A place in space

The history of Swiss participation in European space programmes 1960-1987

Small, neutral Switzerland was one of the driving forces in setting up the first Europe-wide space agency, the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO). Following that, Switzerland went on to become an active member of the European Space Agency (ESA). This book explains how and why Switzerland came to play such a role.

In doing so, it reveals that in the case of Switzerland, it was neither military nor scientific or industrial motives that primarily determined space policy but rather the country's foreign policy and will to - participate in « non-political » European organisations. It also shows that the Swiss national system of innovation was challenged by « big technologies » such as space technology. Hence this book is an important contribution to both the history of foreign policy and of science and technology policy in Switzerland.