ISRAEL-FLORIDA SPACE COOPERATION AGREEMENT: A HYBRID MODEL OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

摘要

In 2014, Florida and Israel launched the Innovation Partnership Program under an agreement for international cooperation. This agreement and the hybrid cooperation model it uses is the subject of this paper. International cooperation is a mantra in the space community, a basic norm and a practical necessity. However, there are numerous constraints en route to international cooperation in space activities. At the same time, carefully crafted cooperation models assist in overcoming barriers to international cooperation and, therefore, analysis of the various possible models enables actors to employ feasible and efficient models of cooperation. Recognizing the importance of such an investigation, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) has established a working group tasked with the review of international mechanisms for cooperation in space activities. A common cooperation model is cooperation between national space agencies for the execution of a common project, at times under the auspices of an intergovernmental organization such as the European Space Agency (ESA). Another common model is cooperation between commercial entities. This paper presents a hybrid model for international cooperation, one in which governments cooperate to support commercial, business-to-business cooperation. The model is presented using the case of the agreement between Florida and Israel, which has already successfully concluded four rounds of funding and the launch of 15 joint commercial projects. In the case study, Florida and Israel both support joint projects of Florida and Israeli corporations, resulting in a steadily growing number of corporations from each jurisdiction seeking to cooperate with corporations from the other. This paper presents the rationale, goals, means, and modes of this cooperation model, as well as the results of its implementation so far. The paper concludes that the success of the model calls for its adoption alongside the regular models of cooperation.