The Spineto Declaration
Between 9 and 12 May 2006, sixty-two representatives from eight space agencies in North America, Europe, and Asia and senior
non-governmental experts in space policy and international cooperation met at the Abbazia di Spineto in the Tuscan countryside for open, intense, and productive discussions on
how best to move ahead on the issue of international cooperation for sustainable space exploration.
As Convenors of this workshop, we believe that
the following declaration fairly represents the
collective view that emerged from these
discussions.
Believing in the lasting importance of human
and robotic space exploration, in particular the
exploration of the Earth’s moon and Mars, as a
continuing undertaking that will advance
scientific knowledge and foster technological
innovation;
Acknowledging that space exploration is part of
all space-faring countries activities, and could
ultimately involve many other nations;
Realizing that sustained effort over many
decades will be required to establish human
presence at other locations than Earth;
Convinced that the benefits for humanity of a
sustained space exploration effort will include
economic ones, improvement of the quality of
life on Earth as well as the answering of
fundamental questions about the fate of life in
the Universe;
Recognizing that such a long-term program of
space exploration will have positive implications
for the countries involved and for relations
among them;
Believing that sustained international
cooperation among the countries and space
agencies involved is a key element of successful
space exploration;
Affirming the need to carry out space
exploration in accordance with international law
and principles, and for the benefit of all
humankind;
Recognizing the value of past and current
examples of international cooperation in space;
Stating our intent to continue our efforts to
create an inclusive, and effective community of
organizations and individuals advocating and
working for international cooperation as a key
element of evolving space exploration policies
and plans;
Call for establishing a reference space
exploration architecture which allows all
interested space agencies to fulfill their
aspirations;
Believe that establishing such architecture and
implementing it will require structured
international cooperation mechanisms;
Convinced that such mechanisms should enable
a coordinated approach and foster
interoperability through some level of
standardization while allowing each party to
pursue its own objectives and make independent
decisions about its programmes;
Resolve to facilitate the definition of these
mechanisms through continued dialogue during
the following months;
Declare our intent in one year’s time to convene
again a gathering at the Abbazia di Spineto to
assess the progress being made in developing the
framework and mechanisms for international
cooperation for sustainable space exploration,
Spineto, May 12th 2006
Simona Di Pippo, Director, Observation of the
Universe, Italian Space Agency
Daniel Sacotte, Director, Human Spaceflight,
Microgravity, and Exploration, European Space
Agency
Last update: 22 February 2007 | 
