The high cost of space research, and of development and execution of space project, has created the necessity of international cooperation. Such collaboration is very common in the field of space research and development in many countries all over the world, mostly of same technological capabilities.
Usually such agreements regard research cooperation, yet sometimes the cooperation is manifested in collaborated planning and building of space systems.
ISA has signed cooperation agreements with the following bodies:
· CNES – France
· NASA – USA
· CSA – Canada
· ISRO – India
· DLR – Germany
· NSAU – Ukraine
· RKA – Russia
· NLR – Holland
Agreements with the following bodies are yet to be signed:
· ACE – Chelae
· AER – Brazil
· KARI – Korea
France
For the past several years, Israel and France have had several ongoing cooperation agreements. The Spot project has started on 1991, and it includes a receiving station in Israel which is receiving the Spot satellites' imaging. Currently, there are negotiations regarding the initiation of a binational science satellite project.
VENUS - Cooperated Science Satellite project
In light of Israel's technological and scientific achievements in the field of satellites, the French space agency, CNES, contacted ISA several years ago, and proposed a joint manufacture of a new micro-satellite.
After negotiations with France, Israel has agreed to the cooperation, and the sides have agreed on building a French-Israeli satellite (VENUS), based on an Israeli satellite structure. This satellite includes a space camera developed in Israel, an Israeli electric space engine, and will use special algorithms developed in Israel.
The building process will be led by Israel, and will be funded by both countries. The satellite will serve as a demonstration satellite for the European GMES project. The satellite launch in due to take place on 2008.
United States
Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment – MEIDEX
The cooperation between ISA and NASA began on the late 80's, when many Israeli scientists participated in many of NASA's projects.
On 1992, a first Israeli experiment was performed in an American space shuttle. The experiment was conducted on behalf of the University of Tel-Aviv, and it was meant to determine the Desert Wasp's ability to build nest in the micro-gravity environment of space. Unfortunately, the experiment failed.
As a part of President Clinton and former PM Shimon Peres declaration of 1995, which stated that the US will aid Israel in issues of water and quality of the environment, and that for that purpose, Israel will train an Israeli astronaut who will perform experiments in these fields.
The chosen experiment was called "The Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment, or MEIDEX. Its purpose was to examine the desert dust phenomena as a crucial factor in the cause for global warming. In addition, a backup experiment was determined and its purpose was to collect data regarding unknown lightning phenomena in heights between 80 and 100 kilometers.
The Late Colonel Ilan Ramon and Lieutenant Colonel YitzhakMaio began training towards the shuttle flight in the HustonSpaceCenter on 1998.
The experiment chosen was intended to aid the research of global change, a subject now at the front of international atmospheric research. The experiment planned by a team of researchers from the geophysics and planetary science department in the Tel-AvivUniversity, was preformed on 2003, on the space shuttle "Colombia", flight STS-107, for a period of 16 days. Sadly, the trip's end was disastrous, and the "Colombia" and its seven crewmembers were destroyed when the shuttle entered the atmosphere.
During the experiment, the shuttle circled earth in an height of 278 Km, every hour and a half, passing over the Mediterranean twice or three times a day in daylight.
The Late Ilan Ramon was elected to perform the experiment. When the shuttle passed over our area, he took several photos of aerosols in various wave-lengths (tiny particles hovering in the atmosphere, and usually come from the desert – dust storms of sorts), by using a custom made camera, designed by the Israeli research team.
Aerosols come mainly from the Sahara and hover towards the Mediterranean and AtlanticOceans, and greatly influence global warming. This is why NASA invests such efforts to measure their concentration via its satellite.
The Israeli experiments also included the collection of aerosol samples from within the photographed clouds, using an Israeli aircraft. The experiment was supposed to enable NASA to calibrate its measurements and to contribute to the improvement of Sun Radiation Atmospheric Penetration modules and to the forecast of global climate changes. In addition, the Israeli astronaut also monitored a new phenomenon in the upper atmosphere, recently discovered during lightning storms, called "Sprites" in the scientific jargon.
The shuttle flight also included an experiment which involved junior high school students from the Ort school in KiryatMotzkin. The intention of this experiment is to prove that certain physical phenomena we are familiar with, act differently in zero-g condition than on earth.
