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Monaco’s government establishes “Bureau of Space Affairs”

Capitalism in space: Monaco’s government announced this week that it has created a Bureau of Space Affairs, aimed at encouraging commercial space operations within the country.

By setting up a ‘one-stop-shop’ for aerospace-related matters, and reporting to the Digital Platforms and Resources Department (under the authority of the Minister of State), the Principality is taking its first steps towards supporting the growth and development of these companies by streamlining administrative procedures, and will also act as the welcome office for any prospective aerospace-related businesses looking to set up in Monaco.

At the international level, the Office of Space Affairs will represent the Princely Government in the relevant international organizations, in co-operation with the Department of External Relations and Cooperation. The Office of Space Affairs will interact with its counterparts in other countries for knowledge sharing, to foster economic cooperation, and to benefit Monegasque companies in aerospace and related fields.

Such government agencies are popping up in third world countries worldwide, with almost all having goals focused on helping and encouraging the booming private commercial marketplace and attracting it to their countries. This is great news.

That these countries are also competing worldwide for this business is also great news. It will discourage them from trying to take control, as government agencies are wont to do and as NASA did in the U.S. in the 1970s. Instead, the competition will force them all to keep their bureaucracies as streamlined as possible, so as to attract as many businesses as possible.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

9 comments

  • Mark

    Besides being a great filming location (various James Bond films, Ocean’s 12, Iron Man, Rush, etc), the only other thing I know about Monaco is the prank I remember from an older sibling when he got together with other similar juvenile minded friends.

    The prank relied on the two meanings of “Prince Albert” – the person and the tobacco that once resided in the tobacco container.
    I’m not sure who the guy on the tobacco can was but my brother thought it referred to Albert, Prince of Monaco who was the son of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly (who our sister thought was so lucky to marry a prince so of course my brother would mock Albert).
    One of them would call a store and ask “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”
    When the answer was yes, the caller would say “Well, let him out!” This was followed by hysterical laughter before the caller hung up.

    So I wonder – Is Monaco pulling a huge Prank on the world to get back at all those kids who jokingly insulted Prince Albert? Or is it to have Monaco be the film location of some imagined Space Action film aimed at the teenage audience, or perhaps a romance film that involves ‘The Bureau of Space Affairs’. These are the questions I have for BtB.
    Let’s Go Monaco!

  • jeff

    Monaco has almost no manufacturing industry, it is a resort town. The country is tiny with no unbuilt land. There is nowhere to launch or land even a SpaceX rocket. Monaco ports are also full and too small to accommodate launch or landing ships. What Monaco can do is be a flag of convenience. Not sure how that would work and suspect Monaco does not either though perhaps Mr Zimmerman or the readers could suggest?

  • David Reid Ross

    At a guess, Monaco wants to fund an orbital casino and resort which will be under Monaco’s sovereignty.

  • Mike Borgelt

    “with almost all having goals focused on helping and encouraging the booming private commercial marketplace”

    Uh-huh. “We’re from the government and we’re here to help you”.

  • Edward

    Jeff asked: “There is nowhere to launch or land even a SpaceX rocket. Monaco ports are also full and too small to accommodate launch or landing ships. What Monaco can do is be a flag of convenience. Not sure how that would work and suspect Monaco does not either though perhaps Mr Zimmerman or the readers could suggest?

    Luxembourg has similar problems with launch sites, but the space industry is becoming so much more than launch services. Luxembourg was an early advocate for attracting space companies to its small country, including various forms of assistance to companies that merely performed part of their business in Luxembourg, they did not need to be based there to receive assistance.

    Monaco could potentially be a place for manufacture or design of space hardware or could provide other services, such as software. Don’t laugh about the “flag of convenience” idea, as the U.S. was a flag of convenience for Rocket Lab and will remain so until its Wallops launch pad becomes operational. Most of Rocket Lab’s operations are in New Zealand, but their rocket engine is made in California.

    It is good that so many countries are vying for space business. As Robert noted, our elected national politicians used NASA to discourage commercial space companies. Hopefully the competition from other countries for space business will prevent a relapse in the U.S.

    From the article:

    The creation of the Office of Space Affairs is part of a wider push to diversify the Monegasque economy

    Recent events have shown that beyond recessions and depressions there are serious hazards to being a strictly tourist-based economy, and if the world continues to react this badly to minor diseases (it is said that one Chinese research project kills 80% of those infected, far worse than a mere 0.2%) then tourism becomes an even more unstable industry.

    There are other benefits to attracting space industries:

    Growth in this sector will attract highly qualified individuals to well-paying jobs, and generate broader economic, educational and reputational benefits for the Principality.

  • Jeff Wright

    As long as it doesn’t wind up being one of those “flags of convenience” debacles that led to Deepwater Horizon…

    Better economic news is that Bitcoin is heading West…and that ranchers like Rusty Kemp are going to be building their own beef plants. Populism is going to get a big bite out of the haunches of agri-business crooks.

  • Ray Van Dune

    Maybe we are over-thinking this. Perhaps “Bureau of Space Affairs” is just a polite euphemism for “Bureau of Space One-Night Stands”? Those zero-G hotels could be a lotta fun! Or, if you are prone to nausea, an acute embarrassment and a huge waste of money!

  • Ian C.

    “Such government agencies are popping up in third world countries worldwide”

    Monaco’s defense is the responsibility of France, i.e. it’s first world, semi-formally speaking.

  • Mark

    Monaco’s tourism industry has greatly suffered due to the Wuhan Flu, so this whole “Bureau of Space Affairs” is one big PR stunt to garner some interest in this relic of a non-nation country.
    I attempted to relay that in my first reply above, but my subpar National Lampoon writing style got in the way obviously. Where’s Wayne with his pithy commentary and spot on Video clip links when you need him?

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