
>.

173

Yi So-yeon replaced Ko San one month prior the

mission on Russia’s Federal Space Agency request
because Mr Ko broke training centre rules.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

programme has received increasing funding

in recent years. Budget-wise, the

government plans to invest 316 billion wons
(or 336 million U.S. dollars) in 2008 to boost

the country’s space industry.

174

Furthermore,

according to Korean authorities, the amount

spent on space programmes in the next ten
years will double relative to the last decade

(from 1.7 trillion wons from 1996-2007, to

3.6 trillion wons).

175

Two-thirds of the space

budget should be spent to build and launch

satellites.

176

Korea has also laid out a long-term plan for

its space programme and released in 2007 its

“Long-Term Plan for National Space

Development Promotion” according to the
Space Development Promotion Act of 2005.

The long-term plan provides a vision and

direction for national space policy through
2016. The objectives of the next decade as

laid out in the long-term plan include the

development of a reliable indigenous launch
vehicle, more capable Earth observation

systems but also exploration activities.

Korea’s strategic plan is to transform the

country into a regional space leader. The
plan, in particular, changes the focus from a

programmatic-oriented approach to the

acquisition of an independent core space
technology and establishes milestones and

strategies for the independent development

of satellites and launch vehicles based on
implemented space programmes. Korea is

developing a launch vehicle: the Korea Space

Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1). However, due to

a delay in the delivery by Russia of the
ground test vehicle (GTV) used for testing

the rocket engine and liquid-fuelled

propulsion system, the maiden launch has
been moved from 21 December 2008 to the

second quarter of 2009.

177

Earth observation

and acquiring autonomous launch capabilities
are the centrepieces of Korean space

activities, but space science and exploration

activities have been limited thus far.

However, this is evolving. In recent months,
ambitious exploration aspirations have been

proposed, particularly lunar robotic

exploration activities, to demonstrate world
class capabilities commensurate with

economic growth. Korea plans to send

several spacecraft to the moon including a
lunar lander.

174

“Korea to invest W316 billion in space research.” The

Chosun Ilbo Jan. 2008.

175

de Selding, Peter. “South Korea Outlines Space

Spending Plan.” Space News 16 Jan. 2008.

176

Jin-seo, Cho. “Budget for Space Projects Remains

Flat.” Korea Times. 16 Jan. 2008.

177

Korea also intends to develop another launch vehicle

KSLV-2 for testing in 2017.

Another emerging space actor, Malaysia sent

its first national into space in 2007/2008. On

10 October 2007, Sheikh Muszaphar
Shukhuor was the first Malaysian astronaut

or “Angkasawan” in space. However, six

months after sending its first “Angkasawan”

into space, the plan to send a second
astronaut to space had to be put on hold due

to lack of public funds. Nonetheless, the

training of Dr. Faiz, the next “Angkasawan"
should continue.

Vietnam was the latest Asian actor in the
period 2007/2008 to launch its dedicated

communications satellites on 18 April 2008.

Vinasat-1 is the first satellite ever procured

by Vietnam, illustrating the growing interest
of the Vietnamese government in space

activities.

3.11.3 The Middle East

In the Middle East, plans of the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC)

178

to launch a

joint remote-sensing satellite have been

reported.

179

Furthermore, the United Arab

Emirates’ (UAE) first satellite DubaiSat-1, an
Earth observation satellite will be launched by

the end of 2008. UAE’s communications

company Thuraya has also completed the
launch of its third communications satellite

on 15 January 2008, aiming at improving

communication capacities in the Asia-Pacific
region.

In 2007/2008, Israel launched two satellites:

a reconnaissance synthetic aperture radar
satellite (TechSAR) in January 2008 by India

(Cf. Chapter 6), and a communications

satellite (Amos-3) on 28 April 2008 as the
maiden launch of Land Launch (this satellite

has been renamed Amos-60 since).

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has made

Iran’s scientific development one of the main

themes of his presidency, and particularly

nuclear and space activities. Iran has long
declared a goal of developing a space

programme. Following the launch of a

sounding rocket on 25 February 2007, on 4
February 2008, a new suborbital test flight

was successfully conducted using the two-

stage rocket, Safir (Envoy in English). In
summer 2008, Iran recorded its first orbital

launch as a step towards the country’s

attempt to launch its first indigenous LEO

research satellite called Omid (Hope in

178

The GCC established in 1981 is a regional political and

economic bloc that consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

179

“UAE to launch joint remote-sensing satellite with GCC

countries.” Xinhuanet 29 Apr. 2008.

Report 15, September 2008

English).

180

Iran is also collaborating on the

Small Multi-Mission Satellite (SMMS) with

China and Thailand

181

and is working on three

other missions: Sina-2, Sepher and ZS4. In

addition to the space segment, Iran has also

been developing the ground segment for

telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C)
and data acquisition. Regardless of the

technical characteristics of the launchers and

payloads, the level of activities of the last
months and the plans for the next years

demonstrate Iran’s continued intent to

further advance and develop its space
capabilities.

3.11.4 Oceania

While Australia was the fourth country to

launch a satellite (WRESAT) from its territory

on November 1967, its activities in space
have been modest since the 1970s. However

this situation is evolving due to greater

interest in Australian space activities at the
political level in the country. In particular, a

bipartisan investigation was approved by the

Australian Senate to review the capability

and potential of Australia’s space sector. This
enquiry follows the release in October 2007

of a plan developed by the Australian space

science community under the leadership of
the Australian Academy of Science’s National

Committee for Space Science.

182

This overall

inquiry is led by the Australian Senate
Standing Committee on Economics and aims

to look at ways to strengthen and expand

Australia’s position in space science, industry

and education. Moreover, arguments for and
against the expansion of Australian activity in

space science and industry, and policy

options providing solution for cross-sectoral
technological and organisational challenges

are sought. The preliminary findings of the

Senate investigation were released on 23
June 2008 in order to be taken into account

on time for the upcoming Green Paper on

National Innovation System Review. The final

report is due by October 2008.

3.11.5 South America

In 2007/2008, Brazil continued its

involvement in space activities and, in

particular, in the development of the Veículo
Lançador de Satélite (VLS) and its successors

by increasing the participation of the

industrial sector and promoting the

180

Omid will be Iran’s second satellite. The first was the

Russian-made Sina-1 launched on 27 October 2005. Omid
will fly in near polar orbit at an altitude of 650 kilometres.

181

Iran is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation

Organisation (APSCO)

182

Dayton, Leigh. “Boost for space program.” The

Australian 25 Mar. 2008.

development of the Alcântara Launch Center

including its commercial exploitation. Brazil is

also developing the scientific satellite (Lattes)
designed to observe atmospheric phenomena

in the equatorial region such as

luminescence, electric discharges etc. It

continues its involvement in space
applications within the scope of the “South-

South” cooperation in Earth observation with

the successful launch of CBERS 2B in
September 2007 in cooperation with China.

Brazil is also making preliminary studies on

the development of a Brazilian geostationary
satellite in order to meet the needs of the

Brazilian government in the areas of secure

communication, meteorology and air traffic

management.

In recent months, the main policy directive

was to promote the commercialisation of
means of access to space. In this context,

space activities were added to the PAC (Plan

for Growth Acceleration) 2007-2011 intended
to stimulate private and public investments.

In the infrastructure section of the PAC, the

implementation of the full infrastructure of

the Alcântara Launch Center, including the
commercial launch site is covered.

3 . 1 2 I n t e r n a t i o n a l
s e c t o r a l c o m p a r i s o n s

In order to appraise the strategies, plans and

activities of the different space powers, a

focus on key space activities such as the
ability to launch missions as well as the

number and type of missions launched is

necessary.

3.12.1 Launch sector

Launch infrastructure and systems are key
elements demonstrating a country’s

independence in space activities. The number

of launches conducted as well as the level of
activities of its bases indicates the dynamism

of a country in the space sector and its

position in the “space hierarchy”.

In 2007, six countries plus Europe and the

multinational private consortium, Sea Launch

(referred to as multinational in the following
figures) conducted 68 launches. When

comparing the level of activity by actor,

Russia was again the world’s leader according
to the launch rate criterion followed by the

United States and China (Figure 17). The

“space hierarchy” in this domain is very

stable, as can be observed when looking at
the same podium of last year.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Those 68 launches were distributed over 24

different launch systems (Figure 18). Russia

used eight different launch systems followed

by the United States which used seven
different launch systems. China used three

different launch systems and India two, while

Europe, Japan, Israel and Sea Launch used
only one launch system (Figure 18). Delta 2

was the most used launch system (eight

launches) followed by the Soyuz-U, Proton M,

Long March 3 and Ariane 5 all with six
launches. Those five launch systems

represented 47% of all launches performed in

2007 (Figure 18).

The number and degree to which space
transportation infrastructures are used are

also indicators of national capabilities and

reflect the importance given to independent
access to space by a country. In 2007, 15

launch sites were used to perform at least

one orbital launch (Figure 19) including one

mobile platform (Sea Launch Odyssey
platform).

r o

f or

bit

l la

Russia

USA

China

Europe

India

Japan Multinational

Israel

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Figure 17 Total worldwide orbital launches per entity in 2007

Figure 18 Worldwide orbital launches per launch system in 2007

Report 15, September 2008

bit

l la

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)

nav

(US

cha

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)

Van

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)

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a (

Ja)

n (

)

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)

ach

)

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Figure 19 Launches performed by launch site in 2007

Baikonur in Kazakhstan (but operated by
Russia) was the busiest launch site in 2007

with 20 launches (three more launches than

in 2006) conducted from its different launch
pads followed by Cape Canaveral in the

United States with 13 launches (Figure 19)

three more than in 2006 (ten launches).

Xichang in China and Kourou in Europe
completed this podium both with six launches

performed in 2007 (Figure 19).

In 2007, the United States used four different

launch sites (Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg,

Kwajalelin and Wallops Island), while Russia
used three different launch sites in 2007

(Baikonur, Plesetsk and Yasny) like China

(Xichang, Tai Yuan and Jiquan). Europe,

India, Japan, Israel and Sea Launch used
only one launch site to perform their

launches (Figure 19).

3.12.2 Missions launched

Completing the analysis of the activities
linked to access to space, the variety of

missions launched needs to be considered as

well in order to comprehensively appraise the

ability of a country to implement its space
policy.

In 2007, 20 countries and five bilateral and
multinational actors like ESA launched at

least one spacecraft into space (Figure 20).

When looking at the performance of
individual countries, the United States was

the world’s leader according to the number of
missions launched in space (almost 40% of

the total of missions launched) followed by

Russia (15%), China (8%) and Japan (6%).
Compared to last year, China has overtaken

Japan on the podium behind the United

States and Russia (Figure 20). Europe, when

agglomerated for 2007 launched about 10%
of all payloads (Figure 20). In 2007, 14

actors launched only one payload (Figure

20).

Like in the case of the launch sector, the

number of missions launched per year is
highly concentrated among a small number

of actors with the same top three actors

(United States, Russia and China)

concentrating 60% of all payloads launched
and 80% of all launches performed in 2007.

Moreover, when looking at the scope of the

missions launched, only a handful of
countries launched several types of missions

(Figure 21). In 2007, the United States had

the most diverse set of missions launched
(Figure 21) followed by Russia and China

(Figure 21).

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Figure 21 Types of missions launched into orbit in 2007 per country/institution

Figure 20 Number of missions launched into space in 2007 per country/institution

f p

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Com m unications Military

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Earth Obs ervation

Earth Obs ervation Military

Electronic s urveillance

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Report 15, September 2008

USA

Russia

China

Europe

Japan

India

Launches

Missions

r of

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3.12.3 Overall assessment

When appraising the combination of activities
of major space-faring countries (launch and

satellites activities) in 2007, an evolution of

the “space hierarchy” can be ascertained.

While the United States and Russia continue
to be the dominant space actors, China is

now the third space actor both in the number

of launches performed and in the number of
missions launched (Figure 22). The United

States is the leader in terms of the number of

missions launched and Russia when using the
launch rate criterion (Figure 22).

Europe confirmed its fourth position in 2007
in the “space hierarchy” with six launches

performed and 12 missions launched. Japan

which held the third position in this ranking in

2006 has now fallen to the fifth position. It
launched seven missions and two launches

compared to 14 missions and six launches in

2006. Finally, the buoyant regional context in
Asia has again been demonstrated by the

solid performance of not only China, but also

Japan and India (Figure 22).

Figure 22 Assessment of major space powers’ activities in 2007

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Chapter 4 - European institutional market

The main purpose of the data on European

institutional space expenditure is to provide
an easily identifiable estimate of the scale of

institutional resources spent on space in

Europe and by proxy the volume absorbed by

the European space sector in order to put it
in perspective with other institutional

markets, in particular, the United States.

4 . 1 E u r o p e a n
i n s t i t u t i o n a l m a r k e t

European institutional space activities are

characterised by a multi-layer structure. It
combines national programmes as well as

programmes within the framework of the

European Space Agency (ESA), the European

Organisation for the Exploitation of
Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat) and the

European Union (EU). When considering

consolidated European public space
expenditure Europe is the second largest

player in space (when referring to known

space-related institutional budgets) (Cf.
Chapter 2). Although Europe invests in

defence programmes through several

countries, the main institutional investments

are overwhelmingly focused on civil space
activities. Only a small number of countries

invest in military/intelligence programmes

and the share of the overall European space

expenditure allocated to national or
multinational defence programmes is modest,

especially when compared to the United

States. The total size of European

institutional investments in 2007 was
estimated at about 6.6 billion euros, with an

estimated 83% being civilian funding and

17% military funding.

4 . 2 C i v i l i a n s p a c e
e x p e n d i t u r e

In 2007, overall civilian institutional
expenditures were estimated to be about

5.497 billion euros, up by 267 million euros

compared to 2006. While there is relative

stagnation in the ESA budget and the
national space programmes and Eumetsat

budgets are shrinking, the funds devoted to

space affairs by the European Commission
increased in 2007 following the start of the

new Framework Programme (FP7) (Figure

23).

ESA in 2007 concentrated about 54% of total

civilian institutional resources followed by

national space programmes (29%). As
opposed to 2006, EU funding is now on the

European podium for the first time,

2,975

1,616

0,7

0,205

0,5

1,5

2,5

illi

on e

ESA

National

programmes

Eumetsat

Figure 23 Estimated European civil public expenditures in 2007

Report 15, September 2008

representing about 13% of all European

civilian institutional budgets followed

distantly by Eumetsat (about 4%) (Figure
23).

4 . 3 E u r o p e a n S p a c e
A g e n c y

ESA accounted for the largest share of
European civilian space expenditure in 2007

with about 2.975 billions euros devoted to

space activities (Figure 23), a similar level to
2006. The activities of ESA are financed via

its 17 member States and Canada as an

associate member State. ESA activities are
also financed by third parties for specific

programmes such as Eumetsat.

The ESA budget for 2007 is split into ten
major areas of activity covering the ESA

Mandatory Programme and the Optional

Programmes. Reflecting programme decisions
taken in December 2005 and before, the

biggest activity on ESA’s budget is the

launcher programme that represents 21% of
ESA’s budget (Figure 24). It is followed by

Earth observation, science, Human

spaceflight with about 13-15% each (Figure

24). Navigation and Telecommunications
cover another 17.5% when added up (Figure

24).

183

“European Space Technology Master Plan.“ ESA

ESTMP Issue 5 Dec. 2007.

Member States’ contributions to ESA

accounted for 2944.2 billion euros in 2007.

France contributed to one-fourth of ESA’s
total budget, followed by Germany (19%),

Italy (12%) and the United Kingdom (8%).

The contributions of those four countries

amounted to 64% of ESA’s budget in 2007
(Figure 25).

4 . 4 E u m e t s a t

The European Meteorological Satellite
Organisation, Eumetsat,

184

derives most of its

budget from the contribution of its 21

member States (the same as ESA plus

Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey) and
nine cooperating States (Bulgaria, the Czech

Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia,

Lithuania, Poland and Romania). Their
contributions are based on their Gross

National Income (GNI). As illustrated by

Figure 26, Germany, the United Kingdom,
France and Italy represent 66% of the total

member States contributions in 2007.

184

Eumetsat is in charge of providing satellite data and

products to its member States for operational meteorology,
climate monitoring and ocean surface topography.

Figure 24 ESA programmatic budget allocations for 2007 (Source ESTMP)

183

21,1%

14,7%

13,0%

12,9%

9,4%

8,1%

6,7%

5,3%

3,2%

3,1%

1,5%

1,0%

0,1%

Launchers

Earth Obs ervation

Science

Hum an Spaceflight

Navigation

Telecom m unications

General Budget

As s ociated to General Budget

Technology

Microgravity

Exploration

Financed by third parties

ECSA

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

185

Ibid.

Figure 25 Member States contribution to ESA budget for 2007 (Source ESTMP)

185

Figure 26 Member States contributions to Eumetsat for 2007 in percentage

(* joined in 2007 to be included in 2008 budget)

21,40

16,64

15,70

12,64

7,28

4,42

3,06

2,70 2,59

2,20 1,98 1,92 1,82

1,44

1,41

1,26 1,07

0,26 0,22 0,21

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753,2

578,3

370

243,2

145,3

141,4

92,9

74,9

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26,2

17,3

12,9 12,1

11,2

9,2

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

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Report 15, September 2008

The Eumetsat budget for 2007 covered total
expenditures of 205 million euros compared

to 251.9 million euros in 2006, largely

financed by its members’ contributions as
well as by limited additional income from

licensed users of particular services. It had

175.91 million euros dedicated to

programme-related activities down from
222.93 million euros in 2006. Similar to

2006, the biggest amount earmarked was for

the Eumetsat Polar System (EPS) followed by
the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)

programme (Figure 27).

4 . 5 N a t i o n a l a g e n c i e s

In addition to contributions to ESA, a
majority of its 17-member States

186

and

other EU-27 countries have a dedicated space

agency, space office, or funds allocated to a
domestic space programme. However, the

institutional funding of space activities in

Europe varies considerably among European
countries depending on their national

priorities and most European countries still

funnel the majority of their investments to

ESA (Figure 28).

186

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,

Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the
United Kingdom.

There is an important heterogeneity of public
support devoted to space activities in Europe.

A trio of countries – France, Germany and

Italy – concentrated the majority of European
civilian expenditures in 2007. Consequently,

the national agencies of those three

countries: the Centre National d'Etudes

spatiales (CNES) from France, the Deutsches
Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) from

Germany and the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana

(ASI) from Italy garnered an overwhelming
majority of European national civil

expenditures (about 83% of all European

civilian expenditure devoted to national
civilian programmes) (Figure 29).

4.5.1 France

France has the largest national civilian

budget in Europe with about 1466.2 million

euros devoted to civilian space activities. In
2007, the CNES had a budget estimated at

713 million euros allocated to its national

programme and the French contribution to
ESA was about 753.2 million euros.

187

Ibid

Eum

sat

lar

t Se

ati

son-

t Th

ird

ene

rat

ion

and

pec

tiv

e A

vit

ies

2007

2006

125,71

85,28

3,67

8,27

28,97

102,36

61,62

3,82

8,11

29,09

100

120

140

illio

Figure 27 Major programmatic allocations of Eumetsat in 2006 and 2007

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

713,0

349,3

290,0

75,0

42,0

34,0 30,0

28,6

12,0 11,8

8,2

7,6

5,0

4,5

2,0

1,4

1,0

0,8

0,7

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

t in

lio

anc

Ita

rma

and

ede

The N

her

nds Sp

oma

nia

str

enm

ium

itze

rla

ch R

ubl

xem

rtu

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Aus

tri

nma

any

Ire

nd Ita

Lux

emb

nds

Pol

and

Por

tug

oma

Spa

Swe

Swi

erl

and

ech

National programmes

ESA

4.5.2 Germany

In 2007, Germany allocated an estimated
912.17 million euros to civilian space

activities. It hence represents the second-

188

“European Space Technology Master Plan.“ ESA

ESTMP Issue 5 Dec. 2007.

189

Ibid.

biggest institutional space spender in Europe.

An estimated 290 million euros were spent by

DLR, and the German contribution to ESA
was an estimated 578.2 million euros in

2007.

190

Ibid.

Figure 28 Estimated shares of national institutional investment in civilian space in 2007 (Source ESTMP)

188

Figure 29 Estimation of the European national space budgets in 2007 (Source ESTMP)

189

Report 15, September 2008

4.5.3 Italy

Italy is the third European space power
budget-wise. It is estimated that Italy spent

about 744 million euros in 2007 devoted to

civilian space activities with 369.9 million

euros going to ESA and about 349.3 million
euros allocated to its national programme

managed by ASI.

191

4 . 6 E u r o p e a n U n i o n

The current EU expenditure spent by the
European Commission on space-related

activities is mostly concentrated in the

context of the Framework Programme (FP)

192

rather than on operational programmes.

193

However, this is evolving with the extra

budgetary allocation to the Galileo
programme approved in April 2008 (Cf.

Chapter 7).

The FP7 is organised in four specific
programmes (cooperation, ideas, people and

capacities) to create European poles of

excellence. The largest programme is
cooperation. It is organised in ten themes

with one devoted to space activities. The

objective of the FP7 space work programme
is to contribute to fulfil the overall objectives

of the European space policy, complementing

the efforts of member States as well as ESA

and other actors. EU member States
earmarked 1.43 billion euros to fund them in

the 2007-2013 timeframe. Thus, throughout

the term of the FP7, an average of 205
million euros is planned to be allocated to

space through the space theme alone.

However, the amount of EC funds directly or
indirectly dedicated to space varies from one

year to another depending of the number of

calls for proposals issued, the quality of

projects presented and their costs. Two main
clusters of activities are covered by the

current space theme: space-based

applications and R&D support to the
foundations of space science, exploration,

space transportation and space technology.

About 85% of the funds of the FP7 are
allocated to GMES and 15% to the rest. For

2007, a total of 88.7 million euros is to be

committed through the FP focusing almost

exclusively on GMES-related services (Fast
Tracks Services and access to Earth

observation data).

191

Ibid.

