ESA and NASA: an historical institutionalist reading of European space policy in an age of autonomy and isolationism

We have entered a new political age, one characterised by nationalism, populism and the resultant Trump Presidency in the USA and the Brexit vote in the UK. Space policy is not immune to changes in the international political system, Europe has relied, and continues to rely, on US technology for aspects of security in space and also partially relies on the USA in terms of launch facilities. Nonetheless, coming under the aegis of the defense budget for most states, space has not attracted the level of international cooperation seen in other areas of interest.

It must be noted that although the USA’s Space Agency NASA, and the European Space Agency (ESA) are equally committed to the exploration of outerspace, scientific endeavours on the international space station and the future of human space activity, the two agencies were conceived in very different circumstances and have thus developed at odds in terms of their policy outputs, aims and institutional basis. This chapter notes that by using specific forms of neo-institutionalism, we can shed light on the development of the two space agencies: historical institutionalism, or path dependency, informs us that the founding principles of an institution continues to inform its decisions far down the line. Thus, the foundation of NASA in the hard-power, defense aware circumstances of the Cold War continues to impact on its policy outputs: while the soft power, multi-lateral cooperation of the European space endeavours as spearheaded by ESA continue to influence its outcomes.