World's Space Agency Leaders Discuss Common Goals at Summit

NASA Awards $50 Million to Commercial Spaceship Builders

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speaks during a press conference, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at the National Press Club in Washington, where the it was announced that NASA has awarded $50 million through funded agreements to further the commercial sector's capability to support transport of crew to and from low Earth orbit. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The heads of 27 space agencies from countries all over theworld ?met today (Nov. 17) at a summit in Washington to discuss the future ofspace exploration.

NASA administrator CharlieBolden was among the speakers at the Heads of Space Agencies Summit, organizedin honor of the 50th anniversary of the International Academy of Astronautics,a group that aims to foster the development of astronautics for peacefulpurposes.

After the event, Bolden noted that the space agencies are concernedby "issues almost all countries are grappling with, such as changingnational priorities and stagnant budgets. NASA has been actively working withmany of the space agencies attending the summit to further our commonunderstanding of exploration and establish global partnerships."

Other notable speakers were Abdul A.P.J. Kalam, the former presidentof India; Leonid ?Kuchma, the former president of Ukraine; and Dumitru-DorinPrunariu, chairman of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space.

"NASA recognizes that exploration beyond low-Earthorbit will involve the coordination, cooperation and support of othercountries," Bolden said. "I can assure you that as we look to thefuture,international cooperation will continue to be a cornerstone of NASA'sexploration activities."

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Clara Moskowitz is a science and space writer who joined the Space.com team in 2008 and served as Assistant Managing Editor from 2011 to 2013. Clara has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She covers everything from astronomy to human spaceflight and once aced a NASTAR suborbital spaceflight training program for space missions. Clara is currently Associate Editor of Scientific American. To see her latest project is, follow Clara on Twitter.