With the end of the Cold War, the main question regarding the space race is whether it will become a co-operative venture. This text describing the the European Space Agency shows how such a co-operative enterprise has worked over the past 30 years and how

Export controls definitively impact international cooperation in outer space. Civil and commercial space actors that engage in international endeavors must comply with space technology export controls. In the general discourse, members of the civil and commercial space community have an understanding of their domestic export control regime. However, a careful reading of the literature on space technology export controls reveals that certain questions relevant to international engagements have not been identified or answered. What is the legal-political origin of space technology export controls? How do they relate to the current international legal structure? What steps can be taken to evolve our current unilateral paradigm of space technology within the context of peaceful exploration and use of outer space? In this book, these and other relevant questions on space technology export controls are identified and assessed through an insightful case-study of the U.S. commercial communication export control regime. The findings of this case-study are used in an international legal-political analysis of international space law, public international law, and international cooperation. Breaking new ground in international legal theory, a self-justified security dilemma that is manifest in international law is identified and explained as the origin for the current paradigm of space technology export controls.

The Third United Nations Conference on the Exploitation and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) was held from 19 to 30 July 1999 in Vienna. The UNISPACE III report is an action plan to harness the power of outer space activities for the benefit of all humankind in the twenty-first century. It calls for specific actions , and describes issues and concerns related to eight main themes: protecting the Earth's environment, global communications, the Global Positioning System (GPS), education and training opportunities for youth, spin-offs and commercial benefits, the promotion of international cooperation, information needs and the global approach, and furthering knowledge and building capacity.