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VI. SPACE AGENCY SENIOR OFFICIALS

Senior management officials from seventeen national space agencies and equivalent organizations participated in thepolicies and planning working group that was established to discuss overall ISY coordination. The discussions were extremely fruitful. The working group focused on concrete actions and laid a foundation for future space agency coordination.

There was a general agreement to promote the ISY and to participate in and support the research activities needed to carry out ISY programs. Although the ISY will focus on the 1992-1994 time frame, the necessity for long-term continuity in ISY planning was recognized. Similarly, although a priority was accorded Mission to Planet Earth as an ISY activity, there was also clear recognition that other ISY programs will be considered, especially those which will promote broad international cooperation. The ISY should involve as many partners as possible, and it should look at the real needs of developing countries.

The ISY should be constructed on a solid scientific basis, but it should also engage the wildest possible range of beneficiaries of space science and technology. Thus, easy and rapid access to data from ISY programs was accepted as an important guideline. We also agree to make the best use of ground facilities, which many countries can afford.

Educational activities should be a major component of the ISY. For example, there should be emphasis on training of engineers from developing countries in the use of remote sensing. At the same time, public awareness of our cooperative efforts needs to be increased, especially in the field of space science and applications. There is grandeur and inspiration in the globally coordinated efforts of scientists that has not been sufficiently communicated. The ISY can also serve to increase understanding of space as a new element of cultural development that will have ramifications on all aspects of life. A meeting in Paris on these topics was proposed.

To achieve our goals there is a need for a flexible and informal operating network. It was therefore agreed to establish a Space Agency Forum on International Space Year (SAFISY) with membership from space agencies or equivalent bodies dealing with civilian space activities and receiving primary funding from public sources. Agencies will be represented in SAFISY by senior officials with broad management responsibilities who will meet periodically with member agencies serving alternately as hosts. SAFISY's primary objectives will be to enhance the activities of ISY and to exchange information on agency programs for ISY in order to encourage complementarity and compatibility.

SAFISY will compete with other existing international bodies. It will seek interaction with the private sector and other non-governmental organizations, such as ICSU, COSPAR, IAF and IAA, as well as the United Nations and other international organizations. Its goal is to complement their actions and to make ISY a successful scientific and popular event.

As an initial step, SAFISY will establish two panels of experts, one on Science and Technology and the other on Education and Applications, to carry out the recommendations resulting from the Earth sciences working groups which met as part of this conference. To assist the working groups, SAFISY has drafted a communication to all space agenci [[agency]] information on the capabilities of all Earth observing missions currently in operation or scheduled during the next decade.

In remarks at the final plenary session, summarized above, Professor Curien urged the space agencies to respond positively to Dr. Fletcher's invitation in his keynote address to join together in planning for a 15-year program of long-term Earth observations, with the ISY serving as a catalyst. This mission "is at least as important as the big spectacular missions" that get most of the public's attention, Professor Curien said. He concluded:

"We are now sure of the success of the ISY and we will work for it Two years to go from an idea to a reality is a very short time, and it is proof that the idea was a very good and timely one."