On Thursday 23 May, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on strengthening Europe’s competitiveness through space. An identical text was approved by the Council of the Member States of the European Space Agency (ESA).
As announced by Agence Europe (see EUROPE 13413/15), the document highlights the contributions that space makes to European competitiveness and to meeting societal challenges, including the ‘Green Deal’, the digital transition and global competitiveness. According to EU and ESA Member States, space contributes to economic growth by generating innovative solutions, system applications and services that can benefit many other sectors through more integrated cooperation between the space and non-space sectors.
In the text adopted, as in the debate held on the subject at the joint EU-ESA meeting, the participating countries stress the need to improve the use of space data.
More vigorous development of the space sector by securing and increasing public and private investment is also highlighted. According to Belgian State Secretary, Thomas Dermine, EU funding for ESA compared to US funding for NASA is 1:3. “On the public side, there is much more money put into space overseas than in Europe. This is something we have to live with, but we have to be competitive”, warned ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.
European Commissioner Thierry Breton said that insufficient funding was “one of the major problems”. “It’s a major structural problem that needs to be addressed and solutions found”, said Mr Breton, calling for an adequate budget for the EU’s future space programme. According to him, it is also necessary to strengthen the role of anchor customers and make it easier for companies to access public procurement. This view is shared by Anna Christmann, the Federal Government Coordinator of Aerospace Policy of Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the ESA. “Public funding will not be enough (...). It is very important to attract more private investment to Europe. A new way of awarding public contracts, favouring the anchor customer, contributes to this”, she explained to Agence Europe.
The importance of open, fair and transparent public procurement processes, which support the development of a diversified and innovative European space industry, is underlined in the conclusions and by several delegations. Similarly, a good risk management framework or the promotion of public and private financing models could have a positive impact on all players in the space ecosystem, including small and medium-sized enterprises.
The text, like many delegations, stresses the importance of taking advantage of the multiplier effect of investment in space research and development, promoting a stable and predictable commercial framework and developing the necessary skills within the sector’s workforce.
The conclusions also highlight the important role of public authorities in guaranteeing cost-effective access to data for businesses, while preserving the security and protection of space data.
See the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/ccn
At their Council meeting, the ministers of EU Member States also discussed the future European Space Law, on which the European Commission is working. According to Mr Dermine, the Member States want this legislation to take account of safety, resilience and sustainability. He added that it should take account of existing legislation and apply the principle of proportionality to enable all types of players to participate and compete in a genuine European market.
Ariane 6. Mr Aschbacher also announced on Thursday that the first Ariane 6 launch should take place in the first two weeks of July.
Euclid. On the same day, ESA’s Euclid space mission unveiled five new images of the universe (see EUROPE 13214/28). They accompany the first scientific data from the mission, also made public on 22 May, and 10 forthcoming scientific articles. This comes less than a year after the launch of the space telescope, and around 6 months after it took its first colour images of the cosmos.
Astronauts. On Wednesday 22 May, Mr Aschbacher announced that ESA astronauts Sophie Adenot of France and Raphaël Liégeois of Belgium had been selected for their first flights to the International Space Station (ISS) on missions currently scheduled for 2026. Ms Adenot and Mr Liégeois recently completed their initial training year. During their missions aboard the Space Station, ESA astronauts will carry out numerous scientific experiments, conduct medical research activities, contribute to Earth observation and participate in the operational and maintenance tasks of the Space Station, ESA said in a press release.
Cargo. On Wednesday 22 May, ESA announced that the Franco-German space company Exploration Company and the Franco-Italian company Thales Alenia Space had won contracts to develop cargo return services in low Earth orbit (LEO). The service vehicles are expected to deliver supplies to the International Space Station by 2030 and could be used for all future space stations, or potentially modified to send a crew into space. In Seville, in November, the ESA Council decided to launch a competition to stimulate the commercialisation of space.
Zero Debris Charter. On the same day, 12 ESA member countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom) signed the Zero Debris Charter (see EUROPE 13287/6).
“The signing of the ‘Zero Debris’ Charter by 12 European nations proves that ESA is at the global forefront in creating concrete, useful and attractive standards for the sustainability of space, which will form the basis of European and even global regulations and legislation”, emphasised Mr Aschbacher.
This is the first time that countries have signed up to this Charter at national level, the aim of which is to stop producing space debris by 2030. ESA has also signed the Charter as an International Organisation (IGO). More than 100 organisations have pledged to join the effort of the space community in the coming months.
Vigil Mission. Finally, ESA announced the signing of a contract with Airbus UK for the construction of the spacecraft for ESA’s new Vigil mission, which will protect vital infrastructure on Earth and in space by providing early warnings of solar storms. The launch is scheduled for 2031.
By observing the Sun from its vantage point far from Earth, the spacecraft will detect any potentially dangerous solar activity earlier than this can be done the ground - and transmit this information back to Earth in near real time. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)