Brussels, 28/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 28 January, Elzbieta Bienkowska announced that the launch of the Galileo satellites would begin again in March. During the seventh annual European space policy conference, the European Commissioner for Industry, announced, “We had a setback. But we will go forward again”.
Galileo. A few minutes after having received the support of the College of Commissioners, Bienkowska presented her strategy for the European space industry. During her closing speech, the Commissioner promised that “Galileo must be and will be a success. We agreed to resume launches in March”. The European satellite navigation programme experienced a tough time at the end of 2014, with the problematic launch of two satellites at the end of August and the postponement of the launches planned for December (see EUROPE 11139). Nonetheless, six satellites are expected to be put into orbit this year, with launches in March, September and December, explained the Commissioner. The Russian Soyuz launcher has been confirmed, although it was responsible for the incident that occurred during the last launch. The European Space Agency (ESA) has provided the European Commission with assurances on the subject. Initial Galileo programme services are expected to be provided in 2016 and optimum forces should be in place by 2020, explained the Commissioner. “I am determined to put the Galileo programme back on track. I am determined to deliver services on time and on budget”, she added.
Copernicus. She has a similar goal for the European land observation programme, Copernicus, which according to the Commissioner, already appears to be a success story. She explained that the first satellite in orbit is operational and providing excellent images. The constellation of satellites is expected to be deployed later this year, with two other satellites to be put into orbit over the next few months (Sentinel 2-A and 3-A), as well as other launches planned in 2017. The Commissioner highlighted the importance of building an architecture that is able to manage the mass of data provided by the satellites and referred to the example of big data and cloud computing solutions. She said that she was determined to encourage the marketing of this data, which could help generate new business and employment models. Finally, Bienkowska stressed the importance of guaranteeing the EU independent access to space and was delighted that an agreement had been reached at ESA on developing Ariane 6, Ariane 5's successor (see EUROPE 11210). The Commissioner also suggested that space projects could be funded from the €315 billion Investment Plan presented by the European Commission at the end of 2014. (MD)