Spacelab principles for extended use in space.

Some features of West German planning for the future use of Spacelab are examined. The planning is based on the assumption that investment is justified only if the space sector can be integrated into the overall national industrial and economic framework. Preliminary studies aimed at identifying the technical and economic demands were initiated in 1970. Three hundred organizations were contacted to obtain ideas on the use of Spacelab, and the individual suggestions were studied by advisory and planning groups. More than two thirds of the 370 proposals made by universities, scientific research laboratories, and industry were concerned with technical applications, in particular, with material research and process engineering. The current priorities are selected projects in extraterrestrial research and biomedicine and selected activities in meteorology and earth resources exploration.