Soviet Space Cooperation
Soviet Attitude Toward International Cooperation in Space *
* Prepared by Joseph G. Whelan, Senior Specialist in International Affairs, Senior Specialists Division, CRS.
SPACE COOPERATION: AN IMPERATIVE IN THE PRESENT
ERA
COMMITMENTS IN ACCORD
AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE FOR SPACE ACTIVITIES
COOPERATION WITH FRANCE
FRANCE: SPACE POWER AND SPACE POLICY
Soviet space cooperation has not been confined to bilateral relations with the United States and multilateral relations within Interkosmos: It has extended to France, a space power in its own right, or as Soviet specialists have designated France, "the world's third space power." (12)
This designation is not an exaggeration, for over the years France has invested much energy and resources into space exploration. The results appear to have been impressive. The French space effort, amply supported by the government and guided by a realistic space policy, has been carried on through its national space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). (13) From the founding of CNES in 1962, French space policy has been marked by two characteristics: Independence and cooperation. As Dr. Hubert Curien, President of CNES, explained in an appearance before the House Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications, "It is a policy which strives to insure our independence to the full extent necessary, and to establish ties of effective cooperation with the space powers, especially with the United States." (14)
France has carried on an extensive program of space cooperation not only with the United States but also with the Soviet Union. Bilateral space relations with the Soviets were established during a visit to Moscow by President Charles de Gaulle in 1966. Since then, they have been expanded progressively, and impressively, under the succeeding governments of Georges Pompidou and Valery Giscard d'Estaing.15 Curien acknowledged that, "The scope of Franco Soviet cooperation in the space field astonishes and sometimes even disconcerts our American colleagues." But, he explained, giving a realistic rationale for French policy, "This cooperation which we consider very fruitful, can be accounted for in several ways":
Firstly, the structure of cooperation with the Soviet Union is such that the clearer the definition of the objectives, the better the results. Space science and technology lend themselves well to such definition, and this has led to a certain focusing of scientific cooperation in this field.
The second reason is that it results from a political determination expressed by the French President, Charles de Gaulle, and which has never been queried. A third reason is obviously the great benefit which accrues to us from this cooperation through the scientific and human caliber of our counterparts and the powerful means at their disposal.
And as a result, Curien concluded, "* * * relationships, habits, and friendships have been built up which confer on this cooperation its full value." (16)
ASPECTS OF SOVIET-FRENCH COOPERATION IN SPACE
Organizing for cooperation
The mechanism for managing Soviet-French space cooperation has been the Permanent Mixed Soviet-French Commission, referred to by the Soviets as the "Great" commission. Annual meetings of the commission, attended by about 50 scientists and technicians from each country, provide a forum for assessing ongoing programs and defining new ones. Joint working groups composed of scientists and specialists of both countries have been formed to deal with specific areas of common interest, such space-related activities as, communications, meteorology, biomedicine, physics, and planetary exploration. (17)
Planetary exploration
Soviet and French scientists have cooperated in planetary exploration, sufficiently important in itself to attract the attention of NASA officials. (18) In 1977, a large number of space officials from each country (55 from the Soviet Union) conferred in Marseilles, France on the planned 1983 Soviet-French balloon and orbiter mission to Venus, designated Venera 83. The French balloon system (by 1978, France had launched some 1,500 stratospheric balloons and 300 research rockets and placed some 20 satellites in orbit) that was to be carried to Venus on a Soviet-launched rocket was designed to float at about an altitude of 55-km. (34-miles) above the planet carrying a 150-kg (330-lb.) instrument gondola. A large Soviet orbiter spacecraft was to carry the balloon canister to the vicinity of Venus. This joint Soviet-French mission was the first of its type to be undertaken. (19) For the French it would be the first time that they played a role in planetary exploration. The purpose of the Marseilles meeting was to set up joint working groups to discuss the scientific and hardware questions relating to the 1963 mission.
In addition to this cooperative effort, the French had supplied the Soviets with an instrument in 1977 for use on a Venus mission to be launched in 1978. The French delivered an ultraviolet spectrometer for placement on a craft that they believed would be a Venus orbiter. (20) They were not familiar with any Soviet Venus landers, Aviation Week reported, that potentially could be launched on the 1978 mission.
