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SENIOR members of the Soviet Union’s space community are discussing
whether to establish a Soviet counterpart of NASA to coordinate the country’s
space projects. At the moment, several ministries and organisations share
responsibilities for organising space activities.

Westerners often find Soviet space policy confusing. The European Space
Agency and NASA sometimes wonder whether the Soviet officials who advocate
joint projects actually have the authority to approve them.

The news of a possible ‘Soviet NASA’, which would take several years
to realise, emerged in talks between Uri Ryzhov, chairman of the Supreme
Soviet’s science committee, and Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner. Sensenbrenner,
the senior Republican on the House subcommittee for space science and applications,
returned last week from a tour of Soviet space organisations. During his
trip, he explored opportunities for increased cooperation in space between
the US and the Soviet Union.

Sensenbrenner told New Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ: ‘Such an agency would be good for
cooperation. It is hard to know if you are dealing with the right agency.’

Congressional aides in Sensenbrenner’s delegation say that it is unclear
whether the NASA-like agency would encompass civil and military projects,
or focus on civil projects alone. ‘The Soviets don’t know which shoe will
drop next. They don’t know what the structure of the government will be
or what ministries will be dropped. So they can’t know yet what emphasis
a coordinating agency would have,’ said one aide.

Already the government has halved funding for manned exploration of
Mars, though without disclosing the original figure. Another project under
threat, according to the US team, is the Soviet space plane, Buran, which
resembles the shuttle. The team were the first Westerners to visit the centre
where the Soviets designed Buran, and were impressed by the Soviet work
on the space plane. Nevertheless, critics within the Soviet Union query
the space plane’s usefulness.

Throughout the visit, the hosts were keen for greater cooperation with
the US. Sensenbrenner’s aides say that in particular, the Soviets want to
sell anything they can to US industry. At the Buran Design Centre, officials
suggested joint development of cargo planes which would transport large
elements of launchers on their backs.

Principally, though, the Soviets want to sell their launch services.
That ambition could take some time to realise in the case of American satellites.
Last week, the White House released its policy for satellite launches. Military
satellites and satellites built by NASA must be launched on US rockets,
it said. Commercial satellites can be launched on foreign rockets, but only
within certain limits, particularly for Soviet rockets.

Launches can be from only one site, which must be outside the Soviet
Union, says the White House. This is most likely to be the proposed Cape
York site in northern Australia. In the meantime, the US government is insisting
that fair pricing policies are established. The US government fears that
cheap Soviet launches will undercut its own launcher services. The US will
begin negotiations on trading practices with Europe within weeks, and afterwards
talk to Japan, China and the Soviet Union.

US officials also fear that sensitive technology will reach the Soviet
Union. Alexander Dunayev, head of Glavkosmos, which sells Soviet space services
to the West, told Sensenbrenner that the White House policy of allowing
launches from only one foreign site interferes with internal Soviet affairs.
He said that safeguards exist to prevent technology transfer from the West
to the Soviet Union, and that the White House is wrong to assume that Soviet
launches are unfairly priced simply because the Soviet Union is not a market
economy.

Sensenbrenner found the Soviets’ approach to selling their wares ‘very
discouraging’. ‘It is the typical response from a no-market economy, from
people trying to peddle a surplus. Not so much the launch services, but
certainly with the heavy cargo planes,’ says Sensenbrenner.

Although the Soviet space programme faces great difficulties, with slashed
budgets and government reorganisation, officials are already planning a
replacement for the Mir space station, which is designed to last until 1993.
Sensenbrenner’s team says that the Soviets are assessing three options:
replacing old parts of the station; building a new space station, conceptually
the same as Mir, but containing new component designs; or designing and
building a space station similar to the one planned by the US and its international
partners.

Whichever direction the Soviet space programme takes, Sensenbrenner
sees the big missions, such as one to Mars, as the most likely cooperation.
‘If we can find a way to share the responsibility. Dealing with the Soviets
is exasperating, and makes you feel like you are talking to the wall. It
was like that with arms control. For two and a half years we were talking
to the wall, then in six months we had an INF agreement. It will be the
same with space,’ he says.