ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the space policies and activities of three moderate space powers – the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Brazil and Canada. The term moderate power applies loosely – although these states are minor space actors in contrast to many developed spacefaring states and groups of states (e.g. the USA, Russia, the People’s Republic of China, Europe, Japan and India), they are important regional space actors with notable global roles, whose relatively diminutive status in space activities flows from the significant resource barriers to entry and advancement in this arena. Moderate powers’ space policies and programmes share certain attributes
stemming directly from the relatively limited resources these states have available for these efforts. Beyond these circumstantial similarities, however, the approaches and achievements of these states are quite heterogeneous. The experiences surveyed in this chapter, and those of many other moderate space powers, suggest that there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ moderate power with respect to space ambitions (see Illustrations and Documentation: Table 4.1 Moderate State Civil Satellites; Table 4.2 Moderate State Military Satellites; and Table 4.3 Moderate State Space Programmes). This does not mean that these divergent paths are idiosyncratic or inexplicable
in terms of the forces of power, politics and ideas shaping the international behaviour of states more generally. However, moderate powers, with relatively limited resources, are sensitive to the constraints of circumstance, and so the diversity of the circumstances within which moderate powers find themselves articulates these forces into divergent behaviours and outcomes. In an effort to offer a foundation for understanding broader patterns in the
space interests and activities of moderate powers, the following country reviews focus on the key features of each country’s story that most reflect its subjective choices in adapting to its objective circumstances. Concluding comments identify certain traits common to moderate powers’ space outlooks and activities, and present a set of generalizations contrasting the ‘great power’ and ‘moderate power’ ideal types in the space arena.
