Student Project: International Offset for Space - Offsets Enable Planetary Probe Technology Exchanges Internationally

Abstract

Offset or industrial participation is a practice that is part of many large international transactions. In the event of a large international transaction involving the purchase of a product (e.g.: equipment or services), the company selling the product, is typically required to compensate the purchasing country for a perceived loss to the economy of the purchasing country. This compensation is called offset. Other terms for offset include industrial participation or industrial cooperation, and there are others. Offset is a legal or formal requirement for many large sales by companies to most foreign governments. Exceptions include the United States and Japan which have other methods of getting the compensation for perceived loss to their economies. Over the past 25 years, the number of countries practicing offset in international sales have increased tenfold to over 150 countries. As estimated by offset associations (i.e.: GOCA, DMA, etc.) offset accounts for 10% to 15% of world trade, which translates to about 1 trillion dollars in world trade per year. Offset has great potential to be used for interplanetary probe applications. Help fund joint interplanetary probe missions between countries. Provide launch services. Stimulate research and development of sensors within universities. Increased international collaboration between seller and buyer countries. Build stronger bonds within the international scientific community. This is a student project. Our objective is to promote the use of international offset to further the development of interplanetary probe missions.