spacetoday.net: NASA, Defense Department plan greater cooperation

Posted: Fri, Oct 11, 2002, 6:57 AM ET (1057 GMT)
NASA

NASA and the Defense Department (DoD) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) this week that will permit greater cooperation between the two agencies on a variety of issues, but with few specific details. The MOA, signed Tuesday, expands on an existing cooperative agreement between the two by adding the US Strategic Command, which recently merged with the US Space Command, and the DoD's National Aerospace Initiative as members of a space partnership council that includes other DoD elements and NASA. Officials with the two agencies said cooperation will focus on developing technologies that could be used for future space transportation projects within both agencies. DoD officials also expressed an interest in closer cooperation with NASA on space-based radar projects, as well as an increased military use of NASA's TDRS communications satellite system.