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This article focuses on the analysis of the current state and modern development trends of the Russian Federation’s rocket and space complex under contemporary conditions. The relevance of the study is driven by the increasing complexity of geopolitical and sanctions policies, which affect technological development in the industry, as well as the significant role of the rocket and space complex in ensuring national security, scientific progress, and the country’s technological sovereignty. The research is aligned with the Russian Space Activity Development Strategy up to 2030 and beyond. The aim of the study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the Russian rocket and space complex, identify modern trends, and develop recommendations to enhance its competitiveness in the global market. The research employs methods such as a systematic approach, which allowed for the consideration of the rocket and space complex as a complex multi-level structure, encompassing a wide range of functions, products, and services provided by major enterprises, corporations, and other participants; a comparative analysis of the activities of leading global space powers; statistical analysis of reporting data, expert opinions, and more. The application of this comprehensive set of research methods provided a holistic understanding of the current state of the industry and its prospective areas for further development. The main results of the study include an assessment of the current state of the rocket and space industry, a comparative analysis of the activities of major players in the global market, which helped to identify the key problems, challenges, and specific features of the Russian Federation’s rocket and space complex at the current stage of economic development. The scientific novelty lies in identifying, substantiating, and systematizing the main trends occurring in the industry. Based on the data obtained, recommendations have been developed to improve the efficiency of the Russian rocket and space complex, with a focus on increasing innovation activity, upgrading key assets, and expanding international cooperation. The practical significance of the study is reflected in the potential use of its results to shape strategic development plans for the industry and to develop government policies in the field of space research and technology.

Cryogenics is the science and technology of very low temperatures, typically below 120 K. The most common applications are liquified natural gas carriers, ground-based tanks, and propellant tanks for space launchers. A crucial aspect of cryogenic technology is effective insulation to minimise boil-off from storage tanks and prevent frost build-up. Rigid closed-cell foams are prominent in various applications, including cryogenic insulation, due to their balance between thermal and mechanical properties. Polyurethane (PU) foam is widely used for internal insulation in cryogenic tanks, providing durability under thermal shocks and operational loads. External insulation, used in liquified natural gas carriers and ground-based tanks, generally demands less compressive strength and can utilise lower-density foams. The evolution of cryogenic insulation materials has seen the incorporation of environmentally friendly blowing agents and bio-based polyols to enhance sustainability. Fourth-generation physical blowing agents, such as HFO-1233zd(E) and HFO-1336mzz(Z), offer low global warming potential and improved thermal conductivity. Additionally, bio-based polyols from renewable resources like different natural oils and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are being integrated into rigid PU foams, showing promising properties for cryogenic applications. Research continues to optimise these materials for better mechanical performance and environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prioritization and validation of emerging space technologies involve a multi-step, iterative process that necessitates the integration of collective intelligence from all stakeholders alongside analytical methods to identify requirements. This process begins with identifying specialists with sufficient knowledge and experience regarding each technology, extracting and evaluating essential data, prioritizing technology options, identifying challenging technologies, determining essential acquisition strategies, and finally, prioritizing these technologies. This article presents a method to identify and prioritize certain space technologies suitable for a satellite's Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS). Based on the results, it is possible to determine the most effective method to acquire the necessary technology through national development or by leveraging existing technologies available in the market.The power subsystem components are categorized into three groups to evaluate the proposed method: electrical power generation sources, energy storage sources, and power electronic circuits. The results indicate that among all technologies studied, GaAs solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, and electronic circuits constructed with military and industrial components should be prioritized for national development. Additionally, the proposed method demonstrates that the selected technologies are those recently employed in space applications. This methodology can also be extended to other subsystems.