Soviet-French preparations for Venera 83 caught the attention of NASA officials. In authorization hearings for fiscal years 1979 and
1980, Dr. Hinners expressed the hope that discussions could be arranged for U.S. participation in the mission. (21)
The French had first offered the balloon mission to the United States a decade ago, but the proposal elicited no interest. The Soviets also showed little interest—until 1972, when they sent two spacecraft through the clouds of Venus for the first time. As French scientist Jacques Blamont recalled, the Russians came to him and asked, "Lets talk about the balloons." By that time the United States was committed to the Pioneer mission. Blamont aptly expressed the French view toward cooperation with the Soviets when he remarked:
This has been the only possibility for French scientists to go into the planetary programs. There are some individuals like me who have had instruments on U.S. spacecraft but we'd like to have a larger constituency and the only way for our scientists to go to the planets is through this cooperation with the Soviets. (22)
(In the spring of 1981, the newest Venera plan eliminated the French balloons that were to have been released in the Venus atmosphere. As envisioned under the revised plan the mission will consist of a pair of lander/probe spacecraft that will be launched in late 1984/early 1985.) (23)
Signe 3; other experiments and programs
An experiment that drew high praise from both Soviet and French space scientists was Signe 3, a French Earth satellite launched by a Soviet rocket on June 17, 1977. In preparation for 2 years by space researchers at the Toulouse Space Research Center and the Space Research Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, Signe 3 was a small automatic observatory with telescopes designed to detect and locate the sources of little studied types of cosmic radiation (gamma flashes). (24)
According to the French director of the project Antoine Miosi, the experiment was carried out under a strict division of labor: The Soviets being responsible for the launching; the French having designed the satellite and the scientific equipment carried aboard. So many changes were made in the design at the suggestion of Soviet colleagues improving the experiment that Miosi said it would be more correct to call Signe 3 a Soviet-French satellite. Hence his gratification with the results of cooperation with Soviet specialists. (25)
The Toulouse Space Research Center controlled the flight and would process the data, Miosi noted. Processing the data was estimated to take more than a year, after which it would be transmitted to the Soviet Academy of Sciences for study. The final results would be discussed at a joint meeting of Soviet and French scientists. (26)
A week before the launching of Signe 3, Academician Petrov heralded the experiment as ushering in the second decade of Soviet-French space cooperation. Dozens of "rare experiments, important for science," he said, in the words of Tass, were carried out in the first decade: French-made instruments were carried aboard Lunokhod vehicles, Mars and Venera spacecraft, Oreol and the Prognoz station; 27 Soviet rockets launched the French-made satellites MAC 1 and 2 accompanied by Molniya 1 satellites in experiments that, according to Vereshchetin and Petrunin, "served to prove the effectiveness of the thin-film elements for solarbatteries and the serviceability of a radiation cooling system"; (28) in the Araks experiment, a French rocket placed into orbit a Soviet electron accelerator to study the nature of the Polar lights. Petrov further pointed out that joint meteorological and geophysical research was continually being carried on at Soviet and French test ranges, and that the joint program on space biology (for example, flights of experiments aboard Kosmos 936 and 1129) was being regularly renewed. (29)
Other experiments could be added to this catalog of space cooperation before and during the period under review: The Arcade 3 experiment to study the Earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere to be carried out in 1981; 30 Soviet and French participation in the U.S.-Canadian Search and Rescue Satellite Mission; (SARSAT) in which France will provide equipment valued at $4 million; 31 the use of French materials in experiments aboard Salyut 6; 32 and finally, the Soviet offer, and French acceptance, to fly a French astronaut aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to Salyut 6 in 1982. (33)
FOR THE FRENCH, A PROBLEM OF CHOICE
Satisfaction on both sides
Judging by even this brief review, space cooperation between the Soviet Union and France appears to have been impressive. No doubt both sides gained scientifically, politically, and economically through their cooperative efforts. And on many occasions, in documents of the "Great" commission and in the course of meetings and talks between the scientists and national leaders, they expressed satisfaction with their space relations. The Soviet-French Declaration, adopted in June 1977 during a meeting between Brezhnev and Giscard d'Estaing, reiterated a shared view on achievements of the past and expectations of a fruitful future when it said:
A landmark in Soviet-French cooperation in space, which has successfully and steadily developed throughout the last decade was the putting in orbit of the French Signe 3 satellite with the help of a Soviet carrier and subsequent months will see the participation of French scientists in the Soviet Union's programme to explore Venus. (34)
The French have viewed their space relations with the Soviets in the clear light of realism, balancing independence with cooperation in the hope of achieving France's best national interest. "Cooperation with your country in space research is very important and advantageous to us," said Jean-Claude Husson, director of the Toulouse Center for Space Research.
