Toward a paradigm shift in managing future global space exploration endeavors P. Ehrenfreund a, * , N. Peter b a Space Policy Institute, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA b European Space Policy Institute, Schwarzenbergplatz 6, A-1030 Vienna, Austria Available online 22 October 2009 Abstract This paper analyzes the objectives and activities of space exploration programs, and presents action plans and guidelines for a future sustainable global space exploration platform. While new cooperative mechanisms have emerged in recent decades, the now-unfolding era of global space exploration will lead to new models of cooperation, reflecting the legacy of partnerships and the evolution of a global endeavor. Consequently, the successful alignment of national and international stakeholders along lines drawn by commonality of purpose will be crucial to achieve a basis for marshalling sufficient resources for ambitious space projects, and to create necessary new political, economic, and legal frameworks. For the development of a successful global space exploration program, traditional approaches may need to be supplanted by a new paradigm including focus on information exchange, organizational knowledge, and human capital e as practiced in high-performance orga- nizations (HPOs) e that go well beyond the current international working groups and multinational space efforts. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction A growing number of countries are now engaged in space exploration programs that target one or several solar system bodies, including the Moon, Mars, and near-Earth objects (NEOs), particularly through robotic missions. Human space exploration is also on the political agenda of rising space powers around the world. International cooperation in space exploration has made large strides since the ApolloeSoyuz Test Project or the coordination of missions for the observation of Comet Halley. To achieve highly ambitious goals and strategic objectives such as a human base on the Moon or travels to Mars, international cooperation is seen as highly desirable to improve national capabilities, share costs, build common interests, and eliminate duplication of effort. While cooperation is an important complement to each coun- try’s capabilities, it also carries risks. The management of inter- national programs adds layers of complexity to their specification and management and introduces additional elements of depen- dency and risk that can undermine successful performance and increase total costs. Nonetheless, international cooperation generally provides resilience to long-term programs and space missions and allows optimal use of an international workforce and expertise. Space exploration is a long-term endeavor, and major societal and political changes will strongly influence the pace of space activities as well as the fruitfulness of international collaborations [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Metaprinciples for cooperation, such as architectural openness and flexibility, have thus to be followed as they can provide overall guidance for space exploration [7,8]. A future global space exploration program needs to draw from past heritage and present activities such as the Interna- tional Space Station (ISS) program, and should be designed to fulfill future expectations of many stakeholders including the public. Similar to large transnational companies, the interde- pendency of the various stakeholders needs to be stronger. In this context, new and innovative management structures have to be implemented to realize the ambitions of the coming space era. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: pehren@gwu.edu (P. Ehrenfreund). 0265-9646/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.spacepol.2009.09.004 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Space Policy 25 (2009) 244e256 www.elsevier.com/locate/spacepol