The prioritization and validation of emerging space technologies involve a multi-step, iterative process that necessitates the integration of collective intelligence from all stakeholders alongside analytical methods to identify requirements. This process begins with identifying specialists with sufficient knowledge and experience regarding each technology, extracting and evaluating essential data, prioritizing technology options, identifying challenging technologies, determining essential acquisition strategies, and finally, prioritizing these technologies. This article presents a method to identify and prioritize certain space technologies suitable for a satellite's Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS). Based on the results, it is possible to determine the most effective method to acquire the necessary technology through national development or by leveraging existing technologies available in the market. The power subsystem components are categorized into three groups to evaluate the proposed method: electrical power generation sources, energy storage sources, and power electronic circuits. The results indicate that among all technologies studied, GaAs solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, and electronic circuits constructed with military and industrial components should be prioritized for national development. Additionally, the proposed method demonstrates that the selected technologies are those recently employed in space applications. This methodology can also be extended to other subsystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The review considers modern research and development in bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) for crewed spacecrafts, summarizes the information obtained in scientific research in this field, evaluates of current status of the astronaut life support problems, frames unsolved questions and determines areas for future study. This review shows that the most promising life support systems include phototrophic microorganisms which can be used to create carbon, oxygen and nitrogen cycles within one system, which, in turn, allows reducing the level of resupplied and/or stored stocks of resources and, therefore, total crewed expedition cost. However, there are still a number of issues that require additional research, and foremost it is a long-term large-scale microorganisms cultivation under the influence of significant stress factors like cosmic radiation, microgravity/weightlessness, low atmospheric pressure and high CO 2 concentrations, whether it is a circumlunar/lunar space station or Mars expedition. • Bioregenerative LSS for long-time expedition are discussed. • Prospects for the use of certain types of phototrophic microorganisms in LSS are considered. • The influence of space expedition stress factors on phototrophic microorganisms is summarized. • Areas for additional research to create reliable bioregenerative LSS are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complexity and relevance of the scientific problems they address, astrophysical exploration missions can be a fertile ground for technological spillover. In the past, various space technologies, particularly in telecommunications, transportation, health care, and even military defense, spilled over or have been transferred from Space Agencies to industrial sectors. The boundaries between these two kind of actions are not always defined, for this reason we use the two concepts interchangeably. This article presents the results of a study on spillovers generated by six of the most important astrophysical missions launched by the European Space Agency in the first two decades of this century. These are notably: Integral, Planck Surveyor, XMM-Newton, Agile, Solar Orbiter, and Plato. In addition to some positive social effects, the results of the survey highlight the relevance of some technological innovations realized by small enterprises and then "transferred" to the industrial sector. The results also indicate the financial and organizational obstacles that could limit the possibility of transfer and thus the wider dissemination of innovations obtained in the development path of the Missions. • Astrophysical exploration missions can be a fertile ground for technological spillover. • Astronomy can generate Earth Observation and defence applications.. • Industrialization, training activities and promotion are key drivers of spillovers from ESA Astrophysics missions. • Low formalization, unclear organizational roles and lack of a technology transfer culture are barries to spillovers.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article’s relevance is justified by the need to study the current state of organizational and legal upport for the use of space information and technology in Ukraine’s military activities to identify prospects for its improvement, including through the adaptation of NATO experience. The implementation of scientific research is ensured by the combined use of methodological tools, among which the leading role was played by general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, which provided an opportunity to identify general and specific features of the research. The main methods were forecasting and legal modeling, which helped to identify trends in the development of organizational and legal support for the use of space information and technology in the military activities of Ukraine. The study revealed that Ukraine has significant prospects for developing an organizational and legal framework for using space information and technology in military activities. It is crucial to support and adapt the experience of the troops (forces) of the Armed Forces of NATO member states, which for decades have demonstrated a systematic, balanced and clear approach to the tasks of the supranational level of security. A number of optimization vectors for developing organizational and legal support for using space information and technology in the military activities of Ukraine at both regulatory and institutional levels are proposed.

