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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
The space industry of the late 20th century is notsimply a subset of the aerospace industry: it is aproducer, an employer and a wealth creator in itsown right. This paper reviews the current state ofthe art in space technology by analysing thedevelopment of an industry which produces both awide variety of spacecraft and the launch vehicleswhich deliver them to orbit. In doing so, itconsiders the application of spacecraft forcommunications, navigation. Earth observation andscience, as well as their application to mannedspace flight.
By considering some of the problems that need to besolved in order to develop the field beyond itscurrent state, the paper then looks forward to thedevelopments in these areas expected in the 21stcentury. The interrelated development ofinternational co-operation — as opposed to politicalcompetition — and the rise of spacecommercialisation is considered throughout.