The future of European launchers and the development of a secure, high-speed European constellation will be the two most political issues to be decided during the European Space Agency’s (ESA) triennial Ministerial Council on Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 November in Paris.
“We have a very ambitious programme to develop the future generation of rockets of launchers. First of all, bringing Ariane 6 to the launch pad and exploiting Ariane 6 and its legacy in the years to come. And of course, making sure that the next generation afterwards is a very competitive one”, said Director General Josef Aschbacher ahead of the meeting.
According to our information and figures from mid-October, the Director General is proposing a general envelope of around €18 billion for 3 years (from 2023 to 2027), including €3.2 billion for launchers, i.e. €1.7 billion for the Ariane and Vega families, €800 million to prepare for the future, €120 million for the ‘Space Rider’ (a reusable shuttle), and €590 million for infrastructure, which will mainly go to the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou.
The issue of the Ariane 6 launcher is the subject of considerable discussion among the Member States, we were told, given its delay of more than 3 years compared to the initial programme (see EUROPE 13038/26). Germany is pressing for progress in ESA resolutions on the possibility of micro-launchers launching ESA missions, according to a source. The Vega launcher is also a source of tension, the same source explained, with the desire of Avio, the aerospace company responsible for the development of Vega, to become independent from Arianespace, which is in charge of marketing the Vega.
In addition, Avio blames ArianeGroup (which owns the operator Arianespace) for developing the Maïa launcher, which may eventually become a direct competitor to the Italian Vega-C launcher, a source told us.
The other major point of discussions will be on the €750 million for the constellation project, proposed by the Director General (see EUROPE 13038/11), which should consolidate the European constellation project agreed between the EU co-legislators (see EUROPE 13065/1). Discussions here will include the issue of ESA governance to ensure full EU sovereignty over the programme, given that ESA members are not the same as EU members. This is a very sensitive issue for programmes with a security and defence component (see EUROPE 13063/18).
A new team of astronauts
The Ministerial Council will address many other issues and programmes, including those linked to commercialisation, Earth observation, space security, robotic and human exploration, navigation, general science, technology and engineering issues. On Wednesday, the Ministerial Council will conclude with the announcement of the astronauts selected for the class of 2022. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)