We are carrying out a very extensive programme of joint experiments to study the Earth, the Sun, the planets and the Universe. Through this kind of cooperation, either country can avail itself of its partner's achievements. Detailed discussions with our Soviet colleagues of long-term programmes of experiments make it possible to plan in advance the most interesting and important research. (35)
What Professor Curien told Soviet journalists about the "great importance" of Soviet-French cooperation was very much in line with his statement to the Congress, cited above: "Out of all the world's nations, except the socialist ones, France is the U.S.S.R.'s major partner in the exploration of outer space. We know how to value such relations." (36)
And finally Werner Estadier, deputy head of the Toulouse Space Center, expressed the same sentiments of satisfaction when he told Yevgeniy Shulyukin, Trud's Paris correspondent, on the occasion of the first press conference of the Soviet-French space crewmen at the Yuriy Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in October 1981:
The Soviet Union is a great space power, which possesses immense technical and scientific possibilities. ... We are very satisfied with the development of this cooperation. If not for it we would have to reduce substantially our programme. Now, French cosmonauts are training for joint flights with Soviet space explorers. (37)
The French connection with the Soviets in space is, therefore, important to them, and important to the Soviets.
Soviets exploit opportunity in NASA budget cut
Just how important this connection has been to the French was evident in 1981 when the Reagan administration proposed to cut back severely or terminate American participation in a variety of international scientific and technological programs. Endangered by this proposed action was the International Solar Polar Mission, a joint venture to fly twin spacecraft—one from the 12-nation consortium European Space Agency (ESA), the other American—over opposite poles of the Sun to make scientific observations. Another result of the administration's cutbacks was the decision not to end a probe to Halley's comet that in late 1985 and early 1986 will return to the vicinity of the Earth. (38)
The European reaction, particulary that of France, West Germany, and Japan in the Far East, was, according to The New York Times, one of "injured indignation, dismay and anger." M. Jean Pierre Fouquet, the space attache at the French Scientific Mission in Washington, expressed the official French view with exceptional candor when he said:
We prefer to cooperate with the United States for political reasons. We worked hard for this. Our only alternative is to say to the Soviet Union, "Are you ready to cooperate with us?"
Fouquet pointed out that 90 percent of French-American cooperation in space would be lost if the solar mission were dropped, leaving, as the Times said, "dozens of French scientists in the lurch." (39) The measure of ESA's commitment was apparent in the fact that it had already spent $100 million on the "solar-polar" mission. (40)
So severe was the reaction in Western Europe that ESA formally protested the proposed cuts to the State Department; France threatened to cease cooperating with the United States in international space missions; and other nations presented aide-memoires to the State Department, urging that the budget cuts affecting such missions be restored. (41)
The U.S. decision not to send a U.S. probe to Halley's comet created the severest reaction. Critics said that the action meant that the most serious study of Halley's comet would be left to the Soviet Union. In response to the proposed cutback in NASA's budget, the Soviets upgraded their Halley's mission, making it more international. Jacques Blamont, chief scientist in ESA and a renowned French space scientist, perhaps best expressed the French view when he said:
We see this as a reverse trend of what used to be the case. The Russians now appear as a promoter of international cooperation, the Americans ... as a demoter of cooperation. (42)
The Soviets, seizing the opportunity by the American decision not to perform a Halley's intercept, agreed to fly one of its own spacecraft as close as 1,000 miles from the head of Halley's comet. It also agreed to have the craft carry an improved camera to be built by France, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. (43)
As a consequence of the U.S. budgetary action, apparently taken unilaterally, abruptly, and without consultation among its Allies, the United States will not be mounting a Halley's mission; the French have chosen to cooperate with the Soviet Union; ESA has begun its own mission; and the Japanese will prepare their first deep space probe with their Halley's project. (44)
Whatever the final outcome of NASA's budget reductions, the point being made here is, (1) that in space cooperation the Soviet Union represents a potential alternative whenever the United States decides to withdraw from the space scene; and (2) that in the case of the French their choice was based upon this reality and upon nearly two decades of agreeable space cooperation with the Soviet Union.
References:
A. SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS: 1976-80, SUPPORTING VEHICLES AND LAUNCH VEHICLES, POLITICAL GOALS AND PURPOSES, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN SPACE, ADMINISTRATION, RE-SOURCE BURDEN, FUTURE OUTLOOK PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF HON. BOB PACKWOOD, Chairman, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, UNITED STATES SENATE, Part 1, Dec. 1982.
