Thanks to Reaganomics, the US became the leading nation of an economic,
social and industrial process that has been named globalization. One example of
this the electronics and computer sector, which was emerging in those years as a
mass-market industry. In the beginning, Japanese companies were dominating the
market, but after the research efforts for the star shield – whose budget rose from
$134 to $253 billion in just nine years – many new American startups began to
prosper in the ICT sector, designing and building innovative computers and digital
products that competed with the Japanese. Most of them were based in the Silicon
Valley and still are. In fact, the Internet itself was an evolution of the military communications network, called Arpanet, which had been designed to connect all the
nodes of the star shield.
40
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the US decided to include the new Russian
Federation in the space station project as a sign of peaceful cooperation. The project was renamed the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS was not only an
extraordinary technological achievement, but also a powerful US foreign policy
tool. This was clear to all partners, who decided to work within the US-lead project and to commit themselves to a long-term investment, even knowing that this
would eventually reduce their autonomous activities in space. It was not easy to
reach an agreement among the 18 partner countries, and the negotiations went on
for 14 years.
41
Each country had different reasons and hesitations for participating in the project. For example, in Europe and among ESA member-states, Berlin and Rome
welcomed the partnership with NASA, while Paris was reluctant. In the midst of
the German reunification process, French officials were more concerned maintaining political and industrial relations with Germany than participating in a
US-led program that required a hefty a lot of money. Actually, in France, a large
portion of the public was against the idea. The CNES President André Lebeau
said, “the Space Station is a mistake, it is useless for the essential, it is useful for
the unnecessary”.
42
In 1996, during an ESA Ministerial Conference in Toulouse,
home of the largest CNES establishment, many agency officials held a vibrant
protest demonstration against the ISS, calling it a waste of public money.
43
40
Slayton, Rebecca. 2013. Arguments that Count: Physics, Computing, and Missile Defense,
1949–2012. MIT Press, 193.
41
Agreement on Cooperation in the Detailed Design, Development, Operation, and Utilization
of the Permanently Manned Civil Space Station – IGA – 1988.
42
Lebeau, Andre. 1997. La Station Spatial est une erreur – mieux vaudrait prendre son temps et
retourner sur la lune », La Recherche n° 299, 82–84.
43
http://spacenews.com/33901controversial-former-cnes-chief-lebeau-dies/.
Rocket Man: From The Space Shuttle to the International Space Station 49
social and industrial process that has been named globalization. One example of
this the electronics and computer sector, which was emerging in those years as a
mass-market industry. In the beginning, Japanese companies were dominating the
market, but after the research efforts for the star shield – whose budget rose from
$134 to $253 billion in just nine years – many new American startups began to
prosper in the ICT sector, designing and building innovative computers and digital
products that competed with the Japanese. Most of them were based in the Silicon
Valley and still are. In fact, the Internet itself was an evolution of the military communications network, called Arpanet, which had been designed to connect all the
nodes of the star shield.
40
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the US decided to include the new Russian
Federation in the space station project as a sign of peaceful cooperation. The project was renamed the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS was not only an
extraordinary technological achievement, but also a powerful US foreign policy
tool. This was clear to all partners, who decided to work within the US-lead project and to commit themselves to a long-term investment, even knowing that this
would eventually reduce their autonomous activities in space. It was not easy to
reach an agreement among the 18 partner countries, and the negotiations went on
for 14 years.
41
Each country had different reasons and hesitations for participating in the project. For example, in Europe and among ESA member-states, Berlin and Rome
welcomed the partnership with NASA, while Paris was reluctant. In the midst of
the German reunification process, French officials were more concerned maintaining political and industrial relations with Germany than participating in a
US-led program that required a hefty a lot of money. Actually, in France, a large
portion of the public was against the idea. The CNES President André Lebeau
said, “the Space Station is a mistake, it is useless for the essential, it is useful for
the unnecessary”.
42
In 1996, during an ESA Ministerial Conference in Toulouse,
home of the largest CNES establishment, many agency officials held a vibrant
protest demonstration against the ISS, calling it a waste of public money.
43
40
Slayton, Rebecca. 2013. Arguments that Count: Physics, Computing, and Missile Defense,
1949–2012. MIT Press, 193.
41
Agreement on Cooperation in the Detailed Design, Development, Operation, and Utilization
of the Permanently Manned Civil Space Station – IGA – 1988.
42
Lebeau, Andre. 1997. La Station Spatial est une erreur – mieux vaudrait prendre son temps et
retourner sur la lune », La Recherche n° 299, 82–84.
43
http://spacenews.com/33901controversial-former-cnes-chief-lebeau-dies/.
Rocket Man: From The Space Shuttle to the International Space Station 49