High precision temperature measurements are a transversal need in a wide area of physical experiments. Space-borne gravitational wave detectors are a particularly challenging case, requiring both high precision and high stability in temperature measurement. In this contribution, we present a design able to reach 1 μ K / Hz in most of the measuring band down to 1 mHz, and reaching 20 μ K / Hz at 0.1 mHz. The scheme is based on resistive sensors in a Wheatstone bridge configuration which is AC modulated to minimize the 1/f noise. As a part of our study, we include the design of a test bench able to guarantee the high stability environment required for measurements. We show experimental results characterising both the test bench and the read-out, and discuss potential noise sources that may limit our measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Political Science Review / Przegląd Politologiczny is the property of Faculty of Political Science & Journalism, Adam Mickiewicz University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article analyses the modern and retrospective international and national regulations in the field of space activities. It is emphasized that the long-term program of space research proves the maturity and competence that we have yet to demonstrate. The development of such a program (rather, doctrine) is beyond the preparation of a formal document. The challenges we have outlined are about the role of the space doctrine in the system of conceptual documents defining the areas of the space sector’s sustainable development. In the study, the dialectical materialist method of in the cognition of the objective reality enables to analyze of comprehensively doctrinal provisions in developing the concept “Space doctrine.” The empirical research was based on the statistical and analytical materials: World Trade Organization Annual Report 2019, the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities for 2018, Aeronautics and Space Report of the President — Fiscal Year 2019 Activities, the statistical data and reports of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) for 1997-2020. The study leads to a number of conclusions. The implementation of the future Space doctrine should be a shift from the initial state of affairs to the new model of space activities and the sustainable development of the space industry. The study reveals three levels of Space doctrine: basic, strategic, and tactical (operational).

The article reveals the place and role of multinational corporations in the world market for space services and technologies. The authors highlight trends in globalization and cosmization of the world economy, which have both positive and negative effects. The advantage of the private sector’s entry into space exploration is the recognition of high-tech companies contributing to economic growth as worthy of investment. The practice of transnational companies to affect the economic and legal sphere of the countries of their presence and violate the fundamental rights of its citizens is outlined as a negative trend. Theoretically, probable variants of the regulatory framework for the world market for space services and technologies with transnational corporations’ participation are projected. It is proposed to create a global administrator in space activities — the World Space Union.

In the article, the authors reveal the historical and legal aspects of space activities in Ukraine. The historical and legal acts of the Ukrainian SSR and the Soviet Union, regulating the space industry, are analyzed. Considerable attention was paid to the peculiarities of legal regulation of the activities of the main space design bureaus of the time. It is concluded that the space activities of the USSR — in general and the Ukrainian SSR were provided on the basis of sublegislative normative legal acts (resolutions of the Council of Ministers and orders of the Central bodies of the Communist party). However, the lack of the national space law was offset by systematic and full funding of space activities, resulting in the Soviet Union having a powerful space industry. In the conditions of modern development, Ukraine has all the opportunities to achieve significant development of the space industry, using the positive experience of the USSR and opening access to space activities of private investment.

The article's relevance is justified by the need to study the current state of organizational and legal support for the use of space information and technology in Ukraine's military activities to identify prospects for its improvement, including through the adaptation of NATO experience. The implementation of scientific research is ensured by the combined use of methodological tools, among which the leading role was played by general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, which provided an opportunity to identify general and specific features of the research. The main methods were forecasting and legal modeling, which helped to identify trends in the development of organizational and legal support for the use of space information and technology in the military activities of Ukraine. The study revealed that Ukraine has significant prospects for developing an organizational and legal framework for using space information and technology in military activities. It is crucial to support and adapt the experience of the troops (forces) of the Armed Forces of NATO member states, which for decades have demonstrated a systematic, balanced and clear approach to the tasks of the supranational level of security. A number of optimization vectors for developing organizational and legal support for using space information and technology in the military activities of Ukraine at both regulatory and institutional levels are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High precision temperature measurements are a transversal need in a wide area of physical experiments. Space-borne gravitational wave detectors are a particularly challenging case, requiring both high precision and high stability in temperature measurement. In this contribution, we present a design able to reach 1 μK/Hz in most of the measuring band down to 1 mHz, and reaching 20 μK/Hz at 0.1 mHz. The scheme is based on resistive sensors in a Wheatstone bridge configuration which is AC modulated to minimize the 1/f noise. As a part of our study, we include the design of a test bench able to guarantee the high stability environment required for measurements. We show experimental results characterising both the test bench and the read-out, and discuss potential noise sources that may limit our measurement.