12. Vereschchetin, V. and S. Terrunin. Soviet-French Cooperation in Space. International Affairs ( Moscow), vol. 11, Nov. 1978:79.
13. For a discussion of budgetary allocations in the French space effort, see, Ropelewski, Robert R. French Pursue Own Space Programs. Aviation Week & Space Technology, vol. 108, June 12, 1978:21-22.
14. Statement of Curien, House Science and Technology Committee, Hearings, International Space Activities, 1978, pp. 2-3.
15. For a review of Soviet-French space cooperation during 1966-75, see. Senate Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee, Soviet Space Programs, 1966-70, pp. 432-436; and Soviet Space Programs, 1970-75, vol. 2, pp. 121-123.
16. House Science and Technology Committee, Hearings, International Space Activities, 1978, p. 5. Asked to compare the magnitude and significance of U.S. cooperative activities with those of the Soviet Union, Frutkin responded: "Soviet cooperative programs developed much later than ours did, and I think we can say quite safely that they are patterned on ours and motivated by ours. So they are much more recent in origin and much more limited in extent." With respect to Soviet-French cooperation, Frutkin said that it "has been rather extensive, but that is about the limit of Soviet cooperation. There is not the exchange of data. There is not any program that begins to compare with, say, our Helios program with Germany or of course the Spacelab program with ESA." Asked if he saw any indications that such programs may be impending, Frutkin replied: "I personally would not anticipate the Soviets entering into a program which involved such an intimate association with another country as our programs do.' (Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1980, 1979, pt. 3, pp. 1648-1649.)
17. Statement of Curien, House Science and Technology Committee, Hearings, International Space Activities, 1978, p. 5, and Vereshchetin and Petrunin, Soviet-French Cooperation in Space pp. 29-30
18. For a summary statement and brief commentary on the wide range of Soviet-French cooperative programs see. House Science and Technology Committee, World-Wide Space Activities, 1977, pp. 169-170; see also, Vereshchetin and Petrunin, Soviet-French Cooperation in Space, pp.
19. French Agency, NASA Discuss Increased Cooperation in Space. Aviation Week & Space Technology, vol. 107, Nov. 7, 1977:25.
20. Ibid.
21. In discussing Soviet activity in planetary exploration, Dr. Hinners said: "A joint U.S.S.R./French mission is planned for 1983. This is the same opportunity we are studying for a potential Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (VOIR) mission. We believe there are several areas of cooperation that would significantly enhance the scientific return from these missions and are proposing the initiation of discussions between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. of the various options." (Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1979, 1978, vol. 1, p. 385.) For other comment by Hinners, see. House Science and Technology Committee, Hearings, 1979 NASA Authorization, 1977, vol. 1, pt. 1, p. 33. With respect to the difficulty in getting the Soviets to talk about future programs, he said: "We would also like to coordinate with them on that mission possibly to avoid any duplication of objectives and to achieve a complementary Venus exploration program. It has been difficult in the past to get the Soviets to talk about their future programs. We are trying once more to crack that particular nut and do see signs that they are more willing now than in the past to talk about the future, particularly with regard to Venus. We will try to work that in detail in November." Hinners discussed the mission again in. House Science and Technology Committee, Hearings, 1980 NASA Authorization, 1979, vol. 1, pt. 3, pp. 1525-1526.)
22. OToole Thomas France and Soviets Will Aim Wind Balloons at Venus. The Washington Post, Dec. 17, 1978, p. A31.
23. French Participation in Soviet Venus/Halley Mission Modified. Aviation Week & Space Technology, Apr. 27, 1981:52. For an earlier report on the revision of the Venera plan, see, Soviets Revise 1984 Venera Unmanned Mission. Aviation Week & Space Technology, Nov. 10, 1980:18.
24. Vereshchetin and Petrunin, Soviet-French Cooperation in Space, pp. 31-32; and Moscow Tass in English, 1608 GMT, June 17, 1977, in FBIS Daily Report: Soviet Union, vol. 3, June 20, 1977, pp. U1-U2.
