Whatfactors determine the nature and pace of technological development? The literature on social construction of technology and actor-network theory suggests that assembling "coalitions" of support and conveying a certain "rhetoric" of technology are important to moving technology forward They are especially crucial strategies for advocates of large-scale, government-supported technologies. These strategies are illuminated by cases of U.S. space satellite development: meteorological satellites, land satellites, and the Earth Observation System.

The process of arrest in federally funded technology is illuminated through the case of weather modification. A technology passes through three stages: birth, opportunity, and decline. Critical to arrest is failure by the advocacy coalition to make maximum use of the opportunity stage to show progress and build support. To do so may require unusual cohesion and consensus among diverse advocates: scientists, administrators, politicians, industry, and affected publics. Without such consensus, opportunity is missed or misused, and a technology moves into (...) decline. This happens because the advocacy coalition shrinks and government support, essential to advance, diminishes and may even terminate. (shrink)