Shuttles, Space Stations and Politics

Abstract

When President Reagan issued an invitation to friendly nations in January 1984 to join the United States in building an international space station for peaceful scientific work, the European response was immediately enthusiastic. Reagan’s publicly-stated goal of placing the station in orbit within ten years echoed John F. Kennedy’s memorable pledge in the early 1960s to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. While Reagan’s project failed to have the same impact on the general public as Kennedy’s battle cry, on both sides of the Atlantic it certainly galvanised the space industry, which was in need of long-term goals once the shuttle operations had become routine.