Cultivating Cooperation

摘要

At the end of September, Zvi Kaplan concludes a seven-year stint as head of the Israel Space Agency (ISA), with an Israeli-French satellite in final development; a new hyperspectral project with Italy about to get under way; and freshly inked framework agreements with the European, U.S. and Russian space agencies. Not bad for a five-person agency budgeted at less than $1 million per year.In Israel, support for non-defense space activities must be painstakingly gleaned from multiple funding sources; Kaplan is first to admit that the role of ISA chief is a combination of lobbyist, marketeer, soothsayer and arbiter among Israel's often rivalrous government, industry and academic sectors.