CAN GERMANY AFFORD REUNIFICATION AND A SPACE PROGRAM TOO

As a highly industrialized Western society, West Germany has long had an active space program. Their economic and leadership role within the European Space Agency has been second only to France. In 1989, through the creation of a national space agency and a restructuring of German aerospace industry, West Germany gave strong indications that it intended to expand its voice and interest within European and international space affairs. These intentions may, however, be strongly influenced by the surprising turn of political events that began at the end of 1989 with the demise of the Berlin Wall and will culminate with the total reunification of East and West Germany. The high economic price for reunification that West Germany will have to pay may make implementation of expanded space activity plans impossible, at least in the short term. The attitude a reunified Germany takes toward space, short-term and long-term, will clearly also have ramifications for European space efforts as a whole. © 1990.