The aim of the article is to study the current state of applying space technologies to monitor land use efficiency. It is proved that under conditions of globalization of the world economy there takes place digitalization and automation of production processes with the application of space technologies and many other innovative transformations that should be considered when carrying out economic activities, especially in agriculture. It is justified that the further development of agriculture and agricultural land use should be planned in accordance with the innovation development strategy, which envisages: increase in the contribution of science and technology to the advancement of land economics; use of space technologies to monitor land use efficiency; enhancement of competitiveness of products on the world market through the modernization and automation of production facilities; widespread adoption of remote sensing technologies. It is established that one of the areas in attracting innovative developments is modern space technologies. The current state of and trends in applying space technologies to monitor land use efficiency are considered at the enterprise and state levels. The introduction of modern space technologies for monitoring land use (EOS Crop Monitoring, GIS Data) in Ukraine is analyzed. It is proved that the application of satellite monitoring makes it possible to accurately estimate the crop areas, monitor the condition of plants at all phases of growth, predict the yield at early stages, control agricultural operations, etc. The access to satellite data for previous years and analysis of huge amounts of information using the latest technologies allow assessing the value of land. There identified prospective land use sectors where modern space technologies should be applied, namely: filling the State Land Cadastre, taking land inventory, forming land resource databases. Practical recommendations on the application of space technologies for monitoring land use efficiency, crop forecasting and pricing analysis based on the experience of the EU and the USA are proposed.

Copyright of Revista Ciencia y Poder Aéreo is the property of Escuela de Postgrados de la Fuerza Aerea Colombiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article analyses the modern and retrospective international and national regulations in the field of space activities. It is emphasized that the long-term program of space research proves the maturity and competence that we have yet to demonstrate. The development of such a program (rather, doctrine) is beyond the preparation of a formal document. The challenges we have outlined are about the role of the space doctrine in the system of conceptual documents defining the areas of the space sector's sustainable development. In the study, the dialectical materialist method of in the cognition of the objective reality enables to analyze of comprehensively doctrinal provisions in developing the concept "Space doctrine." The empirical research was based on the statistical and analytical materials: World Trade Organization Annual Report 2019, the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities for 2018, Aeronautics and Space Report of the President -- Fiscal Year 2019 Activities, the statistical data and reports of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) for 1997-2020. The study leads to a number of conclusions. The implementation of the future Space doctrine should be a shift from the initial state of affairs to the new model of space activities and the sustainable development of the space industry. The study reveals three levels of Space doctrine: basic, strategic, and tactical (operational). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reveals the place and role of multinational corporations in the world market for space services and technologies. The authors highlight trends in globalization and cosmization of the world economy, which have both positive and negative effects. The advantage of the private sector’s entry into space exploration is the recognition of high-tech companies contributing to economic growth as worthy of investment. The practice of transnational companies to affect the economic and legal sphere of the countries of their presence and violate the fundamental rights of its citizens is outlined as a negative trend. Theoretically, probable variants of the regulatory framework for the world market for space services and technologies with transnational corporations’ participation are projected. It is proposed to create a global administrator in space activities — the World Space Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciencia y Poder Aéreo is the property of Escuela de Postgrados de la Fuerza Aerea Colombiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper the relationship between aeronautics and space technology companies’ inventory management performances and companies’ financial performances are studied by conducting empirical analyses. Specifically, inventory efficiency, inventory productivity and inventory responsiveness are studied in order to assess the effect of inventory management performance on company competitive outperformance. A time-series model, that takes into account of some inventory performance indicators and financial performance measures, is developed and tested using data for 230 publicly listed U.S. aeronautics and space technology companies for the 32-year period, 1985 to 2017. This study utilizes firm financial data, acquired from the Standard and Poor’s COMPUSTAT database using Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS). The implications of the results on the inventory management implementation and directions for future research are provided.

