The European space sector has seen a significant drop in activity during 2020 due to the pandemic, according to Eurospace figures published on Monday 19 July. Europe continues to lose ground to its main international competitors.
In total, the European space industry recorded a €1 billion drop in turnover in 2020, 13% less than the previous year, a fact unprecedented since the annual Eurospace survey was launched in 1991, it says.
For example, in the area of launches, the organisation notes that Europe has moved from third place in 2015 to fourth place in 2019 in terms of tonnes (the only criterion for international comparison in space activity). At the same time, China has overtaken Russia and is now in second place.
The European launch activity represents 5% of the world activity. European spacecraft production accounts for 3% of global activity, with the old continent competing with Japan for third place, far behind China and Russia.
In the same year, the United States widened the gap with other world powers due to the deployment of the US mega-constellation Starlink (about 200 tonnes produced and sent into orbit), putting the US far ahead of other space powers. For example, the United States accounts for 61% of global spacecraft production and 57% of global launch activity.
“One of the main reasons for that is the difference in the institutional programmes (...) The Chinese space sector, the Russian space sector, the American space sector, they all benefit from an (Institutional) activity volume which is five, six, seven, eight times bigger than the one for the European”, recalled Pierre Lionnet, an economist and Director of Research at Eurospace. For the organisation, the project for a European mega-constellation could partly make up for this delay.
Second largest space power in the world?
Asked by EUROPE about the differences in perception between the European Commission and Eurospace regarding the place of the European space sector on the international scene - the Commissioner for the Internal Market keeps saying that Europe is in second place - the economist explains this by an initial analysis that is incorrect. Assessments are made on market exchange rates and not purchasing power parities, he said.
For example, “the Chinese programme that is launching a rover on the far side of the Moon, a rover on Mars, and more than 100 tonnes worth of spacecraft every year, half of that is military, they have eight operational launcher families, they have three launch sites plus two in development, they have a strong industry with close to 200,000 people. And we say we are above them. (...) That is completely disruptive in terms of logical thought and that is for me a source of concern for many many years”, he commented.
To consult the study: https://bit.ly/2TlLQ21 (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)