space settlement locations and platforms, as well as international cooperation in such technological venturing, the Agency efforts have been centered primarily upon the operation of its Shuttle Transportation System and launching of the international space station, now in conjunction with the Russian Space Agency, as well as with the European, Canadian, and Japanese space agencies. Citizens waiting for the first of these bi-annual reports (once due in 1992) are assured by Carl Pilcher who wrote the document that it is now available in 1994 (requests for a copy should be directed to him at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, USA). S2209 mandates the National Space and Aeronautics Administration to: • analyze the economics of financing space settlements, especially with respect to private sector and international participation; • discuss sociological factors involved in space settlement, such as psychology, political science, and legal issues. Mark Hopkins observed in Ad Astra (January/February 1994) that Pilcher is also charged with determining how a Lunar/Mars program can be justified and how a support coalition can be built to support it. Since it is unlikely that we can get spacebased energy without some form of human outposts aloft, we will suggest a strategy for doing just that. But first some more background information. In 1993 two prestigious reports appeared on the theme of international cooperation in space [1]. One, proceedings from a Hawaiian workshop sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (ALAA) concluded: There is no coordinated, multinational mechanism in place to ensure the optimum utilization of the world's space infrastructure resources as a means of addressing current and future global challenges.... It is unlikely that, in the near future, any government or group of governments will undertake large, costly long-term space exploration projects, involving a human return to the Moon, or a human expedition to Mars. The second report by the Center for Research and Education on Strategy and Technology gave also gave a less than optimistic forecast regarding synergy in space endeavors: Perhaps the primary lesson to be drawn from the experience to date is that it is possible to successfully organize and carry out complex ventures on a multilateral basis....It is also evident that most space programs still are dominated by national objectives, even if they are carried out on a cooperative basis through multi-lateral mechanisms....Only if a cooperative venture has a source of financing other than government budgets, as do entities such as INTELSAT and Arianespace, will they have significant autonomy. The world is not yet ready to take on an international life of their own separate from national motivations that gave them birth.
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