The Colombia Crash Disaster
The shuttle lifted off on January 16th, 2003, for a 16 day mission, and it was supposed to land on March 1st, on 16:16 Israel time (09:16 ECT). Yet after a quarter of an hour before the scheduled landing hour, part of the shuttle's routine transmission started fading, and various technical faults were noted in the measurement systems. At 16:00, a short time after entering the atmosphere, at an altitude of 60 Km and a speed of 20,000 KPH, contacted was lost with Colombia.
When it was clear that the shuttle is not assuming in its planned landing course, NASA declared an emergency status. At the same time, several reports regarding loud explosions were received from Texas, along with reports concerning fireballs and smoke trails seen in the country's skies. Following the reports on pieces of metal scattering all over the country, NASA issued a public request not to approach or touch the debris, in case it contains hazardous materials, and the army closed off the debris fields. During the time of crisis, the astronauts' families, waiting in the Florida space center, were constantly updated.
After four hours, NASA officially declared the shuttle was lost, and all its crewmen killed. It has also declared the establishment of internal and external investigating teams, to investigate the cause for the accidents, though NASA's scientists claimed that there was no lead for such an investigation.
The President of United States, GeorgeBush, contacted the families and promised that the administration will investigate the cause for the accidents. In a special speech to the American nation, Bush said: "The Creator of the World, who has also created the stars, now also knows the names of the seven souls we have lost today." The President promised that the US will resume space missions, but it'll never forget the Colombia team. Bush has also called PM ArielSharon to express his condolences of the American People on Colonel IlanRamon's tragedy.
ISA is in close contact with NASA to examine the possibility of an additional experiment, with the participation of a second Israeli astronaut. This option greatly depends on NASA new activity programs, in light of President's Bush decision to send a man to Mars by year 2030.
The NASA Junction
In recent years, NASA has embarked on a big mission called "Mission to Planet Earth". This mission was initiated as a result of President's Bush's initiative of understanding the physical and biological interaction of social processes which affect the Earth's eco-system.
One of the cornerstones in this mission is the tremendous effort to conduct integration and distribution of the data systems. The system which carries out this crucial mission is EOSDIS, which is the Earth Observation System, Data and Information System.
NASA has already constructed 9 local observation stations outside the US, which connect Canada, Japan, England, Russia, and Europe to EOSDIS. This information is critical for environmental and water research, especially in light of the radical climate changes and global warming.
In July 1996, a NASA delegation visited Israel, and in a workshop with ISA the sides agreed to establish a teleprocessing junction in Israel.
This will enable Israeli users to access to the US data systems on Earth related data, and other databases that would be established in the future. In addition, researchers from other countries could use systems which contain data from the Israeli junction.
The NASA Junction is one of the knowledge centers ISA has in Israel. The Director of the Center is Prof.PinhasAlpret from the Geophysics and Planetary department in the Tel-AvivUniversity on behalf of ISA.
Canada
Between the 28th of February and March 2nd, a Canadian delegation arrived at Israel. The delegation was composed of CSA representatives and Canadian Space Industry representatives. The visit included guided tours to the leading Israeli Space Industry factories, such as Raphael, the IAI Mabat factory, El-Op and Elta.
ISA also held an "Industries Meeting", with collaboration with the Israeli Export Institute. Besides the Canadian delegation, representatives from several Israeli Industries were also present.
An MOU was signed in the meeting, between ISA and CSA. The purpose of the MOU is to establish a framework for cooperation between the two agencies in the field of space research and using it for peaceful purposes.
The possible fields of research and cooperation between the two agencies are:
· Micro and mini satellites and related technologies
· Instruments for earth observation and related applications and development programs
· Hyper-spectral satellites
· Space activities and scientific education programs for youth
India
On 25.12.2003, an agreement was signed in India, on launching a joint satellite telescope. The TAUVEX telescope was developed and manufactured by El-Op, and will be launched on an Indian satellite and aboard an Indian launcher.
During his historic visit to India, PM ArielSharon committed that Israel and India will implement the understanding between the two countries' space agencies, as a part of Israel overall policy of strengthening relations with India.