for signature by other countries; as well as the United States successful Space Shuttle launch, added much vigor to these discussions and publications. The coming Unispace 1982 Conference has also aroused the professional and public interest. Currently, there is a brief pause, while the new Reagan Administration in the U.S. formulates new United States outer space policy after a thorough review. The Eco- space of the U.S. of tomorrow will emanate not only from President Reagan and the Executive Branch of the United States Government, but also from the United States Congress, reflected ultimately in the U.S. outer space budgets. President Reagan's outer space policy just prior to his election was ... we will seek increased funding to guarantee American superiority in this critical area and to enable us to deal with possible breakthroughs in antimissile defense, antisatellite killers, directed energy systems and the military and civil exploitation of space . . . Underfunding of beneficial government-sponsored research efforts in basic and applied scientific research has disrupted the benefits of years of effective effort. In particular, America's pre-eminence in the exploration of space is threatened by the failure of the Carter Administration to fund fully the Space Shuttle program (with its acknowledged benefits for both the civil and military applications) as well as advanced exploration programs. Republicans pledge to support a vigorous space research program. President Reagan also stated in his State of the Union Message on Economic Recovery delivered to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 18, 1981, that “the space program has been and is important to America and we plan to continue it.” The United States is rapidly becoming aware of a basic Ecospace truth common to all governments, with widely differing underlying legal and economic systems; namely, that outer space requires long-range consistent policy planning to be successful — with minimum five-year programs and preferably longer. Otherwise, there is a tremendous waste of funds and manpower within a government, and a serious delay in progress for all mankind in outer space benefits. The second Ecospace truth common to all governments and widely accepted is, namely, that outer space is inherently international by nature. The third Ecospace truth common to all governments and widely accepted is that outer space holds an important solution to the global resources shortages conflict. Platinum, cobalt, chrome, manganese, and phosphates for food as well as hydrocarbons for energy are all much in demand. Moon resources, asteroidal resources, and sun energy resources are all there in abundance for the benefit of all mankind. Moreover, more than forty nations have taken by consensus, mainly through the UN-COPUOS Committee, existing treaties, and particularly the 1979 Moon Treaty, a first bold step concerning global shortages by considering laws for use of resources available from outer space. The fourth Ecospace truth common to all governments is that outer space is a key factor for world peace, for world information, world trade, and for every nation's national development and national security. The fifth Ecospace truth common to all governments is that the greater the number of nations participating in an outer space policy or project, the greater the assurance of nonthreat to any nation's national security; the greater its popular support, the greater its contribution to world peace. The sixth Ecospace truth common to all governments is that outer space is big and vast — big in expense, big in rewards, big in its demands on all mankind, and big as infinite from a scientific viewpoint. It is not only a high frontier, it's a big new vast
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