COSPAR panel on exploration (PEX) toward a global space exploration program: A stepping stone approach

The COSPAR Panel on Exploration (PEX) has published a report in June 2010 proposing a science-driven stepping stone approach toward a sustainable, global space exploration program. Input for the COSPAR PEX report 2010 was drawn from expertise provided by COSPAR's various Associates within the international community and via the contacts they maintain in various scientific entities. The report provides a summary of science roadmaps and recommendations for planetary exploration produced by many national and international working groups such as the IAA Cosmic study (Next Steps in Exploring Deep Space), NRC, ILEWG, LEAG and MEPAG to create and exploit synergies between similar programs. While science and technology represent the core and, often, the drivers for space exploration activities, several other disciplines and their stakeholders should be more robustly interlinked and involved than they have been to date. A shared vision is thus crucial to provide direction that enables new countries and stakeholders to join and engage in an overall effort. The PEX report 2010 also offers a program to engage newly emerging space-faring nations in a meaningful way. It addresses an outlook on how to protect the lunar and martian environments for scientific research and discusses corresponding legal frameworks. PEX activities will contribute to fostering a global space exploration program that stimulates scientists in current and emerging spacefaring nations as well as developing countries to participate in research aimed at answering outstanding questions about the origins and evolution of our solar system and life on Earth and possibly elsewhere.