costs which are additional to NASA's basic Space Transportation System mission costs must be borne by the private sector user and must be paid in advance of NASA's provision of ser- vices or technical assistance.

These costs will include payments to NASA for unique mission engineer- ing, planning and safety reviews, spe- cial studies and modifications to the

external tank before launch. This also includes full structural testing and

, requalification, if necessary, and on- orbit handling and servicing. A $100 000 deposit will be required be- fore initiating NASA technical and support services.

Source: NASA News, Washington, DC 20546, USA.

EC to cooperate with Eurospace The EC Commission has undertaken to determine the role it should play in space and has appointed Mr H. Ailgeier (Director at DG XII) to coordinate ideas, and the various EC Divisions, on the subject. He was to make a Communication to the Com- mission on his activity and findings in July 1988.

The EC's role in space is envisaged only as complementary to - not in competition with - thai" of ESA.

A list of subjects which might use- fully be considered by the EC was proposed by the European space group Eurospace at an informal meet- ing with DG XII, on 14 January 1988, following consultations with ESA:

• utilisation of European space sys- tems;

• study and/or development of space systems not currently consi- dered by ESA;

• technological choices and indust- rial development strategies;

• protection of the European space market;

• aids to European industry's com- petitiveness;

• production in countries with a negative ESA contract return of space elements currently im- ported from the USA or Japan;

• software proprietary rights; • use of ECUs by the European

space community; • transnational grouping of indust-

rial space companies to take account of the 1992 single Euro- pean Act.

As a first step towards cooperation, the EC may take part in the next ESA industry workshop.

Source: Eurospace, 16bis Avenue Bosquet, 75007 Paris, France.

USA behind in MPS

The USA is lagging behind in the field of materials processing in space, according to a position paper pub- lished by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in January 1988.

In Space Processing: A National Crisis, the A I A A expresses concern that current US plans and policies for

materials processing in space and the commercialization of related space activities are not adequate.

The fundamental problem is lack of access to space by both commercial and scientific investigators. Access in the foreseeable future is limited by the reduced number of Shuttle flights, by Depa r tmen t of Defense ( D O D )

Monitor

priorities, and by lack of adequate space processing hardware. The A I A A is concer~ed that, even when the Space Station becomes operation- al, 10 years from now, it will not he useful for laboratory studies because there are insufficient plans to develop the flight laboratory hardware and technology base needed for meaning- ful experimentation and process de- velopment in space. Because of the extensive delays foreseen in getting into space, both scientific researchers and commercial enterprises are begin- ning to turn away from space proces- sing.

In the meantime, activities in space processing are proliferating else- where. The USSR has established a commanding lead in space processing activities and experience. The Euro- peans, Chinese and Japanese are going forward with aggressive prog- rammes, utilizing ground-based equip- ment and sounding rockets. The budgets of the European Space Agen- cy (ESA) and Japan for materials processing in space and related tech- nologies are each three to four times greater than NASA's. The USA must take strong measures to establish a competitive space processing prog- ramme. The alternative would be effectively to abandon its previous leadership position in space processing and grow increasingly dependent on foreign technology.

The A I A A believes there is suffi- cient evidence to justify a much stron- ger US space processing programme. The nation should proceed with the development of space processing tech- nology at a pace that will at least keep the USA competitive internationally. NASA should take strong measures to increase the budget for space experi- mentation, flight hardware, and tech- nology development. However, fund- ing alone will not solve the principal dilemma - the lack of flight opportuni- ties. The A I A A believes this to be the highest-priority need of the space pro- cessing community.

Specifically, the paper recommends taking the following steps:

• NASA and DOD should openly and formally develop a coordin- ated plan to accommodate civil

SPACE POLICY August 1988 259