192

Since 1984, the Framework Programme has been the

EU’s main instrument for funding research and
development

193

Peter, Nicolas. “The EU’s Emergent Space Diplomacy.”

Space Policy 23.2 (May 2007): 97-107.

The first open call for proposals (FP7-SPACE-

2007-1) closed on 19 June 2007 and had a

budget of 34.5 million euros. The publication
of the second call is scheduled for the second

half of 2008. Besides the dedicated space

thematic, other themes in the FP7 can

provide additional sources of finances for the
space sector, such as the theme Information

and Communication Technologies, Security,

Transport, etc. For instance, the call for
proposals (FP7-GALILEO-2007-GSA-1), which

closed on 29 February 2008 had a budget of

25 million euros.

Apart from the FP, part of the Trans-

European Networks funds is also dedicated to

space activities, specifically to the Galileo
programme. With the budget agreed by the

European Parliament on 23 April 2008, EU

funds will finance a total of 3.4 billion euros
over seven years for the Galileo deployment,

or an average of 485 million euros per year.

Another 70 million euros are allocated to
space activities through the Competitiveness

and Innovation Framework Programme

(CIP).

194

Over the 2007-13 period, it is

therefore estimated that the EC will spend on
average about 700 million euros per year on

space activities.

4 . 7 S e c u r i t y - r e l a t e d
s p a c e e x p e n d i t u r e s

European space activities focus principally on

civilian space activities, and consequently,
European investments on space security-

related activities are limited in size and

scope. Europe’s efforts in this domain rest

mainly on member States with limited bi-
national or multinational cooperation.

However, with a greater involvement of the

European Defence Agency (EDA) in space
activities, this could change in the near future

(Cf. Chapter 6).

Only eight European countries are

substantially involved in security-related

space activities (Belgium, France, Germany,

Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United
Kingdom). While sizing the global military

space sector is difficult (Cf. Chapters 2 and

6), accessing European data is also difficult.
It is estimated that the defence-related space

investments in Europe in 2007 were about

1.103 billion euros. The volume of security-

194

The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework

Programme addresses both technological and non-
technological aspects of innovation, focusing on the
downstream parts of the research and innovation process.
One sub-programme, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Programme (EIP), can be of support to space activities.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

ill

related investments is therefore significantly
less than the U.S. space investment in this

domain (Cf. Chapter 2). However, the volume

of European institutional investments in this
domain have been steadily increasing since

2002/2003 as illustrated by Figure 30 that

depicts the size of the military contracts

awarded to the European space industry in
the 1996-2007 period.

France is Europe’s major investor in defence-
related space activities with an estimated

195

ASD-Eurospace. “The European Space Industry in

2007 facts & figures.” 12th edition June 2008.

public effort of 460 million euros in 2007.
However, while France has seen its budget

stagnating in recent years, more modest

historical contributors like the United
Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Spain have seen

their investments in security-related space

activities increase, as they have been

developing or procuring new national
capabilities in Earth observation or communi-

cations (Cf. Chapter 6). In 2007, the United

Kingdom spent an estimated 300 million euros
on space military activities principally on

Figure 30 Evolution of the size of the military space contracts awarded

for the European space industry (Adapted from Eurospace)

195

Figure 31 Estimated shares of military space investments in Europe in 2007

41,7%

15,8%

10,4%

4,5%

27,2%

0,4%

France

Germany

Italy

Spain

Others

Report 15, September 2008

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

lio

n e

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Institutional market

Commercial & exports

Other/unidentified

communications systems, Germany spent 174

million euros mainly on reconnaissance

systems, Italy spent 115 million euros also
primarily on reconnaissance systems, and

Spain spent about 50 million euros mostly on

communications systems. In 2007, those five

countries concentrated 99% of the total
European investments in the domain (Figure

31). Other countries (Belgium, Sweden etc.)

invested modestly in space military activities,
as they continue to rely on cooperative pro-

grammes to reap the benefits of third-party

military space assets through cooperation
agreements. Other resources are also allo-

cated by the European Union Satellite Centre

(EUSC), for instance.

196

In 2007, the EUSC

had an estimated budget of about 12 million
euros.

4 . 8   T h e   i n s t i t u t i o n a l
m a r k e t   a n d   i t s   i m p a c t
o n   t h e   i n d u s t r i a l   b a s e

In Europe, the institutional market has

historically constituted the main source of

funding of the European space industry.
However European companies have to com-

pete on the global market to increase their

revenues due to the flat trend of the

institutional market (Figure 32).

196

The EUSC is an Agency of the Council of the European

Union that aims to support the decision-making of the EU
by providing analysis of satellite imagery and collateral
data.

Therefore, the health of the communications

sector is of particular importance, as it drives

both the satellite manufacturing sector and
the launch services sector (Cf. Chapter 5).

However, the commercial sector is cyclical

and is becoming increasingly competitive (Cf.

Chapter 5). Hence, the institutional market
constitutes a base for European activities

allowing commitments in R&D activities to

support European competitiveness.

However, it is not large enough to counter-

balance the dependence of the European
space industry on the commercial space

market. Increasing international competition

is also threatening Europe’s position on the

global commercial market, as many countries
are rationalising their industrial base to

increase their international competitiveness

(Cf. Chapter 5).

The competitiveness of the European industry

is also dependent on exchange rates, as most

transactions are in U.S. dollars, but assets and
services are produced in the euro zone.

Therefore, a firmer EUR versus USD reduces

the margins of European companies and
lowers the price competitiveness of their

products and services. Consequently, this

could lead to a reduction of Europe’s overall

market share (Cf. Chapter 5).

197

ASD-Eurospace. “The European Space Industry in

2007 facts & figures.” 12th edition June 2008.

Figure 32 Evolution of the European industrial turnover per customer since 1996 (Adapted from Eurospace)

197

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Chapter 5 - Space industry evolutions

The space industry is currently in transition

with the number of consolidations, mergers

and formation of strategic alliances increasing
rapidly. This trend started a few years ago

and is linked to the willingness to improve

global competitiveness of the different

stakeholders of the space sector.

5 . 1 I n d u s t r i a l e v o l u t i o n s
i n E u r o p e

In recent months, the shareholdings of major
European communications satellite operators

continued to evolve as major takeovers

occurred.

On 20 August 2007, the European

Commission approved the acquisition of

Telenor Satellite Services from the Norwegian
communications group Telenor by the

investment fund management Apax Partners

for an amount of 400 million U.S. dollars.

198

Spain’s Abertis telecom that acquired 32% of

the share capital of Eutelsat
Communications

199

in January 2007 for 1.070

billion euros reached an agreement on 31

October 2008 with ENSAFECA Holding

Empresarial and BBVA to acquire a 28.4%
stake in the Spanish satellite operator

Hispast for 199 million euros. This latest

transaction was authorised on 15 February
2008 by the Spanish Cabinet, making Abertis

the largest shareholder in Hispasat.

200

Abertis

telecom’s entry into Hispasat consolidates the
strategy initiated by the acquisition of

Eutelsat shares (also a Hispasat

shareholder

201

) intended to complement

Abertis telecom’s position and to expand its
geographic business base.

198

Lawsky,

David. “EU approves Apax buy of Telenor

Satellite Services.” Reuters 20 Aug. 2007.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-
SP/idUSBRU00590120070820

199

Abertis telecom acquired the share from the investment

funds Texas Pacific Group, Spectrum, Cinven and
Goldman Sachs making it the company’s largest
shareholder.

200

Now that the Spanish government has authorised the

deal, it must however be cleared by the anti-trust
authorities.

201

Eutelsat owns a 27.7% stake in Hispasat.

Lehman Brothers International, which re-

duced its share in the Mobile Satellite

Services (MSS) operator Inmarsat by 50%
from 9.6% to 4.8% in mid-January 2008, has

since raised its stake in the company to

15%.

202

In the meantime, Harbinger Capital

has become the largest shareholder with
about 28.8% of Inmarsat, thus illustrating its

interest in acquiring control of the MSS

operator.

On 31 January 2008, Swedish Space Corp

(SSC) exercised an option (“put option”)
under an existing agreement to sell an

additional 15% of the satellite-fleet operator

SES Sirius to the Luxembourg-based SES.

This transaction increases SES’s ownership of
the Swedish operator from 75% to 90%. SSC

will, however, retain a 10% stake in SES

Sirius and will continue to provide tracking
and control services for the three-satellite

fleet.

In February 2008, in an effort to reinforce its

presence over the Middle East, SES tried to

purchase the rights for the upcoming Amos-3

satellite plus the Amos-2 satellite as well as
the customers now using the Amos satellites

from Spacecom of Israel. Shortly after this

announcement Spacecom rejected the
takeover bid arguing that the bid was

underestimating the value of Spacecom’s

business and proposed to leave Spacecom
with a single satellite (upcoming Amos-4)

that would generate insufficient revenues to

guarantee the future of the company.

A joint venture called Solaris Mobile (formed

by Eutelsat and SES Astra) that provides

services in the S-band selected Dublin
(Ireland) as the company’s headquarters on

18 June 2008. Solaris Mobile will provide MSS

such as TV, video, and radio plus two-way
communications to a variety of mobile

devices.

In the domain of space manufacturing and
services, a series of merger, takeovers and

strategic alliances occurred in 2007/2008.

Following the recent investments in EADS by

Dubai International Capital, a sovereign

wealth fund from Dubai, and of Vnesh-

202

de Selding, Peter. “Lehman Brothers Reinvests in

Inmarsat Shares.” Space News 13 Feb. 2008.

Report 15, September 2008

econombank (VEB) a state-controlled Russian

bank,

203

France and Germany are discussing

changes to EADS’s corporate by-laws to
prevent foreign investors building significant

stakes in the company. Several options are

considered, but the use of “golden shares” is

the option currently favoured by Paris and
Berlin as it will enable them to block stakes

above 15% and would justify their privilege

as vital to national security.

On 7 April 2008, EADS Astrium announced

that it had acquired about 99% of Surrey
Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) from the

University of Surrey.

204

This transaction was

accepted by the University only after Astrium

gave detailed assurance about SSTL’s future
independence. The all-cash sale is valued at

about 89.7 million U.S. dollars in which

Astrium will be purchasing 99% of SSTL’s
equity, with the University of Surrey retaining

1%.

205

Astrium also bought the 10% SSTL

stake held by SpaceX and the 5% owned by
SSTL employees under the same terms and

conditions.

206

It is expected that SSTL will

complement Astrium’s existing space

capabilities in the design and manufacture of
small and micro satellites.

Following a cooperation agreement between
EADS Astrium and India’s Antrix, EADS

signed an agreement in March 2008 to jointly

supply with Khrunichev Centre (FGUP
M.V.Khrunichev GKNPTs) with a new

generation of high power spacecraft to the

Russian Satellite Communications Co

(RSCC).

207

Thales Alenia Space concluded a wide-

ranging cooperation agreement with NPO PM
(Academician M.F. Reshetnyov Scientific and

Production Association of Applied Mechanics)

on 6 December 2007. They agreed to jointly
develop a new low-cost high-power 8-12

kilowatt communications satellite bus,

Express 400, based on Thales Alenia Space’s

Spacebus 4000, but also explore ways to
supply both satellite lines with the same

Russian-built equipment and subsystems.

208

203

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 62.

204

The University of Surrey put its company, SSTL, on the

auction block in November 2007.

205

de Selding, Peter. “Astrium Assurance of SSTL

Independence Helped Seal Deal.” Space News 7 Apr.
2008.

206

Ibid.

207

Taverna, Michael and Alex Komarov. “Khrunichev-

Astrium Deal Changes Balance in Russian Satellite
Market.” Aviation Week & Space Technology (24 Mar.
2008): 35.

208

Ibid.

Telespazio announced on 31 October 2007,

the takeover of 85% of Fileas, the software

solutions editor and international operator for
data broadcasting services by satellite and

other networks. This operation aims to allow

Telespazio to extend its range of satellite

data broadcasting services and to intensify its
efforts for developing its other service

activities.

209

On 11 December 2007, Saab AB announced

that Saab Space Corp. (the Swedish space-

hardware builder specialised in satellite
payload electronics and in systems used to

release satellites from launch vehicles) was

for sale.

210

In summer 2008, the Swiss

Company RUAG, concluded a share purchase
agreement with Saab AB to buy Saab Space

and its subsidiary Austrian Aerospace for an

estimated amount of 56.3 million U.S.
dollars. The closing of the transaction is

expected to take place in September 2008.

On 30 January 2008, OHB Technology of

Germany purchased a 50% stake in RST

Raumfahrt Systemtechnik, a small German

company specialising in airborne and space-
borne radar technologies. OHB and RST have

worked together on the German military five-

satellite SAR-Lupe reconnaissance satellites
system.

With navigation being a fast-growing
business and with location-based services

expanding rapidly into mobile

communications devices, several major

acquisitions occurred in recent months.

Nokia and NAVTEQ announced, on 1 October

2007, a definitive agreement for Nokia to
acquire NAVTEQ for an aggregate purchase

price of approximately 8.1 billion U.S.

dollars.

211

NAVTEQ is a leading provider of

digital map information for, among others,

automotive navigation systems, mobile

navigation devices and Internet-based

mapping applications.

On 18 November 2007, the world’s largest

navigation solution provider TomTom
acquired Tele Atlas; the transaction’s

aggregate value is about 2.7 million euros.

212

Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and

209

The remaining 15% is still held by Agence France

Presse.

210

Saab Space Corp. is Sweden’s largest space contractor.

211

“Nokia to Acquire NAVTEQ.” PRNewswire 1 Oct. 2007

<http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-
bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/
10-01-
2007/0004673032&EDATE=MON+Oct+01+2007,+08:35+
AM >.

212

TomTom “Annual Report and Accounts 2007.” <

http://ar2007.tomtom.com/pdf/tomtom_Ar07.pdf >.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

dynamic content for location-based services

(LBS), particularly for Portable Navigation

Devices (PNDs). The European Commission,
however, opened an investigation into

TomTom's proposed purchase of Tele Atlas,

claiming that consumers could be hurt by a

GPS hardware maker owning one of the two
major digital map providers. Finally, in mid-

May 2008, TomTom was able to buy Tele

Atlas after the Commission concluded that
the transaction would not have any

significant effect on effective competition.

213

5 . 2 I n d u s t r i a l e v o l u t i o n s
i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s

Several cross mergers and acquisitions

involving U.S. entities occurred in recent

months, as well as legislative initiatives to
protect and promote the U.S. industrial

base.

MacDonald, Detwiller and Associate (MDA)

from Canada purchased Alliance

Spacesystems LLC on 5 December 2007.
Alliance Spacesystems LLC is a provider for

the U.S. government and an aerospace

customer of advanced technology solutions;

it is also a leader in robotic and mechanical
structures applied on a variety of space

missions as well as terrestrial applications.

Alliance Spacesystems became part of MDA
Federal, the MDA subsidiary which includes

all of the U.S. businesses of the MDA

Information Systems Group.

Alliant Techsystems (ATK), which

completed the acquisition of Swales

Aerospace on 8 June 2007, announced on 8
January 2008 that it agreed to buy

Canada’s largest space hardware

manufacturer (MDA) for 1.3 billion U.S.
dollars. The acquisition of MDA Information

Systems and Geospatial Information

Services business would give ATK, among
other things, superior capabilities in space-

based radar systems and space robotics.

This would also give ATK greater access to

non-U.S. markets, and would allow ATK to
market MDA’s space-based radar

capabilities to U.S. national security

customers. However, while 99.9% of voting
shareholders approved the deal, Industry

Canada rejected the takeover on 10 April

2008 on the grounds that it is a bad deal
for Canada. Moreover, Canadian Industry

Minister Jim Prentice also indicated the

importance of Radarsat-2, which MDA

213

Lawsky, David. “TomTom Wins EU Permission to Buy

Tele Atlas.” Reuters 14 May 2008.

manufactures to safeguard Canada’s

sovereignty in the Artic region.

214

On 7 February 2008, the start-up MSS

operator, TerreStar, announced that EchoStar

Corp. and private-equity investor Harbinger

Capital as well as other unnamed investors
agreed to invest 300 million U.S. dollars in

the company, with two-thirds of the funds

being available immediately. Harbinger
Capital and EchoStar Corp. each were given

seats on the TerreStar board in exchange for

their cash investments.

215

The cash influx

would allow TerreStar to complete the

development and launch of TerreStar-1, but

also to begin work on the TerreStar-2

satellite.

216

TerreStar is developing an S-band

mobile two-way communication network for

the United States.

On 4 February 2008, Intelsat, announced the

successful closing of the acquisition of all the

primary equity ownership of Intelsat Holdings
valued at approximately five billion U.S.

dollars by Serafina Holdings (an entity

formed by funds advised by BC Partners,

Silver Lake and other equity investors).
Serafina Holdings bought the interests in

Intelsat to the funds advised by or associated

with Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Apax
Partners L.P., Apollo Management V, L.P.,

Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC and Permina

Advisers LLC.

The Canadian firm Telesat was acquired on

31 October 2007 by Loral Space &

Communications and the Public Sector
Pension Investment Board (PSP) of Canada

(a pension fund) through the joint venture

company Acquireco for 3.25 billion Canadian
dollars (about 2.79 billion U.S. dollars). Loral

now owns 64% of the company and PSP

owns the remaining 36%. However, to
comply with Canadian laws (requiring

Canadian ownership of communications

carriers) Loral has 33.3% voting rights and

the Canadian investors 66.7%.

217

214

Galt, Virginia. “Prentice defends takeover veto.” Globe

and Mail 11 Apr. 2008
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/
v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeand
mail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20080411.wpre
ntice_space0411%2FBNStory%2FrobNews%2F&ord=895
24609&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true >.

215

The U.S. hedge fund Harbinger Capital has taken in

recent months sizeable positions in several MSS
companies. In addition of its involvement in TerreStar it
owns as aforementioned 28% of Inmarsat, but it is also a
major shareholder in Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV).

216

Having a backup satellite completed within a year of

TerreStar’s commercial debut is a requirement of the
company’s U.S. Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) license.

217

de Selding P. “At Deal’s Close, Telesat, Loral Begin

Merging Satellite Fleets.” Space News 5 Nov 2007.

Report 15, September 2008

The U.S. Department of Justice issued an

outright approval on 24 March 2008 for the

merger of satellite-radio companies Sirius
Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. The

review concluded that “evidence does not

establish that combination of satellite radio

providers would substantially reduce
competition”.

218

The decision of the

Department of Justice was motivated by

three factors: a lack of existing competition
between Sirius and XM in important market

segments, the prospect of alternative

services which could become increasingly
attractive to consumers, and finally,

efficiencies from the merger which could

benefit consumers. The proposed 4.5 billion

U.S. dollars-merger was then approved by
the U.S. Federal Communications Com-

mission (FCC) in summer 2008.

Universal Space Network Inc. (USN), a

leading provider of space operations and

ground control and communications services
purchased the satellite tracking and control

assets of Honeywell Technology Solutions’

Datalynx in February 2008. The transaction

includes Datalynx assets such as the tracking
and control antennas in Alaska and the

control centre in Maryland (USA). As part of

this transaction, USN also received a contract
to provide tracking services for over 20 NASA

orbiting satellites.

219

Space Adventures (the firm selling trips

aboard Russian Soyuz vehicles to the

International Space Station) announced on

19 March 2008 its 1 January 2008 purchase
of Zero Gravity Corp (also know as Zero-G)

which provides commercial parabolic flights

using a modified Boeing 727 aircraft known
as G-Force One.

220

In the United States, the State Department’s
export licensing programme is under scrutiny

as it has been recognised as under stress and

hurting the U.S. space industrial

competitiveness due to underlying
bureaucratic inefficiencies and problems.

Furthermore, the U.S. Congress introduced

wording in the Fiscal Year 2009 House
Defence Authorization Bill that raises the

218

U.S Department of Justice “Statement of the

Department of Justice Antitrust Division on its Decision to
Close its Investigation of XM Satellite Radio Holdings
Inc.’s Merger with Sirius Satellite Radio
Inc.“ <http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/March/08_at_226.
html>.

219

“USN to expand global reach and TT&C service

offerings with significant acquisition.” Reuters Press
Release 19 February 2008
<http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS205304
+19-Feb-2008+PRN20080219 >.

220

Space Adventures was already a substantial investor in

Zero-G.

possibility of punitive action against “a

foreign-owned company that is engaged with

the People’s Republic of China in the
development, manufacture or launch of

certain satellites”. The Bill calls for a review

by the Defence Security that could prohibit

the Pentagon from doing business for
classified work with such companies in the

future.

221

It also states that Pentagon funds

could be denied to any business working with
China on satellite technology, particularly

those not covered by ITAR.

222

Such

legislation would principally target the
European Thales Alenia Space that has been

marketing communications satellites that

have no major U.S. components and

therefore not subject to the International
Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The Bill

was received by the Senate on 3 June 2008

and was subsequently placed on the Senate
Legislative Calendar.

Following a joint investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and NASA, U.S.

federal authorities arrested a former Boeing

engineer on 11 February for allegedly giving

trade secrets related to several space
programmes, including the space shuttle and

Delta 4 rocket to China. The same day

another espionage case was unveiled with a
weapons systems policy analyst at the

Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)

and two Chinese citizens were arrested.

5 . 3 I n d u s t r i a l e v o l u t i o n s
i n R u s s i a

In line with the adoption by the Russian

government of a new Federal Space
Programme (2006-2015) attempting to halt

the decline of the country's industrial base

and ending years of under-funding in October
2005 and the subsequent release in January

2006 of the “Strategy for Development of the

Space Industry up to 2015”, on 11 April
2008, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin made

a speech regarding space issues. He declared

that Russia should not only be involved in

orbiting foreign-made satellites and payloads,
but should also promote its hi-tech

developments and services, as an effective

space programme is seen as having a
significant factor in innovative economic

development.

223

Furthermore, Vitaly Lopota,

221

Douglas, Barrie, MichelTaverna and Amy Butler.

“Measure Would Thwart Efforts by Satcom Operators to
Broaden Launcher Choice.” Aviation Week and Space
Technology (6 Aug. 2008): 36.

