The pace of space exploration has long been dictated by political motivations. This book helps to explain why this is so in the post-Cold War era. Combining essays, a glossary of terms, tables and statistics, this new title from Routledge comes as a welcome addition to this increasingly popular topic. The book: covers theories and concepts, as well as current issues gives a background to international and national space agencies contains essays that cover military, commercial and governmental actors in space politics.