Chinas Kooperationspraktiken im Weltraum. Raumstation, Beidou-System und Mondforschungsstation im Vergleich

There is a striking divergence in China's civilian international science collaborations in space. When setting up the Chinese space station Tiangong, the National Space Agency used the existing United Nations channels and involved many international partners in the long-term planning and implementation of the program. The same applies to the Beidou satellite navigation system. In contrast, the activities surrounding the planned lunar research station avoided United Nations channels and instead used bilateral diplomacy and non-transparent communication channels. While bilateral cooperation with Russia is close, the Chinese space agency has not yet succeeded in attracting further partners for the lunar research station. The divergent cooperation logics represent an interesting puzzle for research on international space policy. What factors are behind the divergent behavioral patterns in space diplomacy? How can the coexistence of practices of institutionalized multilateral cooperation on the one hand and areas of strategic bilateral cooperation on the other be explained? One explanation is provided by the variation in international regimes, organizations and treaties that are effective in different areas of space. We argue that “institutional density” represents an intervening variable that influences strategic approaches and practices of scientific collaboration in space, which in turn shape the configuration of space programs and infrastructures.