222

Ibid.

223

“Russia should promote hi-tech, not just space services

- Putin.“ RIA Novosti 11 Apr. 2008.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

the president of S.P. Korolev Rocket and

Space Corporation Energia (also know as

Energia), also on 11 April 2008, stated that
he believes that space tourism is a forced

measure to compensate for insufficient

financing of the Russian space programme.

224

Following the aforementioned policy

documents, and particularly, the space

industry strategy, several changes are
expected for the near future. First, the

formation of ten to eleven horizontally and

vertically integrated structures by 2010;
second, these integrated structures will be

reorganised into three to four space

corporations which would encompass most of

the main enterprises of the field before 2015.
The consolidation of the Russian industry into

major holdings that started in 2006 has

continued in recent months following the
Presidential decrees.

A new holding company was created in fall
2007 around the Russian Scientific Research

Institute for Space Instrument Engineering,

known as RNII KP. This new entity focuses on

Glonass and COSPAS-SARSAT-related
activities and is the result of the merger of

RNII KP with the Scientific Research Institute

for Precision Instruments (NII TP), the
Scientific Research Institute for Physical

Measurements (NII FI), the Research and

Production Association for Measurement
Technology (NPO IT), the Scientific-Research

Institute of Space Instrumentation (NII KP),

the Orion Scientific and Production

Organisation (NPO Orion) and the Special
Design Bureau of the Moscow Institute of

Power Engineering (OKB MEI).

On 29 February 2008, the Scientific and

Research Institute of Chemical Engineering

and the Scientific and Research Institute of
Chemical and Construction Machine

Manufacturing were reorganised into the

Rocket and Space Industry Research and

Test Centre.

225

On 3 March 2008, further shifts were ordered

for the ex-NPO PM (Academician M. F.
Reshetnev Research and Development

Association of Applied Mechanics). The

Company underwent a State Registration at
that time to become a joint-stock company

named Academician M. F. Reshetnev

Information Satellite System. It will be made

up of a total of nine subsidiaries: the JSC
Research & Production Enterprise (Geofizika-

Cosmos), the JSC Research and Production

224

“Russia will not need space tourism when programs

well financed – analysts.” Interfax 11 Apr. 2008.

225

“Putin Signs Decree to Set up Rocket-And-Space

Research Centre.” Space Daily 6 Mar. 2008.

Centre “Polyus”, the Research & Production

Entreprise “Kvant”, the JSC Research &

Production Enterprise of Space Instrument-
Making, the JSC Siberian Devices and

Systems, the JSC Testing Technical centre-

NPO PM, the JSC NPO PM Small Design

Bureau, the JSC NPO PM- Razvitie and the
JSC Sibpromproekt.

226

Finally, in May 2008, the State Rocket Centre
Academician V.P. Makeyev Design Bureau

was reorganised into the Makeyev State

Rocket Centre (MSRC) and integrates four
subsidiaries including, among others, the

Zlatoust Machine-Building Factory, the Miass

Machine-Building Factory, and the

“Krasnoiarsk Machine-Building Factory.

227

Russian space industries are also cooperating

with international partners, particularly
Europeans, in the domain of satellite

manufacturing. Khrunichev Centre (FGUP

M.V.Khrunichev GKNPTs) signed an
agreement with EADS in March 2008 to

jointly supply the Russian Satellite

Communications Co (RSCC) with a new

generation of high power spacecraft. NPO PM
(Academician M.F. Reshetnyov Scientific and

Production Association of Applied Mechanics)

also concluded on 6 December 2007 a wide-
ranging cooperation agreement with Thales

Alenia Space to jointly develop a new low-

cost high-power communications satellite
bus.

Finally, in the launch sector the

announcement was made on 29 May 2008
that Khrunichev State Research and

Production Space Centre acquired the shares

of ILS (International Launch Services) owned
by majority shareholder, Space Transport

Inc.

228

Financial details were not disclosed.

ILS holds the exclusive worldwide rights to
market and sell commercial launch services

on the Proton launch vehicle, built by

Khrunichev, as well as the Angara vehicle

under development. ILS will remain a U.S.-
based corporation, marketing commercial

launches of the Proton vehicle.

226

“Establishing a New Joint-Stock Company

“Academician M.F. Reshetnev” Information Satellite
Systems.” 3 Mar. 2008 <http://www.npopm.com>.

227

CNES, Moscow Office French Embassy, 19 May 2008.

228

Space Transport Inc. is a British Virgin Islands-based

company that was formed in 2006 for the sole purpose of
holding an interest in ILS. Space Transport Inc. purchased
ILS shares in October 2006 from Lockheed Martin.

Report 15, September 2008

5 . 4 I n d u s t r i a l e v o l u t i o n s
i n J a p a n

Japanese space policy is in transition (Cf.

Chapter 3) and is endeavouring to increase

the competitiveness of its industrial base.

229

In this context, SkyPerfect JSAT Corp.

announced the purchase of Space

Communications Corp. (SSC) on 13 February
2008 for about 270 million U.S. dollars, and

as of October, SSC will be a division of

SkyPerfect JSAT Corp. This acquisition
consolidates JSAT’s position as the world’s

fifth-largest satellite fleet operator. JSAT and

SSC will combine ground operations as well

as on-orbit operations, and expects to secure
satellite launches and insurance contracts

under better conditions. The aim of this

transaction is to secure the competitive
advantage in the satellite industry in order to

promote expansion strategies in the

“subscription multi-channel pay TV
market”.

230

The first Japanese-built commercial satellite

was also under development in 2007/2008
and launched in summer 2008. The

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Melco) built

Superbird-7 satellite for SCC, but it will be
used by SkyPerfect JSAT Corp. following the

aforementioned acquisition. Superbird 7 is

the first made-in-Japan commercial
spacecraft ordered by a Japanese fleet

operator. This event illustrates Melco’s

interest in establishing a position in the

commercial satellite manufacturing market as
a competitive and reliable actor.

5 . 5 I n d u s t r i a l e v o l u t i o n s
i n C h i n a

As China is entering the international markets

for commercial satellite manufacturing and

launch services, it continues its efforts to
develop and improve its space industry as

well in order to have a mature space industry

on par with its global aspirations (Cf. Chapter

3). The Chinese Aerospace Science and
Technology Corporation (CASTC) unveiled a

plan in summer 2008 to set up four more

229

For more information, see Suzuki, Kazuto. “Basic Law

230

“Acquisition of Space Communication Corporation

Shares.” SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation News Release 13
Feb. 2008.

scientific and research and production bases

in China’s Bohai region, South China’s Pearl

River Delta and China’s western area with a
total of eight space industry centres in the

coming years. CASTC ambitions are also to

acquire up to 10% of the international

commercial satellite market and 15% of the
world commercial space launch services

market by 2015.

5 . 6 T r a n s - A t l a n t i c
i n d u s t r i a l c o m p a r i s o n

Europe and the United States are the two

major space actors investing the most in
space activities (Cf. Chapter 2). They also

have the most diverse and competitive

industrial bases. An overview of their

respective dynamism and capabilities is
therefore necessary to assess the health and

competitiveness of their respective industrial

base. When compared to the United States,
the European space sector receives far less

institutional support and thus needs to be

highly competitive on the open commercial
market. On the other hand, the U.S.

industrial base relies almost exclusively on

contracts from the U.S. Government.

5.6.1 State of the European space

industry

According to the results of the European

space industry association (ASD-Eurospace),

the consolidated turnover of the European
manufacturing sector grew from 4.98 billion

euros in 2006 to reach about 5.36 billion

euros in 2007 (Figure 33). This revenue

growth was mainly supported by an increase
in commercial satellite and national

programmes while the contribution of

Eumetsat and the launch sector declined from
the previous year.

In 2007, the revenues of the European space

industry were dominated by institutional

customers with almost 60% of its total

consolidated turnover (or 3.19 billion euros)
generated by the institutional market while

commercial and exports markets generated

2.07 billion euros in 2007. ESA was again, in
2007, the main institutional customer for the

European space industry with about 50% of

the overall turnover (Figure 34). The
European military programme represented

the second sources of revenues followed by

national civil programmes both in progression

from 2006. The share of Eumetsat diminished
while EC’s remained stable at 13 million

euros (Figure 34). Europe’s civil institutional

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

lio

n e

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

programmes represent 68% of all space
institutional revenues for the industrial

sector. The rest comes from European

military programmes (Figure 34).

The commercial turnover in 2007 of the

European space industry was dominated by

the commercial satellite sector, followed by
operational launch system, an evolution

from 2006 (Figure 35). GEO commercial

systems were the main customers for the
European space industry, generating almost

half of the commercial turnover.

Arianespace was the second-biggest
European customer (Figure 35).

231

“The European Space Industry in 2007 facts & figures.”

ASD-Eurospace 12th edition June 2008.

When looking at the distribution by activity,
satellite applications and communications are

the main activities generating revenues for

the European industry (Figure 36). Satellite
applications are followed by launcher

activities (including both development and

operational activities) and scientific as well as

support activities (Figure 36).

In 2007, like in 2006, the main space

industry turnover was generated by France,
followed distantly by Germany, Italy and the

United Kingdom (Figure 37).

232

Ibid.

Figure 33 Estimated consolidated turnover of the European space sector for 2002/2007 (Adapted from Eurospace)

231

Figure 34 Estimated share of the European space industry consolidated turnover

per institutional customer since 2002 (Adapted from Eurospace)

232

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

ESA

European Commission

Eumetsat

National Civil Programmes

Civil Multilateral Programmes

European Military Programmes

Report 15, September 2008

When looking at the consolidated turnover by

customer and country in 2007, only France

and Norway generated more revenues from
commercial customers than from institutional

ones (Figure 38).

233

Ibid.

234

Ibid.

There is also a relative specialisation of

different countries, with applications being

important in the United Kingdom, Spain,
Norway, Portugal, Luxembourg, Germany,

France, Finland and Austria while launch

system activities are important in Switzerland

and Ireland. Scientific activities are important
in Denmark and the Netherlands (Figure 39).

Figure 36 Estimated share of the European industry consolidated turnover per sector (Adapted from Eurospace)

233

Figure 35 Estimated European space industry consolidated turnover per commercial customer

since 2002 (Adapted from Eurospace)

234

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

GEO Commercial Systems

Other commercial systems & parts

Arianespace

Other launch systems

Other/unidentified

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

ill

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Satellite applications

Launcher activities

Scientific activities

Support activities

Other/unidentified

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Ital

giu

itz

e N

eth

erl

tri

enm

Ire

rtu

Lux

emb

2006

2007

250

500

750

1000

1250

1500

1750

2000

2250

2500

ill

The space sector is a significant source of
highly qualified European employment. The

total direct employment of the European

space industry grew from 30 938 in 2006 to
33 049 in 2007, including 3 412 external

employees working on site, confirming the

increase witnessed since 2005. Six European

countries concentrate 90% of the total direct

235

Ibid.

employment by the space industry (Figure
40). France leads with 38% of the overall

total, followed distantly by a cluster

composed by Germany, Italy, the United
Kingdom, Spain and Belgium (Figure 40).

236

Ibid.

Figure 38 European consolidated turnover per customer and per country in 2007 (adapted from Eurospace)

235

Figure 37 Estimated European industry consolidated turnover in 2006 and 2007 per country (Adapted from Eurospace)

236

Ita

itz

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

illi

Civil Institutional programmes

Military institutional programmes

Commercial satellites and parts

Operational launchers and parts

Other

Report 15, September 2008

Ita

ain

lgi

itz

lan

str

nla

rtu

Ire

lan

2006

2007

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

11000

12000

ect

5.6.2 State of the United States’
space industry

According to the latest results of the U.S.
Aerospace Industry Association (AIA), the

total sales of the U.S. Aerospace Industry

were approximately 199 billion U.S. dollars in

2007 (up by 8% from 2006), with 108 billion

237

Ibid.

238

Ibid.

U.S. dollars coming from aircrafts sales (53.3
billion U.S. dollars for civilian aircrafts and

54.8 billion U.S. dollars for military aircrafts).

The major sources of sales for the U.S.
aerospace industry in 2007 were in direct

aerospace products and sales with about

165.018 billion U.S. dollars compared to 33.7

billion U.S. dollars in related products and
services. The total space-related sales reached

an estimated 39.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2007,

up from 38.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2006.

Figure 39 European consolidated turnover per applications and per country in 2007 (adapted from Eurospace)

237

Figure 40 Space industry direct employment in 2006 and 2007 (adapted from Eurospace)

238

ria

Bel

and

any

Irel

Ital

Lux

urg

e N

her

orw

rtu

Spa

itz

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

ill

Satellite applications

Launch system activities

Scientific activities

Support & test activities

Other activities

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

3,5

0,8 1,7 1,2

6,8

4,9

3,5

4,8

37,9

31,7

38,6

25,8

49,6

56,5

88,4

0,2 0,6 0,7

1,3

0,9 1,2

4,2 5,1

lio

. d

lla

Launch vehicle

manuf acturing

Satellite

manuf acturing

Ground equipment

manuf acturing

Satellite services

Remote sensing

Distribution

industries

1999

2002

2004

2006

Space-related sales therefore represented

about 20% of the overall U.S. aerospace
industry sales in 2007. The main U.S. space

industry customers in 2007 were, like in

2006, institutional customers (DoD, NASA
and other agencies). While the aerospace

balance of trade estimated by the AIA was

positive in 2007 (+ 56.465 billion U.S.
dollars), most of the sales of the U.S. space

industry are limited to the United States and

only a fraction of its space sales are

generated by exports.

Based on the latest results of the Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA) study on “The
economic impact of commercial space

transportation on the U.S. economy” released

in April 2008, commercial space
transportation and enabled industries

(including all other space sector activities)

were responsible for a total of about 139.3

239

Federal Aviation Administration. “The economic impact

of commercial space transportation on the U.S. economy.”
Apr. 2008.

billion U.S. dollars in economic activity in

2006. They represented also about 35.7
billion U.S. dollars in earnings (salary and

wages) and supported 729 240 jobs

throughout the U.S. economy. All three
impact measures increased in 2006

compared to 2004 (Table 6). During the

1999-2006 period, the total economic activity
impact of commercial space transportation

and enabled industries increased by 127%,

earnings by 117% and the number of jobs

supported rose by about 47% (Table 6).

Of the 139.3 billion U.S. dollars in economic

activity generated by commercial space
transportation and enabled industries, 88.4

billion U.S. dollars were generated by satellite

services and 38.6 billion U.S. dollars by the
ground equipment manufacturing sector in

2006 (Figure 41). The top two revenues

contributors represented 91% of all revenues.

240

Federal Aviation Administration. “The economic impact

of commercial space transportation on the U.S. economy.”
Apr. 2008.

Table 6 Total impacts on the U.S. economy generated by commercial space transportation and

enabled industries in 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2006 (source FAA)

239

1999

2002

2004

2006

Economic activity

(in millions U.S. dollars)

61 313.711

95 025.746

98 086.960

13 962.027

Earnings

(in millions U.S. dollars)

16 431.192

23 527.745

25 045.888

35 659.935

Jobs

497 350

576 450

551 350

729 240

Figure 41 Total economic activity impacts on the U.S. economy of commercial space transportation

and enabled industries in 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2006 (adapted from FAA)

240

Report 15, September 2008

Launch vehicle manufacturing and services

generated 1.2 billion U.S. dollars and the

satellite manufacturing sector about 4.8
billion U.S. dollars of economic activity in

2006 (Figure 41). When comparing with

previous years, some industry segments

have performed better than others. In
particular, the satellite services generated

most of the growth in economic impact and

increased the most, while the economic
impact of the launch manufacturing sector

diminished from 2004 to 2006 (Figure 41).

Satellite services have been the largest space
industry segment since 1999 and have

demonstrated a steady growth over the

seven-year period.

241

Its share in economic

activity impacts grew from 42.1% to 63.5%
from 1999 to 2006 (Figure 41). In the

meantime the manufacturing component of

the U.S. industry (launch vehicle, satellites
and ground equipment) diminished from an

agglomerated level of 56.1% in 1999 to 32%

in 2006 (Figure 41).

As aforementioned, in 2006, a total impact

on the U.S. economy of 139.3 billion U.S.

dollars was generated by commercial space
transportation and enabled industries. An

estimated 23.24 billion U.S. dollars in direct

impacts of economic activity was generated,
65.03 billion U.S. dollars of indirect impacts,

and 50.99 billion U.S. dollars of induced

impacts (Figure 42).

242

When comparing the total employment

impacts on the U.S. economy resulting from

space activities between 1999 and 2006, a
significant increase in impacts is revealed.

In particular, there was an increase from

497 350 in 1999 to 729 000 jobs in 2006
(those numbers cover not only the space

industry but all affected industries). Satellite

services are the main job providers (65%)
followed by ground equipment

manufacturing (25%) (Figure 43). In 2006,

the other four segments only represented an

impact on the U.S. economy of 71 000 jobs
(10% of all jobs supported within all

industries). The only sector that witnessed a

decline in employment impact from 2004 to

241

Most satellite services revenues growth is due to DTH

(Cf. Chapter 2).

242

According to the FAA, direct impacts are the

expenditures on inputs and labor involved in providing any
final good or service relating to the industries analyzed.
Indirect impacts involve the purchases (e.g., metals,
composite materials, processors) made by and labor
supplied by the industries providing inputs to the launch
and enabled industries. Induced impacts are the
successive rounds of increased household spending
resulting from the direct and indirect impacts (e.g., a
spacecraft solar array design engineer’s spending on food,
clothes dry-cleaning, or any other household good and
service).

2006 is the launch vehicle manufacturing

industry (Figure 43).

When looking at the employment of the

satellite industry, according to SIA/Futron

there were 268 411 direct space-related jobs

in the United States in 2006 (Table 7).
Ground equipment was the largest

contributor (46%) followed by the launch

industry (29%).

Table 7 Estimated U.S. personnel in 2006

(source SIA/Futron)

5 . 7 S e c t o r a l o v e r v i e w

A sectoral analysis allows the appraisal of the
latest developments of the main segments

and markets of the space sector. Because of

the strong link between the launch sector and
satellite industries, neither can prosper

without the other, and consequently, each

must take the other’s overall business health
into consideration. The launch sector requires

a steady stream of payloads and both

satellite manufacturers and satellite

operators need consistent access to launch
services. In this context, to assess the overall

state of the space industry three segments

need to be appraised: the launch sector, the
satellite manufacturing segment and satellite

operators.

5.7.1 Launch sector

The launch sector is an enabler of other

industries rather than a significant economic
activity (Cf. Chapter 2). However, reliable

access to space and affordable commercial

launches are essential for maintaining
existing satellites services markets.

The following definitions apply to the launch
sector analysis.

243

A commercial orbital

launch is defined as a primary payload for

which the contract was internationally

competed (the launch opportunity was
available in principle to any capable launch

243

Several differences can be observed when comparing

the following results with other studies due to
methodological discrepancies.

Satellite industry

sector

Estimated U.S.

Personnel

Satellite services

49 423

Satellite manufacturing

16 184

Launch industry

78 762

Ground equipment

124 042

Total estimated U.S.

Employees

268 411

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

services provider) and/or the launch is

privately financed without government

support. Finally, launches are attributed to
the country in which the main vehicle

manufacturer is based, except in the case of

Sea Launch which is designed as

multinational.

244

However, no distinction has

been made between the Ukrainian and

Russian launch systems as major

shareholders in most Ukrainian launch
providers, as well as launch manufacturers,

are Russian.

2007 results

2007 was a particularly active year for the

launch sector. Launch providers from Russia,
the United States, China, Europe, India,

Japan, Israel and the multinational

consortium Sea Launch, conducted a total of
68 launches compared to 66 launches from

six countries plus Sea Launch in 2006. Three

of those 68 worldwide orbital launches failed,
two commercial launches and one non-

commercial launch.

When comparing the level of activity country-
by-country, Russia was, like in 2006, the

world leader according to the launch rate

criterion with a share of about 39% of all
launches (26 launches). It was followed by

the United States (about 28%) (Figure 44).

China completed the podium with an about
15% market share of all launches conducted

in 2007.

245

Europe followed with

244

Boeing is the majority shareholder (40%) of Sea

Launch. Other partners include S. P. Korolev Rocket and
Space Corporation Energia of Russia (25%), Aker ASA of
Norway (20%), and SDO Yuzhnoye/NPO Yuzhmash of
Ukraine (15%).

approximately 9% of market shares, India

with about 4%, Japan 3% and finally Sea

Launch and Israel both had a 1.5% share of
all launches conducted last year (Figure 44).

When added up, Europe had six launches

compared to 15 for Asia.

246

Twenty six Russian vehicles were launched in

2007 using eight different systems (Table 8).

American launch vehicles carried 19 launches
using seven different launchers. China used

three launch vehicle systems to perform its

ten launches. Europe conducted six launches
in 2007, all with Ariane 5. India used two

systems (PSLV and GSLV) for its three

launches. All the other actors used only one

system (Table 8).

Four actors launched the overwhelming

majority of mass in orbit in 2007. Russia
launched an estimated 34% of the total mass

launched, followed by the United States with

almost 32% (Figure 45). Europe completed
the podium, with about 18% of the total

mass in orbit being launched by European

launchers (Ariane 5) (Figure 45). China

conducted ten launches in 2007 (15%), but
this represented only 10.3% of the total

payload mass launched worldwide (Figure

45). The four other actors launched an
agglomerated 6% of the mass launched

worldwide last year compared to a combined

10.3% of all launches performed (Figure 45).

245

China conducted ten launches without including the

ASAT test in 2007.

246

In 2008, South Korea should launch its first indigenous

rocket (KSLV-1) from the Naro Space Centre.

