GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE SPACE SECTOR: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TURKEY

Abstract

After Russia launched the first satellite, Sputnik I, into Earth orbit in 1957, Space Race started between the US and Russia. Both governments allocated huge budgets for space missions until the second half of the 1970s. But space research didn’t remain limited to the two countries over the years; some other countries established their space agencies and started engaging in space activities. At first, NASA was at the center of the US civilian space sector; it coordinated the market purchasing from aerospace firms. But later it changed its strategy and began to collaborate with private space companies in certain space missions using Public Private Partnership method in particular. Some other space agencies also adopted this method. This change has helped to increase investments and has encouraged start-ups to get into the market. Today, the global space economy has reached a significant size along with the increasing number of companies and diversified production. So the governments have intervened in the market not only to correct market failures, which provide a rationale for government intervention but also to create the market. In this context, this study discusses the need for government intervention in the market to create a private space sector in the light of the NASA and ESA experiences, and develops economic policy recommendations for Turkey examining the Decree that has established the Turkish Space Agency formally.