JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

This is to inform that an informal 'Global Exploration Strategy (GES)' team which was created among 14 space organizations*, releases a document entitled "The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination". This document is to elaborate a shared long-term view of space exploration and to propose an international coordination mechanism.

Since GES Kyoto workshop in last March, the draft document had been consulted in each organization and resulted with no major changes except wording and a supplement of its executive summary. May 31st is the day when each space organization is free to publish the Framework Document at a time and manner that best suits its needs.

*ASI(Italy), BNSC(UK), CNES(France), CNSA(China), CSA(Canada), CSIRO(Australia), DLR(Germany), ESA(Europe), ISRO(India), JAXA(Japan), KARI(Korea), NASA(USA), NSAU(Ukraine), Roscosmos(Russia)

[Supplement] Global Exploration Strategy: Framework for Coordination

This document summarizes the common understanding of the 14 space organizations to study the long-term prospects and mechanism of international collaboration for space exploration.

• Following a space exploration conference held in Washington in April 2006, the 14 organizations created an informal 'Global Exploration Strategy' team. This group has interacted through workshops and teleconferences in order to prepare a long term perspective for space exploration. The team focused mainly on the unmanned and manned exploration of solar system destinations — especially the Moon, Mars and near-Earth asteroids.
• At the Kyoto Workshop for Global Space Exploration Strategy (GES) held in Kyoto, Japan, from March 7 to 9, 2007, intense discussions were held with the aim of reaching an agreement to compile the document. The contents of the document were agreed on at the persons-in-charge level. (The agreed upon contents were previously reported at a press conference after the Kyoto Workshop on March 9, which all delegates from the 14 organizations attended.)
• Following the discussion, the document was reviewed by each organization. As a result, it was finalized, and today, it has been released.

This document expresses the principle and common understandings of the GES international collaboration, and does not have any legally binding.

Please refer to the executive summary attached to this document.

The team is now discussing how to create a mechanism to achieve specific international collaboration and common tools at the ESA/ASI workshop on Sustainable Space Exploration in Spineto, Italy, from May 29th to June 1st 2007.