Promoting north-south partnership in Space research and applications

Space has the potential to help the economical development of regions or countries through its capacity to serve at a time very wide areas without expensive and long to install ground equipments. Space is also offering a possible shortcut to scientists wishing to develop first plan scientific expertise and certainly Space is also a very useful tool for countries desiring to modify their image in the world and in their citizens spirit, and willing to participate in global enterprises. Several countries in the world possess today a strong expertise in Space technology and have agreements with other countries to help them in accessing to or improving their know-how in Space techniques; most space countries are open to cooperation of various types at the level of governments or individuals. We describe a number of possible cooperation tools or programs and some of the benefits countries will find in developing their Space activities in cooperation or in sharing their knowledge with less advanced ones. (C) 2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.