Future of space astronomy

Astronomers today have access to an impressive set of space missions and ground-based observatories that gives them nearly continuous coverage of the electromagnetic spectrum from the γ-ray to the radio regions. But there is serious concern about the situation in the next 10 - 15 years, when current space astronomy missions will have ended and new missions will be much less numerous. Astronomy is a diffcult observational science requiring continuous and simultaneous access to the full electromagnetic spectrum to explore our complex Universe and to pursue answers to fundamental scientific questions. The size, complexity and costs of large space observatories must place a growing emphasis on international collaboration. In this thesis, the astronomy and astrophysical aims of each space telescope, project objectives, observational achievements and study results were searched for in related publications. The construction and working areas of newly designed satellite telescopes have been examined with the documents prepared by the project team. Some exposure is made about the expanding use of space, about the capabilities of the countries which have a say in the field of space and about their current activities and their policies. Keywords: Future of space astronomy, space policies, space vehicles, space telescopes.