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The future of international cooperation in space was questioned when, in January 2022, Russia announced that it intended to leave the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024. A symbol of post-Cold War reconciliation, the station has linked Washington and Moscow even when relations between the two nations frayed. The ISS has become a bedrock of international cooperation having welcomed 251 astronauts, cosmonauts, and space tourists from 20 different countries since it was first put in orbit in 1998. Russia’s announced departure from the ISS alarmed proponents of international cooperation in space. Russia’s actions, however, do not signal an end but a new phase of international cooperative dynamics in space.

This paper argues that, in contrast to past patterns, international cooperation in space is increasingly defined by clusters of states, termed ‘space blocs’. Space blocs are aggregates of states that pursue shared missions in space. Using network analysis, this paper maps the formation and evolution of space blocs from 1958 until 2021. The results reveal that post-2008 dynamics of international cooperation in space differ significantly from pre-2008 ones in three important ways. First, since 2008, the formation rate of space blocs has intensified, and distinct, bound space blocs can be clearly detected. Second, the internal composition of more recent space blocs has become increasingly reflective of members’ geopolitical affinities and strategic considerations on the ground. Third, although highly bound and distinct, the most recent space blocs are not entirely isolated and have not instituted any exclusionary practices, which is …