From the start, space exploration was a field of rivalry between the superpowers as they built alliances to involve and reward their friends, consolidate their influence and frustrate their enemies. Space diplomacy became a diplomatic instrument, ever more sophisticated as new countries and regions developed their own rockets, satellites and industries. This book examines the role, contours, shifting nature and purposes of space alliances from the early days to now; the formation of new alliances and the dissolution of old ones; the scientific and other benefits arising; and, alongside the competition, understated strands of cooperation. It tells the story of 'cross alliances' - some improbable - where quite opposite countries cooperated across political divides and ideology. It illustrates how on the sidelines, allies and opponents fought over satellite broadcasting rights and the location of ground stations. It shows how they used 'soft power' to impress the uncommitted, like astronaut tours, Moon rock displays and exhibitions. The book describes the alliances built up by the United States, the first country to do so, especially with Europe; the USSR (Interkosmos); China, especially with the global south; India, Japan and other, less well-known space powers. It examines the projects that brought them together, like the International Space Station.

It records how in the new race to the Moon in the tense 2020s, the world divided sharply between the United States and its friends on one side, with China, Russia and theirs on the other. Several countries formed 'space forces'. This book identifies the political and scientific personalities that made cooperation and alliances work, the institutions that they established, the ideas that drove them, the skills and techniques that they used. There were people who stopped cooperation too, 'what if?' moments, alliances that never happened and others that ended in tears.