25. Ibid., p. U2.
26. Ibid.
27. In March 1978, the last recordings of spectra in the remote ultraviolet sphere were received from the Prognoz 6 automatic high-apogee station, Tass reported, marking "the successful conclusion of the joint Soviet-French space experiment." On board the station, launched from the Soviet Union on Sept. 22, 1977, was a Galaktika instrument developed and manufactured jointly by scientists and specialists at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and the Marseilles Space Astronomy Laboratory. Academician Andrey Severnyy, director of the Crimean observatory, said, "It has been used to obtain valuable scientific material—more than 4,000 spectra have been recorded by the remote ultraviolet sphere, individual stars and star clusters. "We hope that with further study of the spectra by Soviet and French scientists," Severnyy concluded in the words of Tass, "new data of importance for science will be obtained on the physical condition of the goecorona and on the density of the hydrogen atoms and free electrons in the Earth's vicinity." (Moscow Tass International Service in Russian, 1004 GMT, Mar. 4, 1978, in FBIS Daily Report: Soviet Union, vol. 3, Mar. 6, 1978: U8.)
28. Vereshchetin and Petrunin, Soviet-French Cooperation in Space, p. 30.
29. Moscow Tass in English, 1608 GMT, June 17, 1977, in FBIS Daily Report: Soviet Union, vol. 3, June 20, 1977, p. U2. See also, Knorre, E. U.S.S.R.-France: Joint Research in Space. New Times, No. 14, April 1979, pp. 8-9; and Vereshchetin and Petrunin, Soviet-French Cooperation in Space, pp.30-32.
30. Moscow Tass in English, 1301 GMT, Feb. 6, 1980, in FBIS Daily Report: Soviet Union, vol. 3, Feb. 8, 1980, p. Ul. Oreol 1 and Oreol 2 were launched in 1971 and 1973 in accordance with the Arcade program. They carried scientific equipment designed in the Soviet Union and France to explore physical phenomena in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere.
31. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1979, 1978, pt. 2, p. 701.
32. Knorre, U.S.S.R.-France: Joint Research in Space, pp. 8-9; and Chernyshov, Mikhail. Russian Report: The Salyut Again. Space World, June-July 1979:33-35. Samples prepared by French scientists were used in the Kristall experiment using the new electrical melting furnace. Knorre described the Citos experiment, noting that it was designed "to trace the dynamics of growth at cellular level in the conditions of a space flight. Obtained for the first time were time graphs of cell division on two different biological objects in cosmic conditions, data that will be valuable when preparing for prolonged space voyages."
33. Two French Air Force fliers were selected to begin training in the Soviet Union, Lt. Col. .Jean-Loup Chretien and Major Patrick Baudry, one of whom would join a Soviet cosmonaut for the space flight. At a press conference to introduce the two trainees. Prof. Pierre Morel, deputy director of the National Space Research Center of France, said that the forthcoming flight would become, in the words of Tass, "a new and important stage in the development of Soviet-French cooperation in space exploration which has already many accomplishments." (Moscow Tass in English. 2052 GMT, June 11, 1980, in FBIS Daily Report: Soviet Union June 12, 1980, p. Gl.) For a description of the training program being given the French spacemen, see, Lenorovitz, Jeffrey M. French Cosmonauts Begin Intensive Soviet Training. Aviation Week & Space Technology, vol. 113, Sept. 29, 1980, p. 22.
34. Vereshchetin and Petrunin, Soviet-French Cooperation in Space, p 33
35. Ibid., p. 32.
38. Ibid.
37. It was announced at the press conference that the principal crew included night commander Yuriy Malyshev, flight engineer Aleksandr Ivanchenkov, and French cosmonaut researcher Jean Loup Chretien. The backup crew was headed by Leonid Kizim, an experienced cosmonaut. Flight engineer Vladimir Solovyov and French cosmonaut researcher Patrick Baudry were described as "novices." The joint space mission is scheduled for mid-1982. (Moscow Tass in English 1700 GMT, Oct. 20, 1981, in FBIS Daily Report: Soviet Union, vol. 3, Oct. 20 1981 p G6)
38. Remhold, Robert. U.S. Dismays Allies by Slashing Funds for Joint Science Projects The New York Times, May 10, 1981, p. 1, and O'Toole, Thomas. Study of Halley's Comet Periled-Proposed U.S. Space Budget Cuts Vex Allies. The Washington Post, Mar. 20, 1981, p. A8
39. The New York Times, May 10, 1981, pp 1 and 17
40. The Washington Post, Mar. 20, 1981, p. A8.
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Terry, Sara. NASA Must Find $25 Million in the Next Few Months If It Wants to Loft Eveo Scaled-Down Missions in 1985. The Christian Science Monitor, June 24, 1981, p. 1. It is important to note that the United States wanted to put experiments on ESA's Halley's mission, but ESA refused.
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