Beijing—Washington Open Space Cooperation Dialogue

The US and China held the first meeting of the Civil Space Dialogue in Beijing on September 28, 2015, and promised to meet again in Washington D.C. in 2016.

That is certainly a good start. The precursor to this meeting was the U.S. China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held June 22-24, 2015 in Washington, where matters related to space were discussed.

In the September 28 meeting, satellite collision, space debris, space science and space weather were discussed as well as global satellite navigations systems. Both sides have expressed optimism for future cooperation.

Moreover, a Chinese experiment dealing with DNA research from the Beijing Institute of Technology will be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) by US company NanoRacks aboard a Space X cargo rocket.

The Wolf Amendment of 2011 is still in place. This law prohibits the NASA from cooperating with the People’s Republic on space matters. So how is the dialogue taking place? The June meeting was done by the State Department, which is not covered by the law, and the DNA research module launch is a commercial deal.

It is clear that cooperation in space is good for all nations, and that the US ban on working with China is outdated and counterproductive. Such cooperation can go a long way toward improving US-China relations, and further human ventures off planet. Do you have any thoughts on this topic? If so, please let us know.

Press Release: U.S. State Department

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/09/247394.htm

Press Release: State Council PRC

http://english.gov.cn/news/international_exchanges/2015/09/29/content_281475200710932.htm

Space.com: Chinese experiment to ISS

http://www.space.com/30337-chinese-experiment-international-space-station.html