Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

52 reMeMBerINg the SpaCe age
interests in the european theater, and made a substantial contribution to
european technological development.
as europe emerged from adolescence to maturity in the space sector
beginning in the 1970s, the relationships with NaSa became more strained.
the unilateral cancellation by Washington of america’s contribution to the
International Solar polar Mission (ISpM) has been recounted too often to bear
repeating. 22 Sufce it to say that it left a bitter taste in europe and damaged U.S.–
european collaboration in space science for many years. Far more signifcant
for the present argument, however, was the (alleged) refusal of NaSa and the
State department to launch the Franco-german telecommunications satellite,
Symphonie. the precise details surrounding the negotiations over the request
for this launch in the early 1970s are still the subject of heated controversy
and will probably never be resolved. 23 NaSa’s interlocutors still believe that
they imposed no unfair or illegitimate restrictions on providing a launcher for
Symphonie. the europeans, and the French in particular, insist that matters
were otherwise and that, as negotiations proceeded, the position in Washington
became increasingly untenable. all are agreed on one thing: that the conditions
imposed on launching Symphonie, or more precisely perhaps, european
willingness to interpret U.S. behavior as a refusal to launch Symphonie, played
into the hands of engineers in CNeS who insisted that america was not to be
trusted and that France (and europe) had to have their own launcher to guarantee
them independent access to space. In other words, politically speaking, ariane
was a child of Washington’s perceived denial of launch technology to europe
for its frst (experimental?) telecommunications satellite.
the Symphonie afair, combined with others like ISpM, and the recent
application of the terms of Itar (International trafc in arms regulations)
to the export of space technology are embittering many people in europe,
and undermining the prospects for constructive U.S.–european space
collaboration. 24 Indeed, in several interviews that I had with european
space scientists, engineers, policymakers, and senior government ofcials in
summer 2007, there were repeated complaints about the new constraints on
international collaboration and technological sharing in the space sector that
have been put in place since 9/11 and of the disastrous efects that Itar is
22. roger M. Bonnet and vittorio Manno, International Cooperation in Space: The Example of the
European Space Agency (Cambridge Ma: harvard University press, 1994).
23. richard Barnes,“Symphonie Launch Negotiations” and the comment by Bignier in Moulin, Les
relations franco-américaines. See also arnold Frutkin interview by John Krige, angelina Long, and
ashok Maharaj, Charlottesville,va, august 19, 2007, (NaSa historical reference Collection,
history division, NaSa headquarters,Washington dC);andré Lebeau interview, paris, France,
by John Krige, June 4, 2007, (NaSa historical reference Collection, history division, NaSa
headquarters,Washington dC.)
24. david Southwood interview, paris, France, by John Krige, July 16, 2007, (NaSa historical
reference Collection, history division, NaSa headquarters,Washington dC.)