Figure 44 Worldwide launches by country/entity in 2007

38,2%

27,9%

14,7%

8,8%

4,4%

2,9%

1,5%

Russia

USA

China

Europe

India

Japan

Multinational

Israel

Report 15, September 2008

1,6%

10,3%

31,7%

17,7%

2,0%

2,3%

0,1%

34,3%

Russia

USA

China

Europe

India

Japan

Multinational

Israel

About 255 metric-tons were launched in

space in 2007 with 66% being non-
commercial and 34% commercial. Russia, in

2007, launched an estimated 89 tons into

orbit including 30 tons of commercial
payloads. The United States followed with

about 80 tons launched, including six tons of

commercial payloads (Figure 46). Europe led
the amount of commercial mass launched

with 44 tons, more than all the other

commercial launches in 2007 (41 tons)

(Figure 46). China launched 25 tons into
orbit. Finally, regarding Sea Launch, Japan,

India and Israel launched an aggregated

15.26 tons into orbit in 2007 (Figure 46).

Only five actors performed commercial

launches in 2007, while six actors performed
non-commercial launches, illustrating the

different strategies among actors in the

domain. Commercial launches are particularly

important for Russia, Europe and Sea Launch
(Table 9). By contrast, U.S. launch service

providers continued to focus heavily on the

lucrative governmental market which
provides them with a robust source of

income. Finally, China, Japan and Israel

focused only on non-commercial launches
(Table 9). However, a new trend emerged

last year: the entry of India in the

commercial launch sector when it performed
its first commercial launch in 2007

successfully putting the Italian satellite,

Agile, into orbit.

247

The 23 commercial orbital launches which

occurred in 2007 represented about 33% of

total launches of the year, similar to last
year’s level (21 commercial launches out of a

total of 66 launches). Russian-built vehicles

247

U.S. export regulations are an issue for launching more

international commercial payloads with Indian launchers,
as India has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty. However, the relationship between the two
countries is improving.

Number of launch systems used

Total number of launches

Russia 8

USA 7

China 3

Europe 1

India 2

Japan 1

Multinational 1

Israel 1

Total 24

Figure 45 Total mass of payloads launched per country/entity in 2007

Table 8 Worldwide launches per country/entity and launch systems in 2007

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Figure 46 Estimate of the mass launched per country/entity and commercial status in 2007

conducted 12 commercial launches in 2007,

accounting for an estimated 53% of the

market (Figure 47). Europe conducted six
commercial launches capturing 26% of the

worldwide commercial market share (Figure

47). The United States conducted only three
commercial launches, representing 13% of

the global commercial launch market (Figure

47). Finally, both Sea Launch and India had
one commercial launch (4% market share

each).

When looking at the performance of
commercial launch services providers, Europe

posted solid results in 2007. In the same

year, 22 payloads to be launched were
accessible to Arianespace.

248

Those payloads

were mainly devoted to communications (17

payloads), Earth observation and technology
(four payloads), and science and exploration

248

The market accessible to Arianespace as defined by

ESA regroups the payloads for which the launch was
competed and the European payloads for which the launch
was not competed.

(1 payload). Ariane 5 launched 55% of the

total accessible number of payloads and 71%

of the total of number of payloads launched
to GEO, followed by ILS with 24% of the

payload launched to GEO and Sea Launch

with 6%. However, when looking at payloads
accessible to Arianespace in non-

geostationary orbit, none of the five payloads

accessible were launched with an Ariane 5.
One payload was launched with a Soyuz, one

with a PSL, one with a Delta-2, and 2

payloads were launched with Dnepr rockets.

When looking at the commercial mass

launched per launch service provider,

Arianespace dominated with 64% of the total
commercial mass launched to Geostationary

transfer orbit (GTO) in 2007. ILS launched

about 27% of the total commercial mass
launched to GTO and Sea Launch 9% (Figure

48). For non-GTO, Boeing launched 35% of

the total commercial mass launched followed

by Starsem (34%) or about six metric tons
each. Kosmotras and AKO Polyot launched

Launchers

Commercial

Non-Commercial

Number of Launches

Russia 12 14

USA 3

China 0 10

Europe 6 0

India 1 2

Japan 0 2

Multinational 1

Israel 0 1

Total 23 45

Table 9 Worldwide orbital events per country/entity in 2007

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

unc

ssi

hin

lti

nat

nal

Jap

Indi

rael

Commercial mass

Non-commecial mass

Report 15, September 2008

19% and 9% respectively of the commercial

mass to non-GTO (Figure 48).

Launch contracts awarded in 2007

An estimated 37 contracts for geostationary
communications satellites were signed in

2007.

249

The main actors in this domain were

Arianespace, International Launch Services
(ILS) and Sea Launch (Figure 49).

250

249

This total includes the two 5-satellite framework

contract signed by both Arianespace and ILS with SES.

250

Boeing is the majority shareholder (40%) of Sea

Launch. Other partners include S. P. Korolev Rocket and
Space Corporation Energia of Russia (25%), Aker ASA of

In 2007, Arianespace confirmed its position

as the dominant commercial launch service
provider. Six successful Ariane 5 launches

were performed from Kourou as well as three

Soyuz launches from the Baikonur

Cosmodrome. In total, 21 payloads were put
into orbit by Arianespace in 2007. In

particular, Arianespace launched 12 of the 15

commercial communications satellites
launched into GEO; it orbited three satellites

originally planned for competitor’s launchers

as well. Its subsidiary, Starsem, conducted

Norway (20%), and SDO Yuzhnoye/NPO Yuzhmash of
Ukraine (15%).

53%

26%

13%

Russia

Europe

USA

Multinational

India

Figure 47 Worldwide commercial market shares per country/entity in 2007

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

ass i

A rianespace

Starsem

ILS

Boeing

A KO Polyot

Kosmotras Sea Launch

ISRO

Mass in GTO

Mass in non-GTO

Figure 48 Estimate of the commercial mass launched per launch services providers per orbits in 2007

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

three successful launches orbiting nine

satellites (eight satellites for the Globalstar
constellation as well as the Radarsat-2

satellite).

In 2007, Arianespace won 13 new “Service
and Solutions” contracts for launches into

geostationary orbit and two contracts to orbit

24 satellites for the Globalstar constellation
for four Soyuz launches, as well as four Elisa

(ELectronic Intelligence by SAtellite) satellites

which will be launched as auxiliary
passengers on the launch of the first Pleiades

satellite in late 2009. Due to its dense launch

order book, seven to eight Ariane 5 are

planned to be launched in 2008, including the
first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) “Jules

Verne” launched on 9 March 2008. The same

launch rate is expected for 2009 by which
time Soyuz and Vega will start commercial

services from the CSG.

251

In June 2008,

Ariane 5 recorded its 25

straight launch

success.

While ILS planned to launch up to six satellites

in 2007 pending satellite delivery schedules, it
only launched three satellites successfully last

year (Anik F3, Direct TV and SIRIUS-4). This

limited number of launches was due to the
fact that ILS suffered a launch failure on 6

September 2007 (JCSAT-11) due to damaged

wiring harness. ILS’s launcher, the Proton
launch vehicle, was consequently grounded for

almost two months in the fall of 2007.

251

Arianespace will act as launch services operator of the

Vega launcher for five consecutive launches following the
qualification flight within the framework of the Vega
Research and Technology Accompaniment (VERTA)
programme decided at the 2005 ESA Council Meeting at
Ministerial Level.

In its first year as an independent company

marketing to commercial satellite operators
the Proton Breeze M vehicle from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome,

252

ILS signed 17

launches including a five-launch agreement

with SES.

253

ILS reportedly received 1.5

billion U.S dollars in new launch orders in

2007 and was expected to conduct seven to

eight missions in 2008 and in 2009. However,
an anomaly on 15 March 2008 left an SES

Americom AMC-14 spacecraft in an incorrect

orbit when the Proton's Breeze M upper stage
shut down prematurely.

254

This incident

might hurt ILS business in 2008 as the

Proton was grounded again for an extensive

amount of time, barely three months after its
return to service.

In 2007, Sea Launch conducted only one
launch. This launch was unsuccessful and

resulted in the loss of the NSS-8 satellite for

SES New Skies on 30 January 2007.
Consequently, the 25

mission of Sea Launch

was delayed for almost a year until 15

January 2008 due also to satellite delays, as

well as difficult conditions in the Pacific
Ocean. As a result of this accident, Sea

Launch entered into an agreement with the

satellite operator SES which owns SES New

252

ILS expects to inaugurate a second commercial Proton-

M launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2008.

253

Arianespace that has been awarded the same type of

contract by SES put only 2 satellites of its contract in its
2007 order book.

254

After studying potential options to raise the satellite's

orbit and get some useful life out of the spacecraft, SES
Americom declared the satellite a total loss and filed a
claim with insurers. AMC-14 will not be replaced and the
contract between SES and EchoStar for the satellite has
been cancelled. The satellite was subsequently sold to the
U.S. Department of Defence.

43%

46%

Arianespace

International Launch Services

Sea Launch

China Great W all Industry Corporation

SpaceX

Figure 49 Worldwide shares of GEO orders signed per launch services providers in 2007

Report 15, September 2008

Skies to use the land launch (using a Zenit-

3SLB vehicle) initially slated to launch the

AMC-21 commercial satellite for the launch of
another satellite for the SES group.

255

Land

Launch, which is a joint venture of Boeing-led

Sea Launch and Space International Services

entered into service on 28 April 2008 with the
successful launch of Amos 3.

Sea Launch signed two contracts in 2007
compared to five satellites orders in 2006,

and expects to conduct five missions in

2008.

256

A newcomer in the commercial launch

services provider market is China Great Wall

Industry Corporation (CGWIC) which signed
one contract to launch communications

satellite to GEO in 2007. The Palapa-D

communications satellites for PT Indosat, to
be built by Thales Alenia Space, will be

launched in late 2009 aboard a Chinese Long

March 3 B rocket.

257

China’s Long March is

currently barred from launching satellites

with critical U.S. components. It can only

launch a limited number of payloads.

However, a continuing supply shortage may
help it to gain market share in the open

market.

Finally, Space Exploration Technologies

Corporation (SpaceX) which is developing the

Falcon series of launch vehicles (Falcon 1, 5
and 9) signed a contract with the UK-based

Avanti Communications Group (Avanti) in

2007 for the launch of Avanti’s HYLAS

satellite to GTO on board a SpaceX Falcon
9.

258

Up to three additional satellite launches

are included in the contract signed on 14

September 2007.

Despite the successful year in terms of

orders, with launch failures occurring at two
of the three principal commercial launch

services providers in 2007 (Sea Launch and

ILS), there is now more pressure on the

launch services providers with respect to
their agenda for 2008, as there are no

alternative near-term launch options.

Moreover, in a tight market, the recent
failure of Proton M breeze (the third in two

years), as well as the Zenit 3SL failure in

early 2007 are raising questions about

255

AMC-21 is now planned to be launched by Arianespace

onboard an Ariane 5.

256

Due to logistical constraints linked to the length of the

voyage of the Pacific Ocean floating platform, Sea Launch
is limited to 6 launches in a given year.

257

Thales Alenia Space has developed a product line

(Spacebus 4000) that is devoid of U.S. parts that require
U.S. State Department export approval (so-called ITAR-
free platform).

258

Of the seven Falcon 9 launches this is the first

commercial geostationary order.

systemic problems affecting Russian-

Ukrainian launchers. Those difficulties for Sea

Launch and ILS have consequently led
Arianespace to take the lion’s share of the

orders of launch contracts for commercial

geostationary-orbit satellites in 2007. It is,

however, of vital importance to ensure the
reliability of Arianespace’s fleet to secure

continued commercial success as new players

are entering the market.

In this context of shortage of reliable access

to space, 2007 saw a continuing trend of
price increases in the launch sector, partially

due to higher costs of raw materials and

production (particularly in Russia and

Ukraine). A spike in helium prices is also
hitting the launch systems industry due to an

increase in gas prices as the users of helium

increase, particularly, for scientific research
to make, for instance, semiconductors, flat-

panel displays, fibre optics etc. Consequently,

prices for launch providers have now almost
returned to the level similar to the one prior

to the satellite market collapse a decade ago.

Furthermore, with the satellite orders

expected to remain strong in the immediate
future, there might be a shortage of available

launch slots which could lead to higher

prices. However, a continuing supply
shortage could help China’s Long March to

return to the open commercial market as well

as Boeing’s Delta 4 and Lockheed Martin’s
Atlas V. Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

(MHI) that markets the H-2A rocket also

expects to win its first commercial satellite to

be launched by 2009,

259

and India is

confirming its entry in the sector.

A new emerging trend in the commercial
launch sector is the framework contract

signed in June 2007 by SES separately with

both ILS and Arianespace for a batch of five
slots to launch SES satellites on ILS’ Proton

Breeze M vehicles, and Arianespace’s Ariane

5 and Soyuz launchers between 2009 and

2013. The flights will be available to SES
operating companies (SES Americom, SES

Astra, SES New Skies and SES Sirius). This

innovative multi-buy contract gives SES
flexibility in terms of matching payloads and

launch periods to meet its future deployment

needs. These multi-launch agreements
ensure, in particular, that each SES satellite

will have a primary as well as a back-up

vehicle each with two launch slots. Those

agreements reportedly grant attractive terms
and conditions for SES

260

but represent the

259

MHI was chosen by the Japanese government in 2002

to operate the H-2 fleet following the privatisation of the
project. H-2A launches have all been institutional ones

260

Financial details were not disclosed by SES, ILS or

Arianespace.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

USA
37%

Others

11%

Germany

Russia

15%

Japan

Canada

Italy

India

Saudi A rabia

Multinational

United Kingdom

China

largest single launch services contract for

both Arianespace and ILS, however, with

lower price for each launch.

5.7.2 Satellite manufacturing sector

Space-based communications is the most
mature market of all space applications and

constitutes the core business for the satellite

manufacturers (Cf. Chapter 2). The health of
the commercial satellite communications

market thus determines to a great extent the

sustainability of the space industry. However,
the definition of what constitutes a

commercial satellite, or even what

constitutes a new satellite remain subject to

debate and can lead to major differences in
the results obtained by different studies.

Nonetheless, a look at the satellite

manufacturing market share of the
geostationary communications satellites

ordered for a particular year is a good proxy

to assess the vitality of a domestic space
industry, as it reflects its competitiveness in

the most lucrative segment of the satellite

manufacturing market.

2007 results

A total of 115 payloads were launched in
2007,

261

(compared to 101 in 2006) with 27%

being commercial (compared to 23% in 2006).

261

When including human spaceflight payloads and the

failures, a total of 123 payloads were launched in 2007.

262

The “others category” is made of Argentina, Australia,

China/Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, ESA, Indonesia, Israel,
Luxembourg, Nigeria, Sweden and USA/Italy. Each
launched one spacecraft into space in 2007.

The United States was the leader in the

number of payloads manufactured and

launched in 2007, with about 38% of all
payloads launched (Figure 50). Russia

manufactured about 15% of all payloads

launched, followed by Europe which

manufactured 12 payloads launched in 2007
(Figure 50). China had an 8% share of

payloads launched (Figure 50).

Out of the 27 commercial payloads launched

in 2007, 14 aimed at geostationary orbit and

13 at other orbits. When looking at the
performances per satellite manufacturer,

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) was particularly

active in 2007 as well as Lockheed Martin

with eight and seven payloads respectively
manufactured launched in 2007 (Figure 51).

They were followed by Boeing with six

payloads (Figure 51).

In the domain of commercial satellite

manufactured, the United States was the
leader with nine U.S.-built satellites launched

into geostationary orbit (64% of market

shares). Europe had about 29% market

shares of all commercial satellites
manufactured with three satellites built by

Thales Alenia Space and one by EADS

Astrium. In 2007, China manufactured a
commercial satellite confirming its increasing

involvement in the domain.

Figure 50 Estimated shares of missions launched in 2007 per country/entity

262

Report 15, September 2008

Satellite contracts awarded in 2007

2007 was a solid year in terms of orders.

High-definition television and satellite mobile

communications continued to drive the core
of the new orders. According to company

announcements and industry officials, 25 firm

geostationary-orbiting communications
satellites were ordered in 2007.

The U.S. manufacturers won, in 2007, 14

contracts for geostationary communications
satellites, 11 being commercial (Table 10).

Europe followed with eight contracts, all

commercial ones. China won two contracts
and Israel one (Table 10).

In 2007, 20 commercial GEO communications
satellites were ordered. Orbital Sciences Corp

(OSC) was the leader with five orders, four

being domestic (Figure 52). SS/L had four

firm orders, 75% being domestic. The
European “primes” (EADS Astrium, Thales

Alenia Space) together had eight firm orders

with five orders coming from outside Europe
demonstrating the competitiveness of their

products and services (Figure 52). Despite

the entry of new actors from the “South” in
this market, European and U.S. companies

are still the leaders of the commercial

satellite manufacturing market.

Last year, five GEO non-commercial

communications satellites were ordered, with

three orders from the United States and two
from China (Figure 53). Like in 2006, no

single manufacturer was able to win a non-

commercial GEO communications satellite
outside its captive domestic market.

In 2007, OSC was the overall world leader in
terms of GEO communications satellites

orders with five orders; it was followed by

SS/L and Boeing both with four orders

(Figure 54). Thales Alenia Space had seven
orders, but this total includes five satellites to

Companies from countries having

won contracts

Commercial

Non-commercial

USA 11

Europe 8

Israel 1

China 0

Total 20

f m

red

unc

ll A

pac

ein

tri

Loc

rti

its

ubi

thr

op G

rum

l S

Spe

rre

Tha

s A

leni

Spa

ther

a/M

ther

her

Commercial

Non-commercial

Figure 51 Satellites launched in 2007 per manufacturer and commercial status

(Source Futron)

Table 10 Total firm GEO communication satellite orders in 2007 per country/entity

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

be developed by EADS as co-prime. EADS

had six orders (including five satellites to be
developed jointly with Thales Alenia Space)

(Figure 54). Finally, Lockheed Martin, CAST

and IAI had four orders in total last year. In
2007, the continuing trend witnessed in

recent years continued as the two-largest

space hardware manufacturer Boeing and
Lockheed Martin were not very active in the

commercial market (only one order each),

focusing their efforts on the U.S.

governmental market.

It is expected that strong demand for Mobile

Satellite Services (MSS) applications as well
as broadband and broadcasting services will

drive the market in the coming years.

However, unlike satellite operators and
launch providers, satellite manufacturers

have continued to be hurt from downward

price pressure. The satellite manufacturing
industry has suffered from substantial

overcapacity worldwide for a number of

years, resulting not only in extreme

competitive pressure on pricing terms and

r of

rde

tri

a S

pac

S/T

hal

ein

Loc

eed M

tin

Domestic order

Non-domestic order

Figure 52 Commercial GEO satellite orders in 2007 per manufacturers

r of

tri

ace

Boe

ing

Loc

rtin

IAI

Domestic order

Non-domestic order

Figure 53 Non-commercial GEO satellite orders in 2007 per manufacturers

Report 15, September 2008

other material contractual terms, but also on

the allocation of risks between the
manufacturer and its customers. Buyers, as a

result, have had the advantage over suppliers

in negotiating prices, terms and condition
resulting in reduced margins. The recent

trend of industry consolidation has resulted in

the formation of satellite operators with
greater satellite resources and increased

coverage consequently leading to reduced

demand for new satellite construction due to

a rationalisation of the capacity available in
certain geographic regions. Furthermore, it

has also resulted in the increasing

“bargaining power” in the hand of large
customers which could increase pressure on

pricing and other contractual terms.

263

In this overall context, EADS and Thales

Alenia Space were particularly successful in

2007 in gaining orders outside the European

market, demonstrating the competitiveness
of Europe’s industry. However, the

performance of European manufacturers is

dependent on their abilities to generate a
sustainable order rate and to continue to

increase their backlog. Moreover, the

increasingly unfavourable dollar-euro
exchange rate may erode the future market

share of European manufacturers, as most

prices are fixed in U.S. dollars and the costs

263

For instance, the satellite-fleet operator SES Global

signed an agreement in May 2007 with OSC that calls for
four or five communications satellites to be delivered at a
rate of one per year starting in late 2009 as part of SES
fleet expansion.

are in euros. A potential solution for

European manufacturers is therefore to
increase purchases in the dollar zone and

low-cost countries, and expand cooperation

with manufacturers in emerging markets.
However, while European manufacturers

benefit from current U.S. legislation (as U.S.

satellite manufacturers must contend with
export control regulations which put them at

a relative disadvantage when competing on

the open commercial market), increasing

competition from emerging low-cost
competitors from India, Russia and China is

expected in the near future.

5.7.3 Satellite operators

Space-based communications in 2007
continued to be a major source of revenues

for the space industry (Cf. Chapter 2). The

economic activity generated by satellite

services goes well beyond the segment
considered. The most established sector of

the satellite industry is the Fixed Satellite

Services (FSS) sector made up of operators
which lease the capacity of their GEO

satellites for voice and data communications

to commercial and governmental
customers.

264

The FSS segment is therefore

one of the main drivers of the space industry,

both for the satellite manufacturing segment

and for launch services.

264

Television is the principal driver for growth in this

segment.

r of

riu

ale

s A

les

tin

Commercial

Non-commercial

Figure 54 GEO commercial and non-commercial satellite orders won in 2006 per satellite manufacturers

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

In 2007, according to Space News, the

hierarchy of the Top FSS operators evolved

with SES taking the first place in front of
Intelsat and Eutelsat (Table 11). Behind this

trio, there is an important quantitative gap

with other FSS operators having only

between three and twelve satellites in orbit
compared to 37 for SES, 54 for Intelsat and

24 for Eutelsat (Table 11). With the purchase

by Loral Skynet of Telesat Canada, Telesat
has now confirmed its position as the world’s

fourth-largest satellite fleet owner (Table 11).

The Top 3 FSS operators generated 64% of

all revenues generated by the FSS operators

in 2007 (5.81 billion U.S. dollars), 52% of all

satellites in orbits and 38% of the satellites
on order (Table 11).

265

“Top Fixed Satellite Service Operators.” Space News

19.26 (30 June 2008): 12.

Asia now has ten operators in the Top 25,

followed by Europe with seven operators and

North America with three. With the mergers
and consolidations which occurred in spring

2008, the hierarchy is expected to change

next year. The strong performance of

European actors in this sector has however to
be stressed and demonstrates the

competitiveness of the European space

industry.