Copyright of Ekonomika APK is the property of Economy of Argo-Industrial Complex and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the article, the authors reveal the historical and legal aspects of space activities in Ukraine. The historical and legal acts of the Ukrainian SSR and the Soviet Union, regulating the space industry, are analyzed. Considerable attention was paid to the peculiarities of legal regulation of the activities of the main space design bureaus of the time. It is concluded that the space activities of the USSR -- in general and the Ukrainian SSR were provided on the basis of sublegislative normative legal acts (resolutions of the Council of Ministers and orders of the Central bodies of the Communist party). However, the lack of the national space law was offset by systematic and full funding of space activities, resulting in the Soviet Union having a powerful space industry. In the conditions of modern development, Ukraine has all the opportunities to achieve significant development of the space industry, using the positive experience of the USSR and opening access to space activities of private investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling the interactions in groups is becoming increasingly important in many application domains such as the design of interactive systems and social robots. Since human interactants do not always make rational choices, a good model of their social motivations is needed to explain the strategies of the interactants that are often influenced by social factors and preferences, the feeling of fairness and understanding the need for cooperation. We propose a cognitive model of social preferences of three or more interactants that are engaged in a collaborative game. The game strategies of the interactants are modeled with cooperation ratios and utility functions. We developed a new generalized utility-based approach to model the cooperation and fairness in multiplayer interactions, which uses three utility parameters. In two-person games, as it has been investigated by others, it is impossible to distinguish between fairness and cooperation in the decisions of a given player. We show that in n-person games (n > 2), and with the use of the proposed utility-based approach, it is possible to distinguish between fairness and cooperation. This makes the proposed approach suitable for more detailed analysis of group interactions in a game setting, which can better explain the social motivation of the interactants, than existing utility models and models that utilize on cooperation ratios. We show that the proposed generalization makes the newly proposed utility function less sensitive to the payoffs of one player if the size of the group grows, and test it with data from the MARS-500 isolation experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its significance in astrobiology, assessing the amount and state of liquid water present on Mars today has become one of the drivers of its exploration. Subglacial water was identified by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) aboard the European Space Agency spacecraft Mars Express through the analysis of echoes, coming from a depth of about 1.5 km, which were stronger than surface echoes. The cause of this anomalous characteristic is the high relative permittivity of water-bearing materials, resulting in a high reflection coefficient. A determining factor in the occurrence of such strong echoes is the low attenuation of the MARSIS radar pulse in cold water ice, the main constituent of the Martian polar caps. The present analysis clarifies that the conditions causing exceptionally strong subsurface echoes occur solely in the Martian polar caps, and that the detection of subsurface water under a predominantly rocky surface layer using radar sounding will require thorough electromagnetic modeling, complicated by the lack of knowledge of many subsurface physical parameters. Higher-frequency radar sounders such as SHARAD cannot penetrate deep enough to detect basal echoes over the thickest part of the polar caps. Alternative methods such as rover-borne Ground Penetrating Radar and time-domain electromagnetic sounding are not capable of providing global coverage. MARSIS observations over the Martian polar caps have been limited by the need to downlink data before on-board processing, but their number will increase in coming years. The Chinese mission to Mars that is to be launched in 2020, Tianwen-1, will carry a subsurface sounding radar operating at frequencies that are close to those of MARSIS, and the expected signal-to-noise ratio of subsurface detection will likely be sufficient for identifying anomalously bright subsurface reflectors. The search for subsurface water through radar sounding is thus far from being concluded.

