Introduction

The presence of higher-order goals within an organization has been shown to meaningfully impact organizational success. Higher-order goals help integrate issues of complexity within and across organizations. A powerful example of this in the setting of outer space can be seen when examining the history of crewed space stations over the last half century. The Salyut stations were then followed by space station Mir, launched by the Soviet Union in 1986 and operated by the Soviet and later by the Russian space programs. Mir was the first modular space station, was larger and more massive than any of its predecessors, and offered significant opportunity for international cooperation. Higher-order goals also help align a common vision, especially when multiple stakeholders are at play. The impact of higher-order goals on aligning national space programs may be most apparent when considering the concept of a shared common value.