Table 11 Top 10 FSS operators in 2007 (adapted from Space News)

265

* Includes co-owned satellites

Rank

Company

Country

2007 revenue in

million U.S.

dollars

Satellites in

orbit

Satellites

on Order

SES Luxembourg

2370

37*

Intelsat Bermuda/USA

2200

54*

Eutelsat France

1240

24*

Telesat Canada

Canada

684.7

JSAT Corp.

Japan

347.4

Star One

Brazil

207.4

Hispasat Spain

188.6

Singtel Optus

Australia

172.2

Russian Satellite

Communications Co.

Russia 161 11 3

Space

Communications

Corp.

Japan 151.4 4 1

Report 15, September 2008

Chapter 6 – The defence perspective

Space assets are increasingly being

recognised as a central element of modern

armed forces.

266

In 2007/2008, the

militarisation of outer space broadened, as a

growing number of countries, and not only

the six space powers (Cf. Chapter 3), are

committing efforts to obtain dedicated
military systems (be it reconnaissance and

communications satellites), or “multi-purpose

assets” particularly in the field of Earth
observation. Furthermore, civilian capacities

are increasingly being used by military

stakeholders, particularly civilian
communications bandwidths or commercial

imagery.

Any analysis of governmental activities in the
space security field is limited by the public

information available. The classified nature of

many of the existing systems and the
absence of details for some of the known

programmes complicates attempts to provide

accurate depictions of the level of efforts
made by various stakeholders. The data and

analysis presented in this section should

therefore be regarded as descriptive of

general trends.

6 . 1 R e c e n t t r e n d s i n
m i l i t a r y e x p e n d i t u r e

According to the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) global

military spending reached an estimated 1339

billion U.S. dollars in 2007, which is a 135
billion U.S. dollars increase compared to

2006, and a 45% increase since 1998.

267

The

combination of rising world market prices of

natural resources and particularly of minerals
and fossil fuels aided the upward military

spending trend. Other factors like countries’

foreign policy objectives, participation in
multilateral peacekeeping operations and

existing threats explain this increase.

266

The terms “military” and “security” are used

interchangeably in the text as beyond semantic differences
the use of space assets for military or security purposes
overlap considerably.

267

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

“Yearbook 2008: Armaments, Disarmament and
International Security” Executive Summary. 9 June 2008:
11.

World military expenditures, like the space

sector, are unevenly distributed between

regions and countries, with the Top 15
countries having the highest military

spending accounting to about 83% of the

world total in 2007 (Table 12). The Americas

is the region having the biggest military
expenditure followed distantly by Europe,

Asia and Oceania. The United States is the

biggest spender on military items and
accounts for 45% of the world total, followed

by the United Kingdom, China, France and

Japan with 4 to 5% each (Table 12). Despite
the overall stability compared to 2006,

certain modifications to the Top 15 from

previous years need to be underlined. While

the United States is still, by far, the biggest
spender, China has now overtaken France in

the third position; Saudi Arabia has done the

same with Italy in the eighth position. Brazil
also climbed in the hierarchy from the 14

the 12

position overtaking Australia and

Canada. Brazil is now the second-ranking
military spender in the Americas (Table 12)

Rank

Country

World Spending

Share (%)

1 USA

2 UK

3 China

4 France

5 Japan

6 Germany

7 Russia

8 Saudi

Arabia

9 Italy

10 India

11 South

Korea

12 Brazil

13 Canada

14 Australia

15 Spain

Other countries

Table 12 World defence expenditure per country in 2007

(Source SIPRI)

6 . 2 G l o b a l s p a c e
m i l i t a r y c o n t e x t

Like the world military expenditures,

spending on military space activities are very
unevenly distributed between countries. Only

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

Russia

USA

China

Germany

Italy

Japan

Israel

ais

tro

nic

illa

nic

ion

n s

illa

rly

nin

vig

ion

r of

loa

unc

a limited number of countries invest a

substantial amount of money in military

space activities.

268

The United States is the

clear leader in this domain in terms of public

funding allocated to security-related space

activities (Cf. Chapter 2) and despite the

increasing number of space military actors,
the leadership of the United States according

to the military space budget criterion is

unlikely to be challenged in the near future.
While Russia and China are modernising and

upgrading their military space assets, their

capabilities as well as financial support are no
match to the United States.

269

Other

countries investing significantly in space-

security activities include Canada in North

America; Argentina and Brazil in South
America; China, India, Japan, South Korea

and Russia in Asia; Iran, Israel and Turkey in

the Middle East and Belgium, France,
Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and

the United Kingdom in Europe.

In 2007, 32 dedicated military spacecraft or

explicitly recognised “dual-use” satellites

have been launched in space representing

26% of all payloads launched in space that
year. This is an increase from 2006 where

only 18 military-related payloads were

268

Tracking space military-related budget is difficult due to

the absence of distinct budget items in the various national
budgets or the fact that large portion of those budgets are
classified.

269

Analysing however the size of the overall

military/intelligence activities for Russia and China is
extremely difficult.

launched in space. Like in 2006, eight

countries launched dedicated space military

assets. However, from one year to the next
only China, Germany, Japan, Russia and the

United States launched at least one military

spacecraft in 2006 and 2007. Moreover, no

new country launched dedicated military
space assets in orbit in 2007.

When comparing the levels of activity country
by country in 2007, Russia was again the

world’s leader in military space activities

according to the number of payloads
launched with 11 satellites (Figure 55). It

was followed by the United States with eight

spacecraft, Europe with six satellites and

China with four military satellites. Japan
launched two security-related satellites and

Israel one (Figure 55).

Russia and the United States were the actors

having the biggest variety of different assets

launched in space (Figure 55). China was the
only other actor having different types of

military assets launched to space

(reconnaissance and navigation satellites)

(Figure 55). Europe when taken has a whole
(Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom)

launched two types of military assets as well

Figure 55 Military spacecraft launched in 2007 per country

Report 15, September 2008

(reconnaissance satellites and communi-

cations satellites) (Figure 55).

Military navigation satellites were the most-

frequently launched type of spacecraft in

space in 2007 (11 spacecraft), but only by

three countries (Russia, the United States
and China), while ten reconnaissance

spacecraft were launched from six countries

(Russia, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Israel)
(Figure 55). Five dedicated military

communications satellites were launched

from three countries (Russia, the United
States and the United Kingdom). The United

States and Russia were the only space actors

launching early warning satellites, Russia the

only one launching an electronic surveillance
satellite, and the United States two Ocean

surveillance satellites (Figure 55).

6 . 3 E u r o p e a n s p a c e
m i l i t a r y c o n t e x t

The positioning of Europe vis-à-vis military

space has been changing in recent months.
An increasing number of European countries

are acknowledging the strategic character of

space for military and security activities. The

importance of space in the European security
arena is therefore increasingly being

recognised by policymakers, as illustrated by

the inclusion in the May 2007 European
Space Policy of a chapter dedicated to

“security and defence”. However, while this

document was backed by 29 European
countries, only a limited number of European

countries are involved in military space, far

less than in civilian space activities.

6.3.1 National initiatives

European national space projects related to
security are limited in size (only eight

countries are involved substantially in

military space: Belgium, France, Germany,
Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United

Kingdom) and scope (European activities do

not focus on tactical applications). The

amount of public funding spent on military
space activities in Europe are rather modest

and only represent about 17% of the total

European spending on space affairs in 2007
with an estimated 1.103 billion euro (Cf.

Chapter 4), about 20 times less than the U.S.

investment in military space.

270

According to the latest data from the European Defence

Agency (EDA) the total expenditure of its 26 member
Sates in the complete spectrum of defence activities were
201 billion euros or 412 euros per capita in 2006 compared
to 491 billion euros and 1640 euros per capita in the
United States.

Consequently, due to their limited investment

in military space infrastructure, European

actors depend heavily on civilian and
commercial space systems to support their

military and security activities for technical

and historical reasons.

271

France has been the historical European

leader of military space activities. However, it

has in recent years reduced its efforts and
financial support to this type of space

activities (Cf. Chapter 4). Nonetheless, while

France did not launch dedicated military
space assets in 2007/2008, on 11 February

2008, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy,

gave a structuring policy speech in which he

stressed that the highest French authorities
recognise space assets as critical and

strategic. He expressed his wish to

significantly increase France’s national space
defence budget (Cf. Chapter 3). President

Sarkozy underlined the importance of space

in a national and European defence policy
context, but also to support Europe’s

autonomous decision-making capabilities and

as a significant building block of the European

Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). The
main programmatic elements highlighted in

his speech were the establishment of MUSIS

(six member states cooperating for the
common development of a future space-

based reconnaissance satellite system) and

space surveillance activities. President
Sarkozy also mentioned the principles of self-

defence and the importance of access to

space and satellite integrity.

Subsequently, the French White Paper on

defence and national security presented on

17 June 2008, underlined France’s plans to
greatly expand its military space capabilities

as part of a move to reinforce its

reconnaissance/intelligence capabilities over
the next 15 years (Cf. Chapter 3).

272

Annual

space spending is prognosticated to double

from the current level out of a total of 377

billion euro earmarked to be spent on
defence from 2009 until 2020.

273

A Joint

Space Command for military oversight to be

implemented and managed by the French Air
Force and placed under the authority of the

Chairman of the Joint Defence Staff has been

created. The main focus of the space effort as
outlined in the White Paper will be to develop

new operational capabilities to fill existing

gaps and ensure the continuity and

271

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007.

272

This in-depth review of the French defence policy

supersedes the last exercise from 1994.

273

The White Paper recommendations are expected to be

transformed into a new five year spending plan for 2009-13
in fall 2008.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

modernisation of observation and

communications satellites. One of the new

projects is Ceres, a signal intelligence
(SIGNIT) constellation drawing on the

experience from Elint. Another project is an

early warning satellite system to protect

against intermediate ballistic missiles,
building upon the forthcoming Spirale

system. Space situational awareness (SSA) is

also a major new programmatic develop-
ment. Furthermore, despite these plans, it

was underlined that like all its EU partners,

France opposes the weaponisation of space
and will continue its diplomatic efforts in

favour of the demilitarisation of space (see

below).

In Germany, the increasing interest in mili-

tary space activities over recent years is

illustrated by the growing budget allocated to
security-related space activities (cf. Chapter

4). Germany launched two reconnaissance

synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites
(SAR-Lupe 2 and 3) in 2007 (Figure 55).

274

March 2008, the fourth SAR-Lupe satellite

was also launched onboard a Kosmos-3M.

Finally, the last satellite in this constellation
(SAR-Lupe 5) was launched in July 2008.

German military authorities have also

ordered study contracts on a next-generation
reconnaissance system. Furthermore,

SATCOMBW 2a and 2b, two military

communication satellites (SHF/UHF bands)
will be launched onboard an Ariane 5 in the

coming months. The developments of these

dedicated military capabilities underline the

recent paradigm change in military and
political circles, reversing the longstanding

German position.

In 2007, the United Kingdom launched two

dedicated communications satellites (Skynet

5A and 5B) and a third one in 2008 (Skynet
5C). Skynet 5 is the programme used to

update the British Ministry of Defence’s

satellite communication capability. The

operator for the programme is Paradigm
Secure Communications (a company entirely

owned by EADS) through a Private Financing

Initiative (PFI) model.

275

Britain has up-to-

now preferred to rely on privileged access to

U.S. assets for intelligence purposes with the

notable exception of communications.

274

OHB System, the satellite manufacturer, signed a

contract with Germany’s Federal Office of Defence
Technology and Procurement (BWB) for about 350 million
euros for the construction, launch and operation of the
constellation. It also features an obligation by OHB to
provide imagery within? 24 hours of the order for a 10-year
duration.

275

Astrium Services is free to sell un-used capacity on the

Skynet 5 satellites to other customers. For instance it has
booked orders from among others Canada, NATO, the
Netherlands and Portugal.

However, the increasing realisation of the

importance of space is causing military

planners to reassess UK’s position with the
consideration to procure a satellite

technology SAR demonstrator drawing on the

experience of the demonstration satellite

TopSat. Furthermore, the revision of the
Defence Industrial Strategy (DSI), referred to

as DIS 2.0, is expected to include a chapter

on space.

276

Italy launched two dual-use X-band radar

satellites COSMO-SkyMed on 7 June and 6
December 2007 (Figure 55). Italy is also

planning to launch its new military

communications satellite (SICRAL 1B) in the

second half of 2008. Furthermore,
demonstrating the increasing cooperation

with France, a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the

Ka-band French-Italian dual-use satellite,
ATHENA-FIDUS was signed during the

Franco-Italian summit in Nice (France) on 30

November 2007. The joint programme would
be used for two-way military and non-military

broadband communications. The Italian

Space Agency (ASI) and the Defence Ministry

also started to define a second generation of
Italian Earth observation which would be

lighter, but possess the same radar

performance capacity.

While Spain already has its own dedicated

military communications satellites (Spainsat
launched in March 2006) and uses backup

capability with XTAR-EUR (launched in 2005),

the Spanish government is also considering

the development of dedicated reconnaissance
satellites. Spain is already involved in the

French-led Helios 2 satellite, but it has

decided to build its own high resolution radar
(Paz) and medium resolution optical satellite

(Ingenio) for military and civil security

applications. Both are scheduled to be
launched in 2012.

Despite these national developments, as no

single European country can afford to
independently develop a wide range of space

assets like the United States and Russia,

European countries are realising that they
need to pool resources and rationalise

investments. However, while Europe has

significant assets in security-related space
activities, its current generation of military or

dual-use satellites has been designed

independently with limited operability.

276

The first DIS was adopted in 2005 and provided for the

first time a policy framework for how government and
industry should meet the needs of the frontline and
provided a strategic view of each sector of the defence
industry. The soon-to-be released DIS 2.0 will emphasise
flexibility, agility and responsiveness to the needs of the
Armed Forces.

Report 15, September 2008

Nonetheless, efforts of coordination, har-

monisation and consolidation are currently

on-going. As aforementioned, Italy and
France are cooperating to develop a dual-use

communications satellite called ATHENA-

FIDUS. Furthermore, MUSIS, or MUltinational

Space-based Imagery System, is intended to
ensure that the next generation of European

reconnaissance satellites is designed to have

a common ground segment. Six countries are
cooperating on this project. Current efforts

are also on-going to coordinate SSA.

6.3.2 European Union level

At the EU-level initiatives, space is now

increasingly recognised to be an “enabler”,
which can support EU’s Common Foreign and

Security Policy (CFSP) and European Security

and Defence Policy (ESDP).

277

In particular,

GMES and Galileo are the two programmes

having a clear mandate to support these

overarching policies. The EU also has two
dedicated agencies carrying out tasks in the

context of space and security: the European

Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) and the

European Defence Agency (EDA).

278

The EU Satellite Centre based in Torrejon

(Spain) aims to support the decision-making
of the EU in the domains of the CFSP and

ESDP by providing products and services

resulting from Earth observation imagery,
among others. It gives supports to EU

deployed operations and humanitarian aid

missions, as well as peacekeeping missions,

but is also involved in contingency planning
and periodical monitoring tasks. The EUSC is

involved in reflections on GMES security

domains. Moreover, as stated in its 2008
annual work programme, the specific short-

term objectives of the EUSC are to improve

access to new sources for both commercial
and non-commercial data and foster

workforce development, but also develop new

services and products like 3D maps. It will

also seek to strengthen working relations
with the Commission and others institutions

such as EDA, ESA, UN, NATO, etc.

279

277

Peter, Nicolas. “The EU’s Emergent Space Diplomacy.”

Space Policy 23.2 (May 2007): 97-107.

278

Other EU agencies are involved in security issues and

rely on space-based info such as FRONTEX (European
Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at
the External Borders of the Member States of the
European Union) and the EMSA (European Maritime
Safety Agency) or on policy studies (EU-ISS).

279

A long term work programme 2009-2010 has also been

detailed. It unfolds several areas of activities and
development: products and services, stakeholder
engagement, processes and procedures, personnel and
organisation, information technology systems, training and
infrastructure.

The EDA based in Brussels (Belgium) is

designed to support the Council as well as the

EU member States in their efforts to improve
European defence capabilities in the field of

crisis management and to sustain the ESDP.

It is in charge of defence capability

development, armaments cooperation,
research and technology (R&T), as well as

defence technology and industrial base.

280

The EDA has also been progressively
encroaching more and more space activities,

in particular, satellite communications

(SATCOM), maritime surveillance and
intelligence surveillance-reconnaissance (ISR)

activities. This has been followed by the

endorsement of the 2007 European Space

Policy by all EU member States calling, in
particular, for increasing cooperation between

ESA and EDA in the field of space and

security. Consequently, the first official
meeting between the heads of these agencies

occurred in January 2008. Moreover, on

EDA’s 2008 work programme, several topics
are related to space such as SATCOM, which

aims to establish a pilot EU commercial

satcom cell in the short term, and draft

Common Staff Requirements for the next
generation of military communications

satellites in the long-term. The TIES (Tactical

Imagery Exploitation Station) is another
project in EDA’s work plan linked to space. It

is a workstation for imagery analysis, capable

of receiving imagery data in different formats
and fusing them into usable and workable

intelligence product. TIES is intended to

support EU operations and deployment in the

future. The EDA is also getting involved in
space surveillance activities, with the aim to

develop a plan to assess the requirements

and options for space surveillance by early
2009. In this context, a dedicated workshop

was held in June 2008.

Illustrating the fact that space security in

Europe has become an issue of growing

interest, a series of high-level conferences

and reports have been taking place or
released in recent months. Furthermore, EU’s

member States are pursuing an initiative on

the elaboration of a Space Code of Conduct
on Outer Space Activities (hereinafter

referred to as Space CoC) (Cf. Chapter 3).

The Space CoC is the EU’s “concrete

proposal” reply to the United Nations General

Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 61/75 on

280

In recent months the EDA made progress in developing

and implementing long-term strategies and in particular the
Capability Development Plan (CDP), as well as the
implementation of the European Defence Technological
and Industrial Base Strategy, the development of a
European Defence Research and Technology Strategy
and a European Armaments Strategy.

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

“Transparency and Confidence Building

Measures in Outer Space Activities”.

281

It is

expected that the Space CoC could
strengthen existing agreements and codify

new best practices for a safe and secure use

of space. The discussions on a Space CoC

were initiated by Italy and further developed
during the German Presidency of the Council

of the European Union (first half of 2007) in

order to build consensus about an instrument
below treaty-level. The idea was generated

as an item of arms control.

282

However, the

concrete issues identified in the E-Task Force
under the Portuguese Presidency (second half

of 2007)

283

had a number of overlaps with

the civil use of outer space. The “EU Food for

Thought Document on a Comprehensive Code
of Conduct for Space Objects” initially put

forth was subsequently iterated from the end

of 2007 in COREU (CORespondance
EUropéenne).

284

The General Principles of this

document are defined as follows:

•

Commitment to make progress towards

adherence to and full implementation of

the relevant existing treaties, Codes of

Conducts and guidelines regarding the
peaceful use of space;

•

Commitment to prevent space from

becoming an area of conflict, namely by
harmfully using space objects towards

other space objects;

•

Recognition that satellites and use of
space in general are essential to

safeguard national security and strategic

stability;

•

Commitment to resolve, by peaceful
means, through the formulation of

concrete proposals and in compliance

with the United Nations Charter, any
conflict created by actions in space.

The aim of this initiative is therefore to lower
the risks of misinterpretation of incidents

occurring in space, to avoid collisions and

deliberate explosions and to provide

reassurance through improved information
exchanges, transparency and notification

measures. From the very beginning, the EU

intended to elaborate an instrument open for

281

Resolution 61/75 invites all member States to submit to

the Secretary-General before its sixty-second session
concrete proposals on international outer space
transparency and confidence-building measures in the
interest of maintaining international peace and security and
promoting international cooperation and the prevention of
an arms race in outer space.

282

Paper of the Council Working Group on Global Arms

Control and Disarmament CODUN.

283

Portugal continued this work under the Slovenian

Presidency (first half of 2008).

284

The COREU is a communication network between the

member States and the European Commission for
cooperation in the fields of foreign policy.

adherence to all space-faring countries.

Moreover, after being sent to major space

powers for comments, the United Nations
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer

Space (COPUOS) and the Conference on

Disarmament (CD) should thereafter be

consulted before the adoption of a final
resolution by the UNGA. The Space CoC is

currently in its final drafting stages in the EU

working group on UN Disarmament (CODUN).

6.3.3 European Space Agency

Following the evolution of ESA’s member

States vis-à-vis the Agency’s position

regarding security activities, European

governments now agree that ESA may
develop systems and run space programmes,

which European institutions could use for

non-aggressive security activities.

285

This was

further agreed in the 2007 the European

Space Policy, which as aforementioned, calls

for greater cooperation between ESA and the
EDA.

In 2007/2008, ESA continued to be involved

in activities supporting synergies between
space and security such as GMES, Galileo and

communications activities. It is also

continuing its efforts in the domain of SSA. In
particular, ESA is pursuing an activity to

define the European need for a SSA

architecture as a first step towards its
realisation. ESA is also leading the

Heterogeneous Mission Accessibility (HMA)

project. HMA aims to establish a portal

facilitating uniform access to heterogeneous
Earth observation data from multiple

missions (including national missions and

future ESA Sentinel missions) through
standard interfaces for cataloguing, ordering,

mission planning and online data access.

6.3.4 Other European Institutions

Several parliamentarian initiatives dealt with

space security issues in 2007/2008
demonstrating that space is now recognised

at the political-level as an important asset for

Europe.

The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on

Security and Defence (SEDE) responsible for
the CFSP and ESDP in the European

Parliament held a series of activities linked to

space security issues in recent months. A

study entitled “The cost of non Europe in the
field of satellite based systems” was

requested by the European Parliament to the

Policy Department in the Directorate-General

285

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 88.

