TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY School of Business and Governance Department of Law Margot Möslinger ENHANCING EFFICIENCY IN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY Master Thesis Supervisor: Professor Dr. Peeter Müürsepp Co-Supervisor: Vlad Vernygora Tallinn, 2017 I hereby confirm that I have written the Master’s thesis independently. All works and major points of views from other authors, data from other sources of literature and elsewhere used for writing this paper have been referenced. Margot Möslinger __________________________ Student code: 156504 TASM E-mail address: [email protected] Supervisor Prof. Dr. Peeter Müürsepp: The thesis is conforms to the requirements for the master theses __________________________________________________ Chairman of the Defense Committee Permitted to defense ___________________________________________________ (Title, name, signature, date) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 1 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ....................................................... 2 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES.............................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 5 1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS .................................................. 9 2. COOPERATION IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ...................................... 13 2.1. Cooperation ...................................................................................................... 13 2.2. International Cooperation ................................................................................. 17 2.3. International Scientific Cooperation ................................................................. 23 2.4. International Cooperation in Space ................................................................... 25 2.5. European Cooperation in Space ........................................................................ 28 3. ESA – THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY ...................................................... 29 3.1. Structure and Membership ................................................................................ 29 3.2. Foundation and Early Cooperation within the Agency ...................................... 30 3.3. Internal Cooperation ......................................................................................... 32 3.3.1. ESA and its Member States ........................................................................... 32 3.3.2. ESA and the European Union........................................................................ 33 3.4. ESA and International Cooperation .................................................................. 38 4. COOPERATION WITHIN ESA – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ..... 40 4.1. ESA’s Competitive Situation ............................................................................ 41 4.2. Benefits of Cooperation within the ESA Framework ........................................ 44 4.3. Challenges of Cooperation within ESA ............................................................ 45 4.4. Financing Strategies ......................................................................................... 48 4.5. The Estonian Space Office as an Example of National Cooperation with ESA .. 53 4.6. Interests of and Relations between the Various Actors ...................................... 55 4.7. Cooperation Agreements between ESA, the EU and their Respective Members 58 4.8. A Cooperation Model ....................................................................................... 59 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................... 66 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 68 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................ 73 Appendix 1. Transcript: Interview with Madis Võõras on April 4, 2017 ...................... 73 Appendix 2. Questionnaire for National Space Agencies ............................................. 78 Appendix 3. Interview Stellar Space Industries ........................................................... 80 Appendix 4. Interview Notes of the Representative of DLR ........................................ 85 Appendix 5. Collected Questionnaire Responses ......................................................... 87 Appendix 6. Data Table for Figure 2 and Figure 3 ....................................................... 90 Appendix 7. Data Table for Figure 4 ........................................................................... 91 Appendix 8. Data Table for Figure 5 ........................................................................... 92 ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate the significance of international cooperation for peaceful collaboration between nations in science as well as politics. International cooperation is essential for exchanging knowledge, technology and gaining a competitive advantage on the global market. I will argue that international scientific cooperation can help foster cross- cultural understanding and improve cross-country relations both among individuals and on a political level. The paper will focus on the European Space Agency (ESA) as a successful example of international cooperation. It will highlight ESA’s cooperation agreements and its benefits for the nations involved and its citizens. The thesis assesses both weaknesses and strengths in the ESA bound cooperation amongst its member states, as well as its cooperation with the European Commission. Finally, it visualizes the current situation and points out potential considerations for future directions and development in the form of a structural model, and analyses the implication for other international organisations. Keywords International Cooperation, ESA, European Commission’s Space Policy, Policy Alignment, Competitiveness, Communication 1 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CEO Chief Executive Officer CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research CFSP Common Foreign and Security Policy CNES Centre National d'Études Spatiales CNSA China National Space Administration CSG Centre Spatial Guyanais / Guiana Space Center DLR Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt / German Aerospace Center ECS European Cooperating State ELDO European Launch Development Organisation ESA European Space Agency ESO Estonian Space Office ESOC European Space Operations Centre ESRO European Space Research Organisation ESTEC European Space Research and Technology Centre EU European Union EUMETSAT European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites EC European Commission ECS European Cooperating State EGNOS European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service GDP Gross Domestic Product GMES Global Monitoring for Environment and Security ISRO Indian Space Research Organisation ITT Invitation To Tender JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration PECS Plan for European Cooperating State PPP Public-Private Partnership ROSCOSMOS Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities SME Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise 2 TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union TTIP Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership UN United Nations UNISPACE United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space UNOOSA United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs US United States 3 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1. Simple Representation of an Agreement Matrix ..................................................... 15 Figure 2. Space Budget per Country (in Million US $).......................................................... 41 Figure 3. Spending in percentage of GDP per country .......................................................... 42 Figure 4. ESA Membership Contributions in Relation to GDP per Country in 2015 (in %) ... 48 Figure 5. Average Contributions to ESA per Citizen per Member State in 2015 (in €) .......... 49 Figure 6. Cooperation as Spinning Wheels ........................................................................... 56 Figure 7. ESA Funding Scheme ............................................................................................ 60 Figure 8. Structural Model of Cooperation in ESA................................................................ 61 Figure 9. Proposed Amendments to the Structural Model of Cooperation in ESA ................. 63 Table 1. ESA Member States and Respective EU Membership ............................................. 57 Table 2. ESA's Cooperation Structure ................................................................................... 62 4 INTRODUCTION Whether it concerns trading goods, solving political matters or generating knowledge, international cooperation has become more and more important in an increasingly advanced and connected society. Most global problems cannot be solved by nations individually but need cooperation and support from other nations in various areas. Be it finding solutions to war, countering terrorism, tackling climate change, or designing a mission to Mars, many complex issues can only be solved through joint collaboration. However, it often proves difficult to find effective ways of cooperation, especially if multiple