If Europe wants to play a leading role in space exploration, including the Moon, it will have to invest more and, above all, revolutionize its industrial policy in this area, according to a report by independent experts commissioned by the European Union Space Agency (ESA). ).
“Let’s put Europe at the forefront of space exploration,” said former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a member of the High Level Advisory Group (HLAG), presenting the report to ESA, according to a press release.
A permanent presence
This report, published on Thursday, underlines the importance of human and robotic exploration of space, a true “economic and geopolitical problem”, recalled former Italian Education Minister Stefania Giannini and a member of HLAG. “European autonomy is at stake here,” she said at the ESA (which has 22 member states) press conference.
The group came out in favor of establishing a mission that guarantees Europe in space a permanent and independent presence in terrestrial and lunar orbits, as well as on the Moon. With European astronauts in the latter ten years from now, while currently only the US, Russia and China have the ability to send men into space.
To do this, “we must invest more in space exploration,” advocated another member of the group, Cédric O, former French Secretary of State for digital. “The cost of doing nothing would be even higher than the cost of spending.”
Thus, of the one billion euros that ESA dedicates to space exploration, the US agency NASA dedicates 13 billion, with significant economic benefits, the report states.
Review the organization of the industry.
For Cédric O, “the most important thing is not the increase in the budget” but the “review of the organization of the industry”.
The report insists on the need to “incite real competition between European companies, and favor the appearance of new players”, such as the American SpaceX. In this sense, “the arrival of newcomers to the space sector has changed the rules of the game”, according to Cédric O.
For example, one of these new players, American Relativity Space, launched the first 3D-printed rocket on Wednesday, manufactured in record time. The launch into orbit ended in failure, but the company is already aiming to produce a heavier, reusable launcher.
“This report on ‘The Space Revolution’ is a wake-up call for European leaders, who must act now to not miss this opportunity,” ESA Director Josef Aschbacher said in the statement. “If Europe wants to participate in this revolution, we must completely change the way we source and interact with the industry,” he added during the press conference.
It will “provide elements” of the report for the work of the next ESA Ministerial Council, scheduled for next November, and dedicated to human and robotic exploration.
Source: BFM TV
