Current and Emerging Space
Space exploration and exploitation have become global activities. While the United States and
the Soviet Union were battling for supremacy during the Cold War and striving for “firsts” in the
Space Race, several nascent space powers were blossoming in the background. Not limited
to the U.S. and USSR, the dream of spaceflight sprouted in lands as diverse as France,
Germany, China, Japan, India, Israel and Brazil. The European Space Agency, the Chinese
Space Program, the Japanese Space Program and the Indian Space Program have become
space powerhouses. A study of these various programs is essential to gain a thorough
understanding that space exploration is not only a global enterprise, but also an important
concern for our own national security.
Course Scope:
Objectives
Upon completion of this course the student will be able to accomplish the following:
CO-1: Analyze the formation and the early years of the European Space Agency
CO-2: Examine the successes and failures of ESA satellite programs
CO-3: Analyze the future potential of the ESA
CO-4: Differentiate the aims and goals of the Russian space program
CO-5: Deconstruct the Chinese space strategy
CO-6: Distinguish the similarities and differences between selected emerging space
powers
CO-7: Analyze potential implications of both current and emerging space powers’ space
activities to U.S. national security
CO-8: Attribute the future goals and plans of a selected space agency
