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Space: towards the next millennium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

M. Williamson
M. Williamson*
Affiliation:
The Glebe House, Kirkby Thore, Cumbria, UK
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Abstract

The space industry of the late 20th century is not simply a subset of the aerospace industry: it is a producer, an employer and a wealth creator in its own right. This paper reviews the current state of the art in space technology by analysing the development of an industry which produces both a wide variety of spacecraft and the launch vehicles which deliver them to orbit. In doing so, it considers the application of spacecraft for communications, navigation. Earth observation and science, as well as their application to manned space flight.

By considering some of the problems that need to be solved in order to develop the field beyond its current state, the paper then looks forward to the developments in these areas expected in the 21st century. The interrelated development of international co-operation — as opposed to political competition — and the rise of space commercialisation is considered throughout.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 100 , Issue 1000 , December 1996 , pp. 426 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1996 

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