Gonzaga Debate Institute 2011 Mercury China Coop Aff


ISS – Solves Security Concerns & Costs



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ISS – Solves Security Concerns & Costs



Letting China co-operate on the ISS would be secure and easy to implement

Houpt, Master of Arts, Security Studies, Georgetown University, 2011

(Daniel M., “Does China have a comprehensive, coordinated, and consistent space policy? Implications for U.S. policymakers,” ProQuest, accessed 7/1/11, p. 58-59) EK


Finally, the U.S. could be more accommodating to Chinese participation in cooperative international ventures, the most prominent example being the International Space Station (ISS). Given China’s thirst for prestige, the Chinese government would likely be eager to cooperate and may even be willing to increase transparency or engage in military space discussions in return for becoming a member of the ISS. For the U.S., the ISS would serve as a medium to cooperate with China in what is essentially neutral territory and in an international setting whereby mutual suspicions may be tempered. If for nothing else, the idea of a Chinese and American astronaut working in tandem onboard the ISS may give a renewed public desire for space cooperation. Part of the resistance to this move so far has, among other things, been fears of exposing China to new and advanced space technology. Yet, considering the U.S. is reducing its role in the ISS and will be relying solely on Russian spacecraft for transportation, valued U.S. space technology may not necessarily be at risk. There is in fact a relatively straightforward way to engage China in the ISS, while initially reducing the threat of technological espionage. In 2010, reports surfaced that the Russian Federal Space Agency had initiated discussions with their Chinese counterparts on using the Chinese Shenzhou vehicles as backups for the Russian Souyuz spacecraft, which will be the only means to ferry crews to the station moving forward. 173 Although the discussions amounted to nothing, the idea presented is a viable first step. By allowing China to shuttle international astronauts to the ISS in their own spacecraft, the fear of technology espionage would be greatly reduced, while still allowing China to gain prestige by being an official contributor. This could provide a gateway to expanded cooperation if deemed beneficial and successful. The support of other international partners would need to be sought, which may be challenging for countries like Japan given political animosities, yet Russia is already a close space

partner with China and the E.U. has expressed their willingness to invite China in as an ISS contributor. 174 Pursuing this path would likely resonate well with China’s leadership because it is a clear sign that the U.S. is not trying to prevent or complicate China’s rise as a spacefaring nation and is willing to initiate actions to build communication and trust.




ISS – Solves Transparency



China in the ISS is advantageous – multiple ways

Foust, Aerospace Analyst, Journalist and Publisher, 03

(Jeff, The Space Review, “China, Shenzhou, and the ISS,” 8-20, http://www.thespacereview.com/article/53/1, 7-1-11, GJV)


While the US has been cool to the idea of adding China to the ISS project, Hitchens noted that bringing the Chinese into the project could be advantageous in a number of ways. “If you bring China into the ISS,” she said, “the United States will have a little more transparency about their capabilities, their programs, what they want to do.” Adding partners to the ISS project for geopolitical reasons is not without precedent, Hays noted. “At least initially the Russians were brought on board as a counterproliferation measure,” he said. “Russia would live up to the Missile Technology Control Regime and other counterproliferation measures, and have their aerospace engineers employed on a more benign venture, like the space station.” Besides the geopolitical issues, there may be pragmatic reasons for adding the Chinese to the ISS. “They have technical capabilities to bring to the table,” Hitchens said.With the current issue with the shuttle, adding backup vehicles for bringing astronauts up and down from the station might not be a bad idea.”


ISS – Solves Coop



ISS integration solves cooperation

Martel and Yoshihara, The Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3

(William C. Martel is a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College in Rhode Island. Toshi Yoshihara is a doctoral candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and a research fellow at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis in Massachusetts., “Averting a Sino-U.S. Space Race” The Washington Quarterly 26.4 (2003) 19-35, http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/washington_quarterly/v026/26.4martel.html, Accessed July 1, 2011, EJONES)

On the international stage, the United States should encourage Chinese participation in the International Space Station (ISS). Because China's manned space program is primarily based on Russian designs and technologies, it can easily be made compatible and interoperable with the ISS, which relies on many Russian components. This international venture could also tap into China's less costly and increasingly reliable launching services. Moreover, the Challenger space shuttle tragedy (and the May 2003 landing of the Russian Soyuz capsule that had been missing for several hours) has painfully underscored the need to have redundant capabilities for launching humans into space. Thus, involvement of China's manned space program makes sense for the future of the ISS as well. More broadly, giving China a stake in this global endeavor would reinforce the value of cooperation in space for international security while satisfying Beijing's quest for national pride.

The US should involve China in the development of the ISS

Abbey and Lane, former head of the Johnson Space Center and former Assistant to the President on Science and Technology Policy, 9

(George and Neal, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, “United States Space Policy: Challenges and Oppurtunities Gone Astray”, p.34-35, http://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Publications/PDF/spaceUS.pdf, accessed 6/30/11)


Encourage participation in a restructured human space exploration initiative by other federal agencies, the university community, and scientists in other nations —including the U.S.’s ISS partners but expanded to include all interested coun- tries, such as China. China has joined the United States and Russia in having the capability to fly human beings in space, and China is planning for its own space station. As Susan Eisenhower has outlined, the benefits to the United States of cooperation in space with Russia and of working with it and the other international partners on the ISS, could be extended by making China a partner on the ISS, thus encouraging and turning China’s aspirations in space toward cooperation and the peaceful use of space.48As a prelude to such discussions, the United States should initiate discussions with China on the use of a common docking system that would enhance and enable space rescue missions. The successful docking system used for the ISS is an enhancement of the system developed and demonstrated on the Apollo-Soyuz mission of July 1975. We understand that both the United States and China have strategic national security interests in space. But, in our view, the peaceful uses of space should be the ultimate goal of both nations, and the surest way to achieve that objective is to begin serious discussions on cooperative scientific and human space- exploration activities that the two countries, in cooperation with other nations, can plan and carry out in the coming decades. In the short term, NASA’s deep-space human spaceflight efforts can be rapidly redirected from the moon and Mars to focus again on the ISS and on science and the technical issues related to energy and the environment by placing greater emphasis on research on Earth and in low-Earth orbit, including enhanced satellite Earth-observation systems. At the same time, NASA can—and should—plan, with international partners, including the present ISS partners and China, for a truly visionary cooperative space exploration program beyond Earth orbit. Such a program would serve to inspire the next generation of engineers and explorers as we seek new and challenging frontiers in space.



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