The European Commission said it was doing all it could to address the many challenges posed to the European space sector by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in a discussion with MEPs on the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee on Monday 16 May.
Responding to various questions from parliamentarians on European dependence on Russian Soyuz launchers (see EUROPE 12947/23), Paraskevi Papantoniou, head of space policy at the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG Defis), said that a page was indeed being turned in Russian-European cooperation.
“Indeed, we have been relying on Soyuz and Russian technologies. But that is now over, during the Cold War it was not the case, but it is now over”, she said.
Thus, with regard to European launchers, the senior official assured that it was necessary to develop “credible and reliable” European solutions throughout the value chain, citing the Ariane and Vega families, but also micro-launchers. She said immediate solutions were being considered to replace Russian launchers to launch satellites for the Galileo navigation programme.
Addressing the issue of the scope of the future connectivity constellation in light of the Ukrainian conflict, she indicated that workshops were being organised with Member States in parallel with the negotiations currently taking place at co-legislator level (see EUROPE 12947/6). The aim is to “right-size the government infrastructure”, she stressed. She added: “The first results for the 2021-2027 financial framework seem to indicate that the budget is still sufficient, but we need to take a closer look at the evolving situation”.
A question was raised about the satellite transports that used to be carried out by the giant Antonov aircraft carrier, which was destroyed at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here, the senior official indicated that alternative solutions were being studied, in particular to allow the transport of said satellites either by sea or by air by adapting of carrier aircraft.
She also said that EU raw materials diplomacy was underway, albeit in its infancy, but that the needs for titanium, aluminium and germanium had been identified.
However, the institution intends to take advantage of the Horizon Europe framework programme (by reorienting the 2023-2024 work programme) to support funding in critical subjects and technologies, she said. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)