100

Report 15, September 2008

for External Policies (DG EXPO) and was

published on 18 December 2007. It states

that more cooperation is needed among
member States within the institutional

framework of the EU in order to improve

military, defence and security capabilities in

space. It examines the different aspects of
European space activities, and recommends

that security and defence be addressed

jointly to improve European security-related
space capabilities. Furthermore, in

recommendations to the European

Parliament, it mentions the importance to
increase military space spending, particularly

for space-based communications and Earth

observation as priorities, and finally suggests

that more institutional framework and
authority be developed within the EU.

286

On 14 February 2008, DG EXPO held a
workshop on “Space Policy and the

European Security and Defence Policy” on

behalf of the SEDE. It provided an occasion
to focus upon a report being developed by

the SEDE Chairman Karl von Wogau on the

ESDP and Space Policy. The workshop also

provided an opportunity to exchange views
on technology and policy in the European

space sector, and the relevance and impact

on ESDP. Then, on 14 April 2008 “The
contribution of space assets to ESDP” was a

Subcommittee meeting agenda item.

Several exchange of views occurred with the
Director of the EU Satellite Centre (EUSC) or

with the Executive Director of the European

GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA).

However, the aforementioned “own-
initiative” report by the SEDE Chairman

entitled “Draft Report on the contribution of

space-supported systems to ESDP” was
submitted to the Committee on Foreign

Affairs on 8 April 2008 and was

subsequently adopted by this committee on
3 June 2008. Members of the European

Parliament noted the need for a common

approach to defend European interests in

space. The “Report on space and security”
underlines the need for space assets in order

for the political and diplomatic activities of

the EU to be based on independent, reliable
and complete information. Furthermore,

while the European Parliament agrees that

the European space policy should not
support the weaponisation of space, it

nevertheless recognises the need for Galileo

to serve the EU’s defence and security,

which is a shift from its earlier stance on the
issue. The report also advocates the creation

of “an operational budget for space assets

286

Directorate General External Policies of the Union:

Policy Department External Policies. “Study: The Cost of
Non Europe in the Field of Satellite Based Systems.“ Dec.
2007.

and strongly favours putting space

operations under the Community

budget”.

287,288

In 2007/2008, the Assembly of the Western

European Union (WEU), which is an inter-

parliamentary security and defence assembly
that allows national parliamentarians to

monitor security and defence issues, released

in June 2008, a report through the
Technological and Aerospace Committee on

“Space Systems for Europe’s Security: GMES

and Galileo - reply to the annual report of the
Council”.

289

Subsequently, a recommendation

was adopted unanimously during the 54

Plenary Session on 4 June 2008.

6 . 4 T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s

In 2007, the United States launched 25% of

all military satellites, without taking into

account several technology demonstration
projects. The United States launched two

communications satellites, two early warning

satellites, two navigation satellites and two

ocean surveillance satellites (Figure 55).

The United States is the country investing the

most in space including space-security
related activities (Cf. Chapter 2). The

unclassified budget for space programmes of

the U.S. Air Force (including R&D,
procurement and operations and

maintenance) reached about 11.3 billion U.S.

dollars for Fiscal Year 2008 (cf. Chapter 3).

However, the classified spending for other
DoD and National Reconnaissance Office

(NRO) space programmes is not publicly

released. In this context, in the Fiscal Year
2008 Defense Appropriation bill, the U.S.

Congress asked the DoD to develop a Major

Force Program (MFP) budget category which
would aggregate space spending in a single

budget line. Moreover, as the procurement of

future U.S. capabilities continues to be

plagued with difficulties, unclassified
appropriations for defence R&D and

procurement have shifted notably in

2007/2008. For instance, the funding for the
Air Force’s Advanced Extremely High

Frequency (AEHF) programme has been

287

von Wogau, Karl. European Parliament. Committee on

Foreign Affairs. “Report on Space and security.”
(2008/2030(INI)) 10 June 2008.

288

The European Parliament adopted with a large majority

(483-99-20) on 10 July 2008 the report, effectively making
it a resolution.

289

The WEU is composed by the Council of the WEU and

the Assembly of the WEU. The Parliamentary Assembly
supervises the work of the Council, but it does not impose
any obligations on the Council as it is a consultative
institution.

101

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

drastically reduced. Furthermore, key sensors

have driven up the cost of the next

generation of U.S. polar-orbiting weather
satellites (the National Polar-orbiting

Environmental Satellite System or NPOESS)

causing the DoD to threaten to withhold its

share of programme funding in the joint U.S.
Air Force-NOAA programme.

290

However, the

Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space

programmes dedicated to tactical satellite
development and responsive lift has seen its

budget increase in the same period.

A Panel was congressionally mandated as

part of the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill to

assess the organisation and management of

U.S. national space security due to current
suboptimal capabilities (delay, cost overruns

and failures of national security space

systems). Most of the work of the so-called
“Allard Commission” took place in spring

2008). In particular, a National Security

Space Authority (NSSA) would be created.
This position would lead to a new

organisation, the National Security Space

Organization responsible for the acquisition

and operation of all U.S. military and
intelligence space assets. The establishment

of a National Space Strategy is being

considered as well as the reestablishment of
the National Space Council to be led by the

National Security Advisor.

In the United States, the Chinese anti-

satellite weapon test of January 2007 brought

increased attention and urgency to the

consideration and evaluation of national
security space programmes.

291

In particular,

the concern about potential threats to U.S.

space capabilities has gained momentum in
high-level policy circles. In this context, in

the Fiscal Year 2008 Appropriation agreed on

8 November 2007, the programmes
enhancing SSA were boosted. Furthermore,

on 20 February 2008, an imagery radar

spacecraft (NROL-21/USA-193) owned by the

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
launched in December 2006 was destroyed,

as there was a risk that it would survive re-

entry and strike the Earth. This was done in
order to prevent the satellite’s hydrazine fuel

tank from dispersing highly toxic fumes on

the ground. A Standard Missile (SM-3) and
the ship-based Aegis targeting system

developed for the sea-based component of

290

Brinton, Turner. “NPOESS Costs Soar Again, Pentagon

Threatens to Withhold Funding.” Space News 19 June
2008.

291

For more information see Neuneck, Götz. “China’s

the U.S. missile defence architecture were

used. While the controversial anti-satellite

test conducted by China in January 2007
occurred at an altitude of about 850

kilometres, the U.S. intercept occurred at an

altitude of about 240 kilometres. Moreover,

unlike the Chinese ASAT-test, the United
States informed the international community

well in advance of the attempted shot-down.

The U.S. Air Force Space Command and the

NRO joined together on 31 March 2008 to

create a new programme to advise the
military and intelligence community on how

to protect space assets.

292

The so-called

“Space Protection Program” is intended to

help identify a wide range of possible options
to safeguard space capabilities such as the

development of new hardware, change in

tactics and procedure. It is also involved in
the development of the congressionally-

mandated space protection strategy due in

summer 2008.

293

While the United States is the country investing

the most in space, it is also the most

conceptually advanced in military space affairs.
In 2007/2008, a series of high level documents

were released underlining the strategic nature

of space activities in security-related activities
for the United States. In particular, in May

2008, the first Defense Intelligence Strategy

(DIS) was published. The DIS highlights the
following four strategic goals for the Defense

Intelligence Enterprise (DoD intelligence,

counterintelligence and security communi-

ties)

294

•

“Extend the full advantage of the U.S.

intelligence enterprise to all defense
users to ensure timely and accurate

decisions, as well as ensure defense

intelligence is available to the broader
U.S. intelligence enterprise;

•

Enhance all services and capabilities

provided by the U.S. intelligence

enterprise to satisfy the changing needs
of defense intelligence users;

•

Explore concepts, technologies, and

strategies to address customer
requirements and emerging threats;

•

Enable us to counter and deny adversary

capabilities to acquire and exploit our
technologies or knowledge of the battle

space.”

295

292

Singer, Jeremy. “U.S. Air Force, NRO create Team

Focused on Space Protection.” Space News 8 Apr. 2008.

293

Ibid.

294

The mission of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise is

identified as to “support our national, defense and
international partners with “knowledge rich” all-source
defense intelligence, counterintelligence, and security”.

295

U.S. Department of Defense. “Defense Intelligence

Strategy.” May 2008.

102

Report 15, September 2008

Defence intelligence in space is identified in

the fourth strategic goal. It aims to “eliminate

any advantage held by our adversaries to
operate from and within the space and cyber

domains”.

296

Referring to the 2006 U.S.

National Space Policy, it underlines that the

focus of defence intelligence in space will be
to “ensure full situational awareness for

military and civilian decision-makers, support

military planning initiatives, and satisfy
operational requirements”.

297

Among the

three priorities identified for defence

intelligence in space, two touch upon space
specifically. The Priority IV.4.A calls to

“pursue and support enhanced space

situational awareness to include the

protection of U.S. and partners’ space assets
and interests in all domains” and the Priority

IV.4.B stresses the importance to “expand

our ability to operate from and within the
space domain by designing and operating a

seamless, fully integrated next generation

space enterprise.”

298

Finally, on 12 May 2008, The North American

Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a bi-

national U.S. and Canadian organisation
charged with the missions of aerospace

warning and aerospace control for North

America, celebrated its 50th year
anniversary.

6 . 5 R u s s i a

In 2007, Russia launched 35% of all military

spacecraft upgrading its navigation
capabilities (seven satellites), its

reconnaissance (one satellite), early warning

(one satellite), electronic surveillance (one
satellite) and communications capabilities

(one satellite) (Figure 55). This increased

activity is part of an overall effort to upgrade
and modernise Russia’s military in-orbit

infrastructure.

Following Russia’s economic recovery (Cf.
Chapter 1), Russian military space

programmes are recovering from the under-

investment that characterised the immediate
post-Cold War period (Cf. Chapter 3). Russia

maintains activities in military space

programmes in six areas: reconnaissance,
communications, navigation, early warning,

signal intelligence as well as access to space.

Russia’s involvement in military space

programmes is channelled through the 2007-
2012 State Armaments Programme and the

two Federal Target Programmes on Glonass

296

Ibid.

297

Ibid.

298

Ibid.

(2002-2011) and the Development of

Russia’s Cosmodromes (2006-2015). The

major investments are, however, in the field
of access to space (new launch sites and

launch vehicle) and its GNSS constellation,

Glonass (Cf. Chapter 3).

6 . 6 J a p a n

In 2007, Japan, launched two dedicated

security satellites: the Information Gathering

Satellites (IGS) (Figure 55). These two
additions provide Japan with an Earth

observation constellation dedicated to

security issues (five satellites in orbit).

In May 2008, the Diet finally approved the

“Basic Law for Space Activities”. This new law

commits Japan to a series of major
administrative and conceptual changes (Cf.

Chapter 3). These include: shifting emphasis

from R&D to utilisation and defence, and
placing space development planning in a new

planning and administrative authority in the

Prime Minister's Cabinet (so-called “Strategic

Space Development Headquarters”) under a
new minister for space appointed by and

reporting directly to the Prime Minister. The

switch of space planning from the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and

Technology (MEXT) to the Prime Minister's

Cabinet underscores the shift in attitude
about the strategic importance of space for

national security and public welfare. In

particular, the new law replaces the 1969

Resolution which restricted Japan to use
space only for “exclusively peaceful purpose”

with a commitment that military uses of

space will be for defensive purposes only in
accordance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty

and with the pacifist spirit of Japan's

Constitution. This policy change thus does
not aim to promote an aggressive use of

space, but, among other things, it aims to

allow Japan to use space assets for crisis

management and disaster monitoring in the
Asian region and in peacekeeping missions.

6 . 7 C h i n a

In 2007, China launched 13% of all military
spacecraft. It launched two reconnaissance

satellites and two navigation satellites (Figure

55).

China’s long-term, comprehensive trans-

formation of its military forces is on-going at

a high pace following its investments in the
military sector (Table 12). However, it is

difficult to precisely evaluate Chinese military

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capabilities, as China is very secretive about

its military activities and military space is no

exception. Nonetheless, in an August 2007
speech celebrating the 80

anniversary of the

founding of the People’s Liberation Army

(PLA), President Hu called for accelerating

the modernisation of weapons and
equipment, enhancing personnel training,

and strengthening combat skills through

“coordinated development between national
defence building and economic

construction.”

299

This is thought to also cover

space activities. Furthermore, while China’s
leaders are communicating widely about the

achievements of its civilian space programme

they remain silent about the military

applications of China’s space programme.
Space-based command, control,

communications, computers, intelligence,

surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) are
considered key to enable and coordinate joint

operations and win modern wars by Chinese

theorists (Cf. Office of the Secretary of
Defense “Annual Report to Congress on

Military Power of the People’s Republic of

China). China further views the development

of space and counter-space capabilities as
bolstering national prestige and, like nuclear

weapons, demonstrating the attributes of a

world power.

6 . 8 I n d i a

While India continues to emphasise the

peaceful uses of space, following the 2006

Chinese ASAT-test, the country is considering
developing a military space programme and

optimising space applications for military

purposes. No formal decision has been made
yet on the creation of an Indian Aerospace

Command as part of a wide process

considering an increase of the role of military
applications and defence forces in India’s

space activities. Military space activities are

still officially being separated from ISRO’s

civilian activities and until now India has not
been focusing on space technology solely for

military purposes. However, it is widely

speculated that an ISRO spacecraft Cartosat-
2A launched on 28 April 2008 is the first

satellite of a constellation dedicated to

reconnaissance, as it has a sub-metric
resolution.

299

United States of America. Office of the Secretary of

Defense “Annual Report to Congress: Military Power of the
People’s Republic of China 2008.” 3 Mar. 2008.

6 . 9 O t h e r s p a c e a c t o r s

Non-traditional space powers and actors have
also been acquiring dedicated military

satellites or creating new structures

demonstrating the increasing trend of “inter-
nationalisation of the militarisation of space”.

While the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) is relying on space activities to

support its operations and tasks, it has not

yet defined a clear and comprehensive

approach to space operations. However, this
is evolving. In May 2008, NATO released an

unclassified document entitled “NATO Space

Operations Assessment”. This project was
undertaken by the Joint Air Power

Competence Centre (JAPCC) at the request of

Allied Command Transformation. This
document presents an overview of current

standing of NATO Space Power and provides

recommendations for NATO to better enable

an effect-based approach to operations. The
NATO Space Operations Assessment focuses

on the importance of space for current

operations and transformational ambitions. In
the process of drafting this document, 33

stakeholder organisations participated in a

Space Workshop hosted by the JAPCC on 22
April 2008. In order for NATO to better

ensure and use the space domain, the

document identifies 20 gaps, and short and

long-term recommendations such as space
governance, force development, training,

concept development and experimentation,

standards and interoperability. A paper
entitled “Considerations for a NATO Space

Policy” is also provided as annex to the

document (it comprises 16 guiding principles,
13 foundational guidelines and three

guidelines on international cooperation).

Finally the tenets of a NATO Military Space

strategy are also provided in an annex.

300

While Australia is considering increasing its

involvement in space activities (Cf. Chapter
3), in November 2007, the Australian

government agreed to a 822.7 million U.S.

dollars investment in the U.S. Wideband
Global Satcom (WGS) system to fund the

sixth WGS satellite.

301

This will provide

access to high communication bandwidth in

the X and Ka-bands to support bandwidth-
intensive applications.

302

300

Joint Air Power Competence Centre “NATO Space

Operations Assessment.” May 2008.

301

“Australia to Fund Sixth WGS Satellite.” Satellite Today

3 Oct. 2007.
<http://www.satellitetoday.com/military/headlines/19168.ht
ml>.

302

The WGS system is scheduled to be achieve full

operational capability in 2013 following the launch of the

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Report 15, September 2008

In February 2008, Israel received the first

images from its new reconnaissance satellite

which was successfully launched by the
Indian space agency, ISRO, onboard a PSLV

on 21 January 2008. As opposed to the Ofeq

series, TechSAR is a radar (SAR) satellite

providing Israel 24-hour, all-weather
capability. This addition completes the launch

of Ofeq-7 in June 2007.

303

Additionally, the

Israeli government invested about 265
million U.S. dollars in Amos-4

communications satellite planned for launch

in the third quarter of 2012,

304

illustrating the

high national priority accorded to the

programme.

Following the successful launch of Turksat 3A
on 12 June 2008 onboard an Ariane 5, Turkey

is about to acquire the long-delayed military

reconnaissance satellite, Göktürk. In July
2006, Turkey’s Under Secretariat of Defence

Industry received tenders from EADS

Astrium, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI),
OHB-System and Telespazio (now Thales

Alenia Space) to manufacture this

reconnaissance satellite. In January 2007,

Turkish Defence Industry Implementation
Committee (SSIK) decided to continue its

discussions for the construction of Göktürk

with Telepazio, OHB and EADS Astrium. A
final decision on the prime contractor for the

high-resolution reconnaissance satellite is

expected to be taken soon.

sixth satellite. The first satellite was launched in 11
October 2007.

303

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007.

304

Opall-Rome, Barbara. “Israeli Government Invests Big

in High-Powered Amos-4 Telecom Sat.” Space News 25
July 2007<
http://www.space.com/spacenews/archive07/amos4_0716.
html >.

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Chapter 7 –
The specific roles of institutions

Various institutions are playing a growing role

in space affairs, particularly at regional and

international level, thus completing existing
national activities. This chapter specifically

looks at the most influential institutions of

European space affairs in 2007/2008.

7.1 European institutions

In Europe, the main European institutions

(the Presidency of the Council of the

European Union, the Council of the European
Union, the European Commission, the

European Parliament and Agencies of the

European Union) are increasingly involved in

European space affairs, along with other
institutions such as parliamentary and

regional structures, therefore complementing

national structures such as space agencies,
ministerial and inter-ministerial entities.

7.1.1 Council of the European Union
and its Presidencies

The Presidency of the Council of the

European Union, which is sometimes
informally called the “European Presidency”,

refers to the responsibility of presiding over

all aspects of the Council of the European
Union. It rotates every six months among

European Union (EU) member States. The

Council is a major actor in European space
affairs, as it is the driving force in the political

decision-making process of the EU.

During the second half of 2007, and the first
half of 2008, the second and third

Presidencies of the first “triple-shared

Presidency” were held by Portugal and
Slovenia respectively (following Germany in

the first half of 2007).

305

The joint 18-month

programme was elaborated for the period
running from January 2007 to June 2008. The

main themes of the programme were the

continuation of the EU reform and

constitutional process, the implementation of
the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, and

the further completion of common areas of

freedom, security and justice. Space was

305

The next triplet will consist of France, the Czech

Republic and Sweden.

identified in this work programme as one of

the elements of priority linked to the Lisbon

Strategy. In particular, the elaboration of a
European Space Policy to promote cutting-

edge technology in the EU was underlined.

The necessity to continue to develop Galileo

and the Global Monitoring for Environment
and Security (GMES) programmes was also

stressed.

Under the Portuguese Presidency, in the

second half of 2007, besides solving Galileo,

Euro-African cooperation in space
development was also an important agenda

topic.

306

In December 2007, a “GMES for

Africa” event was organised in Lisbon

(Portugal) as a first attempt to bring together
actors from both continents to address the

issue of GMES and Africa. Two technical

seminars were organised on 6 December
2007; the first one being on environment and

agriculture and the second one on crisis

response and monitoring for security. The
event “Space for Development: The case of

GMES and Africa” was then held on 7

December 2007. The overall Lisbon exercise,

attended by about 350 participants, led to
the adoption of two documents: the Lisbon

Declaration on “GMES and Africa” and the

Lisbon Process on “GMES and Africa”
supporting the joint Africa-EU strategy and

first Action Plan (2008-2010). The

Portuguese Presidency also launched a two-
year process leading to the drafting and

consolidation of an Action Plan for the “GMES

and Africa” partnership for approval at the

third EU-Africa Summit scheduled for the end
of 2009. This initiative follows the Maputo

Declaration signed on 15 October 2006 by

the Commission of the African Union (AU),
the Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and

Pacific Group of States (ACP) and five

regional Economic Communities of Sub-
Saharan Africa (Economic and Monetary

Community of Central Africa (CEMAC),

Economic Community Of West African States

(ECOWAS), the Indian Ocean Commission
(IOC), Intergovernmental Authority on

Development (IGAD), Southern African

Development Community (SADC)) explicitly
asking for an extension of the GMES initiative

306

For more information on Galileo see the section

devoted to the Council of the European Union.

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Report 15, September 2008

to Africa and other ACP countries (the so-

called “GMES – Africa”).

307

Completing the aforementioned documents

(Declaration on “GMES and Africa” and the

Lisbon Process on “GMES and Africa”), space

activities were also specifically mentioned
within the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and the

accompanying first Action Plan (2008-2010)

adopted at the EU-Africa Summit by Heads of
States and Governments on 9 December

2007 (Cf. Chapter 1). In the Joint Africa-EU

Strategy, aiming to foster enhanced
cooperation, space is mentioned in the

context of one of the four main objectives of

the long-term strategic partnership, and

particularly to support key development
issues in order to address progress towards

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

such as human and social development, but
also environmental sustainability and climate

change.

308

It is stated that Africa and the EU

shall strengthen their existing cooperation
mechanisms and programmes in space-based

technology, applications, sciences and

systems. In the first Africa-EU Action Plan

(2008-2010) eight partnerships areas and
priority activities have been singled out with

one tackling space issues explicitly. The

eighth Africa-EU partnership on Science,
Information Society and Space aims to

enhance cooperation in space application and

technology as a priority action to support
Africa’s sustainable development objectives

by developing concrete joint cooperation

initiatives in selected areas.

In the first half of 2008, under the Slovenian

Presidency, the main activities linked to

space affairs concerned the re-profiling of the
Galileo programme and the development of

the legislation concerning Mobile Satellite

Services (MSS) in Europe. The GMES
programme was also an element of attention.

In particular, during the fourth “Bridging the

Gap” environmental conference held in

Portoroz (Slovenia) several points were
stressed, including the need to take

environmental impacts into account in

economic decisions and the need for
increased interstate cooperation regarding

data collection and exchange. It has been

underlined that efforts such as GMES, the
Shared Environmental Information System

(SEIS), the infrastructure for Spatial

Information in Europe (INSPIRE) or the

307

This extension should make available to African

decision makers all the data and tools needed for an
operational implementation of policies targeting the
sustainable management of the African environment.