Combat in near-Earth orbit is emerging as a more realistic possibility. The argument here is that changes in space technologies combined with a sea change in political rhetoric is bringing the possibility of military conflict in space technologies. This movement reflects a generational shift as the original decisions regarding military conflict in space are now being reassessed by a generation who did not experience World War II or the Cold War. For these, the sanctuary approach to space activities is not as persuasive and new enhanced space technologies bring the possibility of victory or at least survival possible during a conflict in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the relationship between aeronautics and space technology companies' inventory management performances and companies' financial performances are studied by conducting empirical analysis. Specifically, inventory efficiency, inventory productivity and inventory responsiveness are studied in order to assess the effect of inventory management performance on company competitive outperformance. A time-series model, that takes into account of some inventory performance indicators and financial performance measures, is developed and tested using data for 230 publicly listed U.S. aeronautics and space technology companies for the 32-year period, 1985 to 2017. This study utilizes firm financial data, acquired from the Standard and Poor's COMPUSTAT database using Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS). The implications of the results on the inventory management implementation and directions for future research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High precision temperature measurements are a transversal need in a wide area of physical experiments. Space-borne gravitational wave detectors are a particularly challenging case, requiring both high precision and high stability in temperature measurement. In this contribution, we present a design able to reach 1 μK/Hz in most of the measuring band down to 1 mHz, and reaching 20 μK/Hz at 0.1 mHz. The scheme is based on resistive sensors in a Wheatstone bridge configuration which is AC modulated to minimize the 1/f noise. As a part of our study, we include the design of a test bench able to guarantee the high stability environment required for measurements. We show experimental results characterising both the test bench and the read-out, and discuss potential noise sources that may limit our measurement.

Despite successful technological developments, COPERNICUS, the European Earth Observation flagship program, has been showing a weak regional involvement with regards to the wide capacities and benefits it provides for the Environment and Security domains at public and private level. During the DORIS_Net project, a methodology was successfully implemented to raise regional awareness on COPERNICUS potential with the concept of a Regional Contact Offices (RCO) Network. This paper aims to describe the process of RCO's creation and certification. It also presents both benefits and challenges of management and sustainability faced by RCO in order to reach their operational goals. Finally, the paper explores the potential regional impact of RCO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Government organizations have to justify high expenditure during periods of financial crisis such as the one we are experiencing today. Space agencies have attempted to increase the returns on their investments in space missions by encouraging the commercial use of advanced technologies. This paper describes two technology transfer (TT) cases promoted by JAXA, in order to identify the organizational models and determinants of TT. The development of a TT process from space to Earth not only benefits the aerospace industry but also the network of national companies. The aim of the paper is to investigate who the actors are and the nature of their role, as well as the determinants of the TT process in the Japanese space sector. The case studies confirm the typical path of transfer as ‘Earth–space–Earth’. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article presents a first description and a proposal for the classification of the evolution phenomena involved in short-term diachrony in the field of space. It is based on the principles of Textual Terminology and relies on a tool-based analysis of two diachronic corpora. The linguistic methodology is briefly described but the emphasis is on the list of evolution phenomena revealed through our analysis. These results present an original description of knowledge evolution: 17 types of evolution are listed, revealing the heterogeneity and richness of terminology dynamics and offering a descriptive basis to start new subsequent research that would complete this typology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its significance in astrobiology, assessing the amount and state of liquid water present on Mars today has become one of the drivers of its exploration. Subglacial water was identified by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) aboard the European Space Agency spacecraft Mars Express through the analysis of echoes, coming from a depth of about 1.5 km, which were stronger than surface echoes. The cause of this anomalous characteristic is the high relative permittivity of water-bearing materials, resulting in a high reflection coefficient. A determining factor in the occurrence of such strong echoes is the low attenuation of the MARSIS radar pulse in cold water ice, the main constituent of the Martian polar caps. The present analysis clarifies that the conditions causing exceptionally strong subsurface echoes occur solely in the Martian polar caps, and that the detection of subsurface water under a predominantly rocky surface layer using radar sounding will require thorough electromagnetic modeling, complicated by the lack of knowledge of many subsurface physical parameters. Higher-frequency radar sounders such as SHARAD cannot penetrate deep enough to detect basal echoes over the thickest part of the polar caps. Alternative methods such as rover-borne Ground Penetrating Radar and time-domain electromagnetic sounding are not capable of providing global coverage. MARSIS observations over the Martian polar caps have been limited by the need to downlink data before on-board processing, but their number will increase in coming years. The Chinese mission to Mars that is to be launched in 2020, Tianwen-1, will carry a subsurface sounding radar operating at frequencies that are close to those of MARSIS, and the expected signal-to-noise ratio of subsurface detection will likely be sufficient for identifying anomalously bright subsurface reflectors. The search for subsurface water through radar sounding is thus far from being concluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]