308

Pisani, Pierre-Henri. “"GMES and Africa" A Hopeful

Case for Euro-African Cooperation in Space Development”
ESPI Perspectives 6 Apr. 2008.

directive on Public Sector Information (PSI)

are very positive, but call for greater

cooperation in order to efficiently use the
data collected.

309

Another major element of the Slovenian

Presidency was the end of the public
consultation period for the EU budget reform

of the post 2013 period, as many in Europe

would like to see a dedicated budget line
(and specific financing tools and

mechanisms) for space affairs in the next EU

budget, so that the EU can fully assume its
role in space policy.

310

A conference entitled

"Reforming the Budget, Changing Europe"

will be held on 12 November 2008 to

represent these contributions.

The regular decision-making of the various

councils are described in the following
sections.

The Council of the EU is made up of the 27
national ministers of member States meeting

in nine different configurations depending on

the subject under discussion, with each

“council” dealing with functional areas. Two
“formations” are primarily in charge of space

activities: the Competitiveness Council and

the Transport, Telecommunications and
Energy (TTE) Council, with other councils like

the Economic and Financial Affairs Council

being involved on a more irregular basis in
space affairs.

311

In 2007/2008, the

Competitiveness Council was principally

involved in overseeing space policy and the

development of the GMES programme, while
the TTE Council has been mainly involved in

monitoring Galileo issues, as well as

regulatory development in the domain of
MSS.

The Competitiveness Council under the
Portuguese Presidency, on 28 September

2007, discussed the proposal for establishing

Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) in the

fields of innovative medicines, embedded
computing systems, nano-electronics

technologies, aeronautics and air transport. It

also invited the Commission to present the
remaining two JTIs on hydrogen and fuel

cells, as well as GMES, as soon as possible.

309

Conclusions of the fourth “Bridging the Gap”

environmental conference. 14-16 May 2008. Portoroz,
Slovenia
<http://www.bridgingthegap.si/content.php?idm=9>.

310

A Communication by the European Commission was

released on 12 September 2007 and was followed by a
public consultation.

311

For instance following the TTE Council request in June

2007 of detailed alternative proposals for the financing of
Galileo, on 10 July 2007, the Economic and Financial
Affairs Council held an exchange of views on the possible
additional public financing of Galileo.

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Then, on 22-23 November 2007, the Council

adopted the conclusions on competitiveness

(under an integrated approach). In the
Council’s conclusions concerning industrial

policy, while underlying the need to continue

addressing sector-specific issues, the

stepping up of on-going work on the space
industry was noted with interest.

Under the Slovenian Presidency in the first
half of 2008, space was not an issue dealt

with in the Competitiveness Council. More

involvement is therefore expected under the
French Presidency during the second half of

2008, with, among others, the informal

meeting of European ministers responsible

for space in Kourou (French Guiana) on 21-
22 July 2008 and the fifth Space council on

26 September 2008.

For the Transport and Telecommunications

and Energy Council, in the second half of

2007 and the first half of 2008, Galileo was a
major agenda item, as well as the selection

and authorisation of systems providing MSS.

On 1-2 October 2007, the TTE Council

adopted conclusions on Galileo and the
European Geostationary Navigation Overlay

Service (EGNOS) satellite navigation

programmes, which, among others,
reaffirmed the value of an effective Galileo as

a key project for the EU, and reiterated the

need to continue with the implementation of
a certifiable EGNOS to ensure the initial

service’s availability by 2008. The

Conclusions also looked forward to a

balanced participation in Galileo of all
member States during the different phases of

the project. The Council also took note of the

Commission’s information on its proposal for
a decision on the selection and authorisation

of systems providing MSS, adopted in August

2007.

During the TTE Council on 29-30 November

2007, conclusions on launching the European

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
programmes, defining the general principles

of public sector governance and public

procurement of the programmes, were
adopted. In particular:

•

Budgetary and political decision-making
bodies will be the Council and the

European Parliament;

•

The Commission and the European GNSS

Supervisory Authority (GSA) remain fully
responsible for the management of the

programmes;

•

ESA was designated as the procurement
agent for Galileo and maître d’oeuvre of

the programme;

•

The European Community will be the full
owner of Galileo and EGNOS.

This Council also took note of a progress

report on a proposal for a decision on the

selection and authorisation of systems
providing MSS.

On 7 April 2008 under the Slovenian

Presidency, the TTE Council reached a
general agreement on a proposal for further

implementation of the Galileo and EGNOS

programmes. The proposal put forth lays
down the rules for the implementation of the

aforementioned two programmes, including

those on governance and the financial
contribution of the European Community. The

draft regulation reflects the principles defined

in the Council conclusion adopted on 30

November 2007. However, significant
amendments to the Commission’s initial

proposal were made. In particular, the

European Community will assume
responsibility for the deployment of the

system, and the budgetary resources needed

to finance both programmes for the period of
1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013 are set

at 3.4 billion euros. Finally, regarding MSS

issues, the TTE Council took note of the

information provided by the Slovenian
Presidency on 12-13 June 2008 and reached

a first reading agreement on a draft decision

for the section and authorisation of systems
providing those services.

7.1.2 European Commission

In 2007/2008, the executive body of the EU,

the European Commission, was particularly

involved in three areas pertaining to space
affairs: space-based navigation (Galileo and

EGNOS), space-based Earth observation

(GMES) and space-based communications
services (specifically MSS).

In the second half of 2007 and the first half
of 2008, the Commission pushed to find a

solution to solve the Galileo crisis by shifting

the project from a public-private-partnership

(PPP) scheme to a structure fully funded with
public money. On 6 September 2007, the

Commission adopted a cancellation of its call

for tenders for a concession of the
deployment and operation phases of the

Galileo programme. The Commission then put

forth communication aiming to ensure that
the Galileo and EGNOS deployment phases

would be funded by the European

Community. The publication released on 19

September 2007 entitled “Progressing
Galileo: Re-Profiling the European GNSS

Programmes” sets out the main details

regarding Galileo and EGNOS programmes. It
covers, among other things:

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Report 15, September 2008

•

Infrastructure costs;

•

Risks in terms of completing the

programmes and their management;

•

Benefits and revenues expected;

•

Funding of the European GNSS

programmes;

•

Public-sector governance.

In particular, unspent public funds were

proposed as an additional source of funding
for the procurement of the Full Operational

Capability (FOC) of the Galileo programme

with 1.7 billion euros coming form the
Agriculture budget in 2007 (500 million euros

in 2008), and 120 million euros from the

Administration budget in 2007 (100 million

euros in 2008) for a total of 2.72 billion euros
(300 million euros of which should be used

for the European Institute of Technology).

The Commission also proposed that the
Council and the European Parliament agree

on a modification of the public governance of

the European GNSS programmes. In
particular to:

•

Create a European GNSS programme

committee;

•

Define the role of the Commission as the

European GNSS programme manager and

maître d’oeuvre;

•

Strengthen the role for the GSA in

market preparation and as advisor to the

Commission and assistance in
programme management;

•

Define ESA as the maître d’oeuvre acting

on the basis on an ESA-EC GNSS

agreement.

On 19 September 2007, another

Communication from the Commission to the
European Parliament and to the Council was

issued. It assessed a proposal for a decision

by the European Parliament and the Council
amending the “Decision of the European

Parliament and of the Council, amending the

Inter-institutional Agreement of 17 May 2006

on budgetary discipline and sound financial
management as regards to the multiannual

financial framework”. Another amended

proposal was submitted on the further
implementation of the European satellite

radio-navigation programmes (EGNOS and

Galileo). The proposed regulation provides
the responsibility for the deployment phase of

Galileo to be fully assumed by the European

Community acting on its own. The proposal

also aimed to improve the public governance
of the programmes. In the first half of 2008,

most of the EC’s efforts were therefore

focused on developing the regulation on the
further implementation of the European

satellite radio-navigation programmes

(Galileo and EGNOS) and to prepare for the
procurement phase.

On 23 June 2008, the Commission sent a

letter to ESA authorising the start of the

Galileo contractor selection. This one-year
process started on 25 June 2008 with the

Commission issuing an Invitation to Tender

entitled "Advisors Contract to the European

Commission on the European GNSS
Programme" (TREN/G/3/318-2008) for the

six work packages of the Galileo satellite

navigation system.

312

On 1 July 2008, the

Commission and ESA launched the

procurement of the programme. It

complements the In-Orbit-Validation contract
placed by ESA for the first satellites and

associated ground control infrastructure. For

the deployment phase, the Commission and

ESA have opted for the procurement
procedure of “Competitive Dialogue”.

313

The Commission continued in 2007/2008 to
work on its second flagship, the GMES

programme, and particularly, on the three

Fast Track Services: the Emergency
Response Core Service (ERCS), the Land

Monitoring Core Service (LMCS), the Marine

Core Service (MCS), as well as the GMES

atmosphere and security core services. A
document entitled “Preliminary User

Requirements for GMES-like services (for

Emergency Response FTS)” was also released
in July 2007. In February 2008 the EC

approved funding for the recurrent satellites

needed for GMES (Cf. Chapter 3). A
publication entitled “Window on GMES” was

issued in May 2008, identifying and

presenting GMES’s services and usefulness.

The Commission was also involved in the

development of a new mechanism for the

selection and authorisation of systems
providing MSS. It issued a communication on

22 August 2007 entitled “Proposal for a

Decision of the European Parliament and of
the Council on the selection and authorisation

of systems providing mobile satellite services

(MSS)”. The general objective of this

proposal was to develop the internal market
of European consumers and businesses by

overcoming the national selection and

authorisation to foster EU-wide MSS. The
proposal complements the Commission’s

312

The six work packages are system support, ground

mission segment, ground control segment, space segment
(satellites), launch services and operations.

313

In the first phase of the procedure, interested entities

may submit to ESA a "Request to Participate" and will be
short-listed on the basis of pre-defined selection and
exclusion criteria. The selected candidates will then be
invited to the dialogue phase, representing the formal kick
off of the second phase of the tendering process. The
Competitive Dialogue procedure will be organised and
managed by ESA as delegated procurement agent, in
close coordination with the Commission as contracting
authority.

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decision adopted by comitology

314

in February

2007, which obliged member States to

reserve the Gigahertz spectrum by 1 July
2007 (1980 to 2010 MHz and 2170 to 2200

MHz) for systems providing MSS. This

initiative aims to simplify the licensing

process and reduce the risk of market
fragmentation as well as ensure that the

transnational services work at their best

potential (Cf. Chapter 3).

The Commission has also been involved in

the management of the first calls for
proposals under the seventh Framework

Programme as well as dialogues with other

space powers: the United States and Russia

(Cf. Chapter 3).

7.1.3 European Union Agencies

Following the expansion of the Commission’s

tasks, a number of specialised and

decentralised EU agencies have been
established to support EU member States and

their citizens in tackling very specific tasks.

Three EU agencies have direct and explicit

activities in space: the European GNSS
Supervisory Authority (GSA), the European

Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) and the

European Defence Agency (EDA), the latter
increasingly being involved into space

activities. Other EU agencies like the

European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) are
also relying more and more on space

technologies to perform their mandated

activities.

The GSA, an EU regulatory authority, is in

charge of managing specific activities such as

security aspects and the development of
marketing activities linked to European GNSS

programmes: Galileo and EGNOS (see

above). In particular, on 8 April 2008, the
GSA released the second version of the

Galileo Service Signal-In-Space Interface

Control Document, in order to enable the

development of products and applications
which will be used with Galileo’s system and

signals.

315

The EUSC aims to support the decision-

making of the EU in the field of Common

Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and
especially European Security and Defence

Policy (ESDP). For this purpose it provides

geospatial intelligence products and services

to the Council of the EU, member States, the
Commission and third States and

314

This is a committee system which oversees the

activities implemented by the Commission.

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“GSA Releases New Galileo Open Service Signal-In-

Space Interface Control Document.” GSA Press Release 8
Apr. 2008.

international organisations if deemed relevant

to the CFSP and in particular the ESDP (Cf.

Chapter 6). The EUSC released a 2008 annual
work programme stating the following tasks:

•

Support to EU operations in the

framework of ESDP, including the EU
battle-groups

•

Contingency planning

•

Control of proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction

•

Support to EU counter-terrorism policy

•

Support to humanitarian aid missions

•

Support to EU counter-organised crime

policy

One of the latest EU agencies created, the
EDA has an overall mission to improve

Europe’s defence performance by promoting

coherence among its member States. In
particular, its core functions are to develop

defence capabilities, promote Defence R&T,

promote armament cooperation, create a
competitive European Defence Equipment

Market and strengthen the European

Defence, Technological and Industrial Base

including space activities (Cf. Chapter 6).
Following the adoption of the first European

Space Policy in May 2007, the EDA is getting

more and more involved in space activities,
particularly in activities linked to Earth

observation, communications and space

surveillance (Cf. Chapter 6).

Several EU agencies are increasingly relying

on space technologies to perform their

mandated tasks. For instance, following a
European Directive (2005/35/EC) of the

European Parliament and Council, the EMSA

developed the CleanSeaNet service. The
EMSA ClearSeaNet satellite services offer all

EU coastal member States (as well as Iceland

and Norway) a near-real-time marine oil spill
detection service by using radar satellite

imagery (SAR) to enhance the overall

maritime safety system within the EU. The

services aim at strengthening operational
response for accidental and deliberate

discharges from ships as well as to locate and

identify polluters.

7.1.4 European Parliament

The role of the European Parliament in space

affairs has expanded considerably over the

years in passing legislation as well as through

its say over EU budget, and 2007/2008 was
no exception. In particular, the Parliament

has co-decision powers (along with the

Council) over the regulation on the
deployment and commercial phases of

Galileo. In the conciliation meeting of 23

November 2007, it reached an agreement
with the Council and the Commission to

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Report 15, September 2008

revise the EU’s financial framework for 2007-

2013 with the purpose to preserve Galileo

with public funding taken mainly from unused
farm-support funds (see the Council of the

European Union section). Furthermore,

following the modification of the “Decision of

the European Parliament and of the Council,
amending the Inter-institutional Agreement

of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline and

sound financial management as regards the
multiannual financial framework”, and the

creation of the Galileo Inter-institutional

Panel (GIP) composed of seven
representatives with three from the European

Parliament (Cf. Chapter 3), it now has more

say regarding the political control of the

project.

Standing committees of the European

Parliament, designed to aid the Commission
in initiating legislation, were also active

elements in tackling space issues over the

last months. Three specialised standing
committees (the Committee on Industry,

Research and Energy (ITRE), the Committee

on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) and the

Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and its
subcommittee on Security and Defence

(SEDE)) adopted reports on legislative

proposals and “own-initiative” reports and
conducted hearings on particular space

topics.

The ITRE Committee had space-related issues

on its agenda items on seven of its 25

meetings over the July 2007-June 2008

period, with Galileo being the major space
topic agenda followed by MSS. Hearings were

also conducted on space policy. However, the

report led by Rapporteur Etelka Barsi-Pataky
on the amended proposal for a “regulation of

the European Parliament and of the Council

on the further implementation of the
European radio-navigation programmes

(Galileo and EGNOS)” was the major space

issue being discussed by the Committee. The

other main topic was the report led by
Rapporteur Fiona Hall on the selection and

authorisation of systems providing MSS.

316

Space affairs were also tackled by the TRAN

Committee, however mainly in response to

the aforementioned GNSS report while in its
draft phases.

The SEDE held a series of activities linked to

space affairs, and particularly space security
issues (Cf. Chapter 6). A series of hearings

and exchange of views occurred during the

316

The GNSS related proposal was voted by the European

Parliament on 23 April 2008 (607-36-8) and the MSS
related proposal on 21 May 2008 (652-16-10). The vote on
GNSS gave the approval for the reprofiled flagship project.

period, and a study on “The Cost of non-

Europe in the field of satellite based systems”

was also released. Furthermore, an “own-
initiative” report was drafted by the

Subcommittee chairperson on “Space and

Security”.

317

Finally, other ad hoc structures of the

European Parliament were also involved in

space affairs. For instance, on 25 June 2008,
at the second meeting of the European

Parliament Platform on Civil Protection, geo-

information was the main issue presented,
and among other things, the importance of

Earth observation services for civil protection

was stressed.

318

7 . 2 O t h e r i n s t i t u t i o n s

Besides the aforementioned institutions,

other bodies and organs, particularly linked

to parliamentary and regional structures, are
active and influential for European space

activities.

7.2.1 Assembly of the Western
European Union (WEU)

The WEU released a report on space issues
through one of its permanent committees,

the Technological and Aerospace Committee.

The report submitted by Edward O’Hara and
Giannicola Sinisi entitled “Space Systems for

Europe’s Security: GMES and Galileo – reply

to the annual report of the Council“, was

released on 4 June 2008. A recommendation
was subsequently adopted during the third

sitting of the 54

Plenary Session on 4 June

2008.

319

7.2.2 European Inter-parliamentary

Space Conference (EISC)

The EISC

320

held its ninth Conference in

2007. In 2007, Italy had the chair of the

EISC for the second time after 2000. The
VAST Committee (Committee for the

Evaluation of Scientific and Technological

Options) of the Chamber of Deputies, which
is responsible for technological and space

issues at parliamentary level took care of the

organisation of this chairmanship. In the

317

This document was adopted on 10 July 2008 by the

European Parliament (483-99-20).

318

The Platform was launched on 13 February 2008 to

promote the European Parliament with an in-house
resource for better inform member of the European
Parliament (MEPs) on currents status on Civil Protection.

319

Recommendation 821

320

The EISC is a permanent forum to foster cooperation

on space policy issues between European national
parliaments.

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Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

second half of the year, a seminar on “Space

exploration: the role of Europe” was held on

24 July 2007, as well as the ninth Plenary
Conference. The topic of the two-day Plenary

Conference held on 8-9 October 2007 was

the relation between the European space

policy and its impact on the life of citizens
and on enterprises, as well as on public

administration. Nineteen parliamentary

delegations with 63 members of parliaments
(MPs) took part in the Conference; for the

ESIC: Belgium, the Czech Republic, France,

Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom
and Russian MPs attended and as observers:

Poland, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway,

Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland,

China and Japan MPs attended. A final
resolution was approved at the end of the

Conference stressing among other things, the

need to strengthen interrelations between the
EU, ESA, national agencies, national

programmes and national parliaments.

Finally, Poland and Romania joined as new
permanent members of the EISC.

In 2008, the Czech Republic held the

chairmanship of the EISC for the first time. It
was the first time that a country from Central

and Eastern Europe played this role.

321

In the

first half of the year, two events were held.
In February 2008, a workshop as part of the

three-day Conference “NavAge 08” took

place. In a concise statement, the EISC
stressed the need to have a strong

participation of the new EU member States in

GMES and Galileo, and highlighted the Czech

initiative for a Galileo User Forum (GUF). A
second workshop, also taking place in

Prague, on space applications was held on 28

June 2008 on small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) with a particular view on the new EU

member States. A meeting of the preparatory

committee for the GUF also took place. The
10

Plenary Meeting will be held on 13

October 2008.

7.2.3 Network of European Regions
Using Space Technologies (NEREUS)

Recognising that European regions are
increasingly being involved in space activities

ranging from infrastructures to applications, a

new actor in the European space context is
emerging with the coordination of activities at

a regional level.

The NEREUS was formally established on 18
December 2007 with an inaugural assembly

in Toulouse (France) with the aim to promote

321

Up to 2007, the following countries held the Presidency

of the EISC Belgium (twice), France (twice), Germany
(once), Italy (twice), Spain (once) and the United Kingdom
(once).

cooperation between European regions.

Twenty-three European regions from nine

member States were represented and signed
the NEREUS Charter, a formal document

developing the scope and aims of the

network. Created at the instigation of the

French Midi-Pyrenees Region, this network is
intended to create a forum for dialogue

exchanges and discussions between the

regions and European space stakeholders.
NEREUS follows the April 2007 Graz

Conference entitled “A Market for GMES in

Europe and its regions – The Graz Dialogue”
organised by the Austrian Presidency of the

EU that acknowledged the role of regions in

space-related activities and particularly Earth

observation. The role of regions in GMES was
mentioned as essential to the definition and

use of GMES services.

322

A total of 35

European regions representing ten EU
member States have since December 2007

expressed their interests in NEREUS.

323

NEREUS and its member regions aim, among

other things, to influence both Europe and

national policy debates and programmes in

the development and exploitation of space
technologies and applications; to bring closer

coordination and cooperation between

member regions in their policy, strategy and
dialogue with European institutions, Europe

and national programme exploitation

activities. The NEREUS Association will
include two groups:

•

The group of Regional Authorities in

charge of the governance and of relations
with the EU institutions, member States,

space agencies and the EISC.

•

The group of associate members will
regroup industries, training institutions,

private and public research laboratories

and other public and private actors.

322

For more information see Peter, Nicolas. “Space Policy,

Issues and Trends in 2006/2007.” ESPI Report 6 Sept.
2007: 94.

323

Regions that have shown their interest are Wien-VBA

(Austria) Région Bruxelles Capitale, Région Wallonne
(Belgium) Alsace, Aquitaine, Bretagne, Midi-Pyrénées,
Nord Pas-de- Calais, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
(France) Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Brandenburg,
Bremen, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany)
Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Lazio,
Lombardia, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Toscana, Veneto
(Italy) Mazovieckie Viovodeship (Poland) Açores, Madeira
(Portugal) Kosice, Presov (Slovakia) Aragon, Catalunya,
Madrid (Spain) East Midlands (United Kingdom).

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7 . 3 I n t e r n a t i o n a l
i n s t i t u t i o n s

The main international institutions involved in

space affairs are the United Nations (UN)

with their main bodies such as the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and other

committees and specialised agencies being

involved in space activities primarily at policy
and application levels.

7.3.1 United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA)

The UNGA was particularly active in tackling

space-related issues in 2007/2008.

At the 62

plenary session of the UNGA,

three resolutions pertaining to space affairs
were passed, as well as one

recommendation.

•

The resolution on the annual Prevention

of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS)

(A/RES/62/20);

•

The resolution on the Transparency and
confidence-building in outer space

activities (A/RES/62/43);

•

The resolution on the International
cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer

space (A/RES/62/217);

•

The recommendation on enhancing the
practise of States and international

intergovernmental organisations in

registering space objects

(A/RES/62/101).

The PAROS draft resolution dealing with

space security issues was adopted on 5
December 2007 (A/RES/62/20) with 178

votes for, the United States voting against

and Israel abstaining. In this resolution, the
UNGA calls all States (in particular space

powers) to contribute actively to the

objective of peaceful uses of outer space and

to the prevention of an arms race in space
and to refrain from actions contrary to that

objective. It also calls on all States to enforce

the relevant existing treaties in the interest of
maintaining international peace and security,

and particularly, international cooperation.

The resolution reiterates as well that the
Conference on Disarmament (CD) has the

primary role in the negotiation of agreements

on PAROS in all its aspects.

The draft resolution entitled “Transparency

and confidence-building in outer space

activities” was also adopted on 5 December
2007 (A/RES/62/43) with an overwhelming

majority of 179 votes for, with again the vote

against it by the United States and the

abstention of Israel, signifying therefore the

strong international support for this

resolution. The resolution recognises the
threat of militarisation of outer space for

international peace and stability. It requests

that member States continue submitting

concrete proposals to tackle this issue, and
that “transparency and confidence-building

measures in outer space activities” be

addressed during the 63

plenary session.

The draft resolution “International

cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer
space” was adopted on 22 December 2007

(A/RES/62/217) without a vote. This

resolution calls all States, in particular those

with major space capabilities, to contribute
actively to the goal of preventing an arms

race in outer space. A separate vote was

recorded on operative paragraph 42 which
concerned the “United Nations Platform for

Space-based Information for Disaster

Management and Emergency Response”
(SPIDER) programme’s funding along with its

platform form the biennium 2007-2009 and

work plan for the period 2008-2009.

324

One

hundred and twenty-nine States voted in
favour, six voted against and 13 abstained.

Finally, recommendations to enhance the
practise of states and international

intergovernmental organisations in

registering space objects were adopted on 17
December 2007 (A/RES/62/101) without a

vote. This resolution recommends that

countries and international intergovernmental

organisations register launched space
objects. This is intended as a monitoring

action, which requires harmonisation in the

recorded data, as well as further measures in
case of the non-declaration of space

activities. Furthermore, precisions are given

in cases of joint launches or changes of space
asset supervision while in orbit. This

recommendation aims to promote

transparency and security through increased

information-sharing and the monitoring of
space activities.

7.3.2 UNGA Committees

In 2007/2008, three UNGA committees were

particularly involved in space affairs:

•

The First Committee for Disarmament

and International Security (DISEC),

concerned with disarmament and related
international security questions;

•

The Fourth Committee on Special Political

324

SPIDER aims to ensure access to and use of such

solutions during all phases of the disaster, including the
risk reduction phase, which will significantly contribute to
an increasing reduction in loss of lives and property.

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and Decolonisation (SPECPOL), dealing

with a variety of political subjects not

dealt with by the First Committee;

•

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of

Outer Space (COPUOS) that aims to

review the scope of international

cooperation in peaceful uses of outer
space to devise programmes in this field

to be undertaken under UN auspices, to

encourage continued research and the
dissemination of information on outer

space matters, and to study legal

problems arising from the exploration of
outer space.

325

Disarmament and International

Security Committee

During the First Committee’s session in

October 2007, there was a complete
consensus on the need to preserve outer

space for peaceful and cooperative uses.

326

The majority of States recognised that the
key threat to preserving outer space is the

likelihood of its weaponisation and a

subsequent arms race. Several States

consequently called for further substantive
debates and negotiations on a comprehensive

legally-binding PAROS treaty in the CD and

for the reestablishment of a PAROS Ad Hoc
Committee. Two draft resolutions regarding

space security issues were presented and

adopted.

The annual draft resolution on PAROS

(A/C.1/62/ L.34) was introduced by Sri

Lanka. This annual resolution was identical to
last year’s proposal and noted that an

international agreement to prevent an arms

race in outer space "remains a priority task"
of the Ad Hoc Committee in the CD. The

resolution placed emphasis on:

•

The need for greater transparency and

for confidence building measures which

could form the heart of any agreement;

•

The urgency of preventing an arms race
in outer space;

•

The inadequacy of the existing legal

regime;

325

The COPUOS has two standing Subcommittees: the

Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal
Subcommittee. The Committee and its two Subcommittees
meet annually to consider questions put before them by
the UNGA, reports submitted to them and issues raised by
the member States.

326

This Committee meets every year in October for a 4-5

week session, after the UNGA General Debate. At each
meeting Disarmament Counsellors and Ambassadors read
statements on general or thematic issues, propose draft
resolutions, and vote on the resolutions. There is generally
an annual PAROS resolution up for vote; and additional
resolutions related to outer space are also often proposed
and voted on.

•

The necessity to examine further

measures with effective and appropriate

verification provisions, including the issue
of weaponisation.

The resolution also called for the CD to

establish an Ad Hoc Committee as soon as
possible to tackle this issue. It was voted in

the First Committee by 170 for, one against

(the United States) and one abstention
(Israel).

Russia introduced a draft resolution entitled
"Transparency and Confidence-Building

Measures (CBMs) in Outer Space Activities”

(A/C.1/62/L.41). This proposal followed the

same resolution as last year. The new
resolution directed the Secretary-General to

submit a similar report to the next session of

the UNGA and further invited States to
continue submitting proposals on

international outer space transparency and

confidence-building measures. The resolution
also continued to assert that measures are

needed to prevent an arms race in outer

space, including weaponisation. It was voted

by 168 States for, one against (the United
States) and one abstention (Israel).

Special Political and Decolonisation
Committee

The Fourth Committee adopted two texts
proposed by France. A text on “International

cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer

space” (A/C.4 /62/L.9) setting the work

programme for UN-SPIDER for the coming
year was put forward. The aforementioned

operative paragraph 42 of the text was

approved by a vote of 148 States in favour,
six votes against and three abstentions. The

draft resolution (document A/C.4 /62/L.9)

was approved without a vote. The text on
“recommendations on enhancing the practise

of States and international intergovernmental

organisations in registering space objects”

(A/C.4/62/L.8), which would give direction to
the reduction of space debris, was also

considered. The latter guidelines were the

result of five years of work in the Legal
Subcommittee of the COPUOS. They were

approved without a vote.

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of

Outer Space

At the 45

session of the Scientific and

Technical (S&T) Subcommittee (11-22

February 2008) the newly established space-

system-based disaster management
programme (UN-SPIDER) was a main focus.

Possible dangers from Near-Earth Objects

(NEOs), space debris mitigation and a safety
framework for nuclear power sources in outer

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Report 15, September 2008

space were also key agenda items. Other

topics of discussion included a review of the

implementation of the recommendations of
the Third United Nations Conference on the

Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

(UNISPACE III), recent developments in

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS),
the use of the geostationary orbit, the

International Heliophysical Year (IHY) and

matters related to space-based remote
sensing, particularly to monitor the

environment and develop applications for

developing countries. Space debris mitigation
measures and solutions were discussed as

well.

The following month, during the 47

session

of the Legal Subcommittee (31 March - 11

April 2008), capacity-building in space law

and exchange of information on national
legislation relevant to the peaceful

exploration and use of outer space were two

new items on the agenda. Other topics
included:

•

The status and application of the five UN

treaties on outer space;

•

The definition and delimitation of outer

space;

•

The draft Protocol on Matters Specific to
Space Assets to the Convention on

International Interests in Mobile

Equipment;

•

Review and possible revision of the

principles relevant to the use of nuclear

power sources in outer space;

•

Matters relating to the character and use
of the geostationary orbit.

Like in previous years, international
organisations reported on their activities

related to space law.

At the 51

plenary session of the COPUOS

(11-20 June 2008) disaster management,

climate change and food security, space and

water, space and society, as well as space
and education were among the main topics of

discussions.

7.3.3 Other UN bodies and organs

monitoring outer space activities

Besides the UNGA and related specialised

committees, there are other UN programmes,

specialised UN agencies and other organs

having activities relevant to space.

The UN Space Applications Programme (SAP)

is primarily in charge of cooperation in space
science and technology. The activities of the

SAP encompass four main categories: the

identification of areas where space
applications could be useful; education and

training; the dissemination of the information

on the status of space technology; and the

promotion of pilot projects supporting
economic and social development. In the

second half of 2007 a series of workshop and

conferences were held in Austria, India,

Russia, Vietnam and Argentina, and in the
first half of 2008 in Saudi Arabia, Burkina

Faso, Bulgaria and Columbia. Conferences

were held on diverse themes, ranging from
space applications for sustainable

development, micro-satellites and

environment monitoring, space law
education, water management, to

cooperation among national agencies on tele-

health for Africa.

The International Committee on Global

Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG)

327

has

been gaining momentum in recent months.
The second meeting of the ICG organised by

the Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) took place in Bangalore (India) on 5-7
September 2007. In particular, a Providers

Forum was established at the occasion of this

meeting with the aim to promote greater

compatibility and interoperability among
current and future providers of GNSS. The

current members of the Providers Forum

include China, the European Community,
India, Japan, Nigeria, Russia and the United

States.

328

The ICG will hold its next meeting

in 2008 in Pasadena (USA).

The United Nations Platform for Space-based

Information for Disaster Management and

Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER)

329

organised a series of workshops in

2007/2008.

•

The First United Nations International

UN-SPIDER Bonn Workshop on “Space-

based Information and Solutions for
Disaster Management and Emergency

Response" took place on 29-31 October

2007.

•

The "fourth UN-wide Meeting on the Use
of Space Technologies for Emergency

Response and Humanitarian Assistance"

was held in Bangkok (Thailand) on 27

327

The ICG was established on a voluntary basis on

December 2005 as an informal body to promote
cooperation, as appropriate, on matters of mutual interest
related to civil satellite-based positioning, navigation,
timing, and value-added services, as well as compatibility
and interoperability among GNSS.

328

The first meeting of the Providers Forum was held in

Bangalore (India) on 4 September 2008. The second
meeting was held on 18 February 2008 in Vienna (Austria).

329

UN-SPIDER was created by the UNGA Resolution

61/110 adopted on 14 December 2006 with the mission to
"ensure that all countries and international and regional
organizations have access to and develop the capacity to
use all types of space-based information to support the full
disaster management cycle".

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November 2007.

•

A "United Nations/China Regional UN-

SPIDER Workshop: Building Upon
Regional Space-based Solutions for

Disaster Management and Emergency

Response" took place in Shenzhen

(China) on 3-5 December 2007.

•

A “United Nations International UN-

SPIDER Expert Meeting: Building Upon

the Network of Regional Support Offices"
was also held in Salzburg (Austria) on 7-

9 February 2008.

Finally, the Bonn Office was inaugurated on

29 October 2007 and the next offices are

foreseen to open in Beijing (China) and in

Switzerland in 2008.

Several specialised agencies of the UN are

also active in space. The two most important
are the United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the

International Telecommunication Union
(ITU).

330

In 2007/08, UNESCO

331

was involved in a

series of space-related events. UNESCO is
very active in using space-related

technologies to pursue its international

Conventions and Charter goals. Earth
observation and other imagery and scientific

satellites are being used, as they allow

UNESCO to monitor, assess and spread data
to tackle climate change, environment and

cultural heritage problems.

In January 2008, a meeting between experts
was organised at the UNESCO headquarters

for the Space for Science programmes

developed by ESA and UNESCO. This
programme promotes scientific cooperation in

South-eastern Europe.

332

In April 2008, a

workshop was jointly organised by CNES and
UNESCO in Toulouse (France) on the theme

of space and archaeology: “Archaeology and

remote sensing”.

333

The “Open Initiative” was

also an area of major progresses in
2007/2008.

334

In November 2007, the

330

Specialized Agencies are autonomous organizations

working within the UN system.

331

The UNESCO aims to contribute to peace and security

by promoting international collaboration through education,
science, and culture in order to further universal respect for
justice, the rule of law, and the human rights and
fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the UN Charter.

332

“L’UNESCO poursuit son projet de coopération

scientifique en Europe du Sud-est.” UNESCO
communication et information- Service des actualités 11
Feb. 2008.

333

“The French Space Agency (CNES) and UNESCO:

Space and Archaeology.” UNESCO News and Events 24
Apr. 2008.

334

The UNESCO-ESA Open Initiative on the use of space

technologies to monitor natural and cultural heritage of
UNESCO sites.

German Aerospace Centre (DLR) formally

joined the “Open Initiative”, bringing the

possibility to use TerraSAR-X data for the
preservation of UNESCO World Heritage

sites.

335

In March 2008 Spot Image joined

the “Open Initiative” as well. This will allow

UNESCO to use Earth observation data to
monitor climate change. UNESCO wishes to

further strengthen its cooperation with Spot

Image.

336

A Chinese proposal to establish a

centre in Beijing (China) for the “Open

Initiative” was approved during UNESCO’s

179

Executive Board Meeting.

337

It will be

located in the Centre for Earth Observation

and Digital Earth (CEODE), in the Chinese

Academy of Sciences.

338

This Centre will

allow developing countries to have access to
satellite data, in order to better understand,

monitor and assess climate change,

environmental impacts of human activities as
well as observe World Heritage sites.

Countries will thus be able to address these

issues more efficiently.

339

The ITU was particularly active 2007/08 in

the adoption of new regulations. In the fall of

2007, at the World Radio-communication
Conference (WRC), the revised and updated

Radio Regulations to meet the growing

demand for radio frequency spectrum for
space services were adopted. In particular,

there was a revision of the Fixed Satellite

Service (FSS) plan for communications,
television and internet to facilitate access to

spectrum and orbit resources for FSS system,

as well as the revision of the international

regulations relating to maritime mobile
services including distress and safety

transmissions.

Regarding natural disasters, ITU has been

active in 2007/2008 in providing

communications support in cases of
emergencies such as in the cases of Uganda

and Zambia’s floods respectively in October

2007 and March 2008 as well as Peru and

China’s earthquakes respectively in
September 2007 and May 2008.

Transportable terminals and satellite

communication systems have been deployed,

335

“The German Aerospace Center Joins the ‘Open

Initiative.” UNESCO News and Events 14 Nov. 2007.

336

“Spot Image Joins the ‘Open Initiative’: From Space to

Place.” UNESCO News and Events 7 Mar. 2008.

337

This process requires the endorsement of the UNESCO

General Conference that will be held in October 2009.

338

“The ESA-UNESCO ‘Open Initiative: from Space to

Place’ makes an Important Step Forward.” UNESCO News
and Events 14 Apr. 2008.

339

“Rapport du Directeur General sur l’Examen de

Faisabilité de l’Etablissement d’un Centre international:
Technologies de l’Espace au Service de Patrimoines
Culturel et Naturel, en tant que Centre de Catégorie 2,
sous l’Egide de l’UNESCO.“ Conseil Exécutif UNESCO
point 7 de l’ordre du jour 28 Mar. 2008.

116

Report 15, September 2008

facilitating rescue, and government and

victims communication and coordination

capabilities.

340

Furthermore, a conference on

“Global Forum on the Effective Use of

Telecommunications/ICT for Disaster

Management: Saving Lives”, was held in

Geneva (Switzerland) on 10-12 December
2007.

341

Two important initiatives resulted

from the conference: the ITU Framework for

Cooperation in Emergencies and the ITU
Network of Volunteers for Emergency

Telecommunications. Agreements with

industries were also concluded in order to
provide ITU with more material capabilities

and funding for these emergency

operations.

342

The United Nations Coordination of Outer

Space Activities

343

met for its 28

session on

16-18 January 2008. The key issues
considered during this Inter-Agency Meeting

on Outer Space Activities were:

•

Coordination of plans and programmes

and exchange of views on current

activities in the practical application of

space technology and related areas;

•

Space-related outcomes of the World

Summit on Sustainable Development

(WSSD);

•

Implementation of the recommendations

of UNISPACE III;

•

Use by the UN of the Charter on
Cooperation to Achieve the Coordinated

Use of Space Facilities in the Event of

Natural or Technological Disasters by the

UN system and methods to increase
operational collaboration in the use of

space technology in emergency response;

•

Lessons learned and good practices in the
use of space technologies for relief efforts

and disaster reduction;

•

Participation of the entities of the UN
system in the process of the Group on

Earth Observation (GEO);

•

Public-private partnerships and

innovative funding approaches in the UN

340

“ITU Deploys Satellite Terminals in Quake-Hit China.”

ITU press release 22 May 2008; “Zambia Flood Victims
Re-Connected to Aid Relief and Reconstruction.” ITU
press release 17 Mar. 2008; “Uganda Flood Victims
Receive Telecommunication Links.” ITU press release 16
Oct. 2007 ; “Vital Communication Links Restored After
Peru Quake.” ITU press release 27 Feb. 2008.

341

“Zambia Flood Victims Re-Connected to Aid Relief and

Reconstruction.” ITU press release 17 Mar. 2008.

342

“ITU Global Forum Adopts Action to Strengthen

Response in Emergencies.” ITU press release 13 Dec.
2007.

343

The United Nations Coordination of Outer Space

Activities is the formal mechanism to coordinate the
activities of all related UN bodies and agencies that
convene on an annual basis to discuss current and future
activities, emergent technologies of interest and other
related matters.

system to promote the use of space

technology and its applications.

Subsequently, a report was issued on the

coordinated space-related activities of the UN

system.

The United Nations Institute for Disarmament

Research (UNIDIR)

344

also deals with space

related issues.

345

It held seminars and

conferences to generate food for thought,

and promoted informal, confidence-building

dialogues. In 2007/2008, two main events
dealing with outer space issues occurred in

the context of the UNIDIR activities. A

conference on “Exploring cooperative

approaches to security” was held on 15
October 2007 in New York (USA). The

objectives of this event were to discuss

issues relating to the future of space security,
peaceful and cooperative uses of outer space

and the prevention of an arms race in outer

space. Another conference was held on 31
March – 1 April 2008, entitled “Security in

space: the next generation”. The objective

was to discuss issues related to the future of

space security and examine confrontational
versus cooperative approaches in space

exploration, consider the new generation of

legal regimes of outer space, and ensure
peaceful uses of space for all.

UNIDIR is also home to the Conference on
Disarmament (CD) which is the single

multilateral disarmament negotiating forum

of the international community, including

space arms control. Substantive discussions
on PAROS were included in the CD’s proposed

programme of work, and discussions on a

treaty to prevent the placement of weapons
in outer space gained popularity in recent CD

sessions. For many years a general

agreement has developed through resolutions
and discussions within the UN that an arms

race in outer space should be prevented.

However, due to the structure of the

international legal regime and to the
objection of a few States (mainly the United

States

346

), a treaty on PAROS has not yet

been negotiated to comprehensively prevent

344

UNIDIR is an autonomous entity within the UN structure

which role is to inform States and the global community on
questions of international security and to assist with
disarmament efforts.

345

UNIDIR, through its research projects, publications,

small meetings and expert networks tries to bridge the gap
between researchers, diplomats, government officials,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other
institutions to explore both current and future security
issues.

346

The United States’ delegations to multilateral

disarmament fora routinely argues that there is no arms
race in space and that there is no prospect of an arms race
in space and that it will continue to protect its access to,
and use of, space.

117

European Space Policy Institute

Report 15, September 2008

Space Policies, Issues and Trends 2007/2008

the deployment of weapons in space or to

prevent an arms race in outer space.

Furthermore, some delegations and experts
have argued that PAROS is not the most

relevant term or treaty to pursue. In this

context, discussions in the CD have recently

evolved by shifting focus on a treaty to
prevent the placement of weapons in outer

space. On 12 February 2008, Russia's Foreign

Minister, Sergey Lavrov, addressed the CD
and presented a joint Russia-China draft

Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of

Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use
of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT).

It is the first draft treaty on this issue

formally introduced to the CD, though it is

based on elements proposed in a working
paper to the CD in June 2002 by Russia,

China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Belarus,

Zimbabwe, and Syria.

7 . 4 N o n - g o v e r n m e n t a l
o r g a n i s a t i o n s ( N G O s )

A new type of actors is increasingly getting
involved in space affairs at a transnational

level: NGOs. In particular, in 2007/2008, the

United Nations Conference of Non

Governmental Organisations (UN-CONGO) in
consultative relationships with the UN and

other stakeholders such as international,

non-profit membership association of NGOs
organised a Forum on Civil Society and Outer

Space in Vienna (Austria) on 8-9 October

2007. The focus of the meeting was on three
domains: the use of space, the rules of the

road, and the relevance and benefits of space

applications and safeguarding space. A

position paper calling for setting up an NGO
Committee on Outer Space was adopted on

the occasion of this event.

One of the most active NGOs is the Space

Generation Advisory Council in Support of the

United Nations Programme on Space
Applications (SGAC), which is an international

non-profit organisation presenting views of

the youth in space issues to the UN, space

agencies and other bodies.

347

In 2007/2008

SGAC finalised the second round of surveys

for a project on youth vision for the next 50

years of space exploration. On behalf of its
members, it addressed the UNIDIR annual

conference on space security, under the

theme of providing security for the Next
Generation. In March 2008, SGAC announced

an international youth technical paper

347

It has a permanent observer status at the UNCOPUOS

and is a member of the International Astronautical
Federation (IAF).

competition to develop unique and innovative

concepts to deflect an asteroid or comet that

could impact the Earth (referred to as
mitigation). The SGAC working group on Near

Earth Objects (NEOs), which has been

actively contributing to the UN COPUOS

Action Team 14 on NEOs conducted a survey
on "NEOs – A Youth Perspective" results of

which were presented during the COPUOS

S&T Subcommittee in February 2008. SGAC
also concluded a study concerning the

Applications of Global Satellite Navigation

Systems, results of which were presented at
the United Nations/Colombia/United States of

America Workshop on the Applications of

Global Navigation Satellite Systems which

took place in Medellin (Colombia) on 23 - 27
June 2008.