On Thursday 27 November, European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius spoke to Agence Europe on the sidelines of the European Space Agency (ESA) Council meeting in Bremen. He called for the development of a long-term vision and funding to matches ambitions. (Interview by Camille-Cerise Gessant)
Agence Europe - In your speech to the ESA Ministerial Council on Wednesday, you said: “We need to rethink our position and vision of space”. Can you explain what you mean by this?
Andrius Kubilius - We need to be ambitious and we need a long-term vision. We’re accomplishing a lot. We’re doing great. We have the best systems. This shows that we can be real leaders in space development, looking towards the future. (...)
We’re facing what I call a revolution in space. We must have the courage to project ourselves into the next ten years, or even the next decades, by trying to answer very practical questions: what should we focus on in space, such as manufacturing in space, lunar exploration, etc.? We need to discuss this openly, and of course we need to be aware of global developments. When the Americans are announcing that astronauts will soon go to the moon, and India is aiming for 2040, etc, we can’t stay on the sidelines of this kind of development.
What can we do?
We need to have clear, ambitious plans, and above all find the necessary funding. Our economies are strong enough to mobilise the funds needed for these kinds of ambitious projects. It’s absolutely clear that space plays a crucial role, not only in defence, as we’re currently seeing, but also, more generally, in economic development.
Metaphorically speaking, space is a new frontier, and at the moment we may not know what that frontier will bring. To stay outside and look while others venture bravely into that frontier would be a strategic mistake.
What can the European Commission do? We’ve seen it help the defence community develop. Could it also help the space ecosystem to develop and obtain the necessary funding?
We’re increasing space funding by five times, along with defence, in the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Instead of the €27 billion allocated to defence and space in the current MFF, we’re proposing €131 billion in the next one.
Our challenge now will be to defend this point in negotiations with European Parliament and the governments, and I hope everyone understands that this is a strategic priority. (...) Among the four flagship projects (of the defence readiness ‘roadmap’), we’ve included the space shield. In our view, this can bring real synergy. We spend a lot of money on defence, but the space shield is an integral part of our defence architecture.
When national governments decide where to invest in defence, they shouldn’t forget that space is also part of defence. (...) This is exactly what we’re trying to create: this synergy, this ecosystem, so that space is seen as an essential component of defence, an important strategic lever. I hope that this will help us direct at least part of our defence spending into space.
What will this ‘space shield’ be exactly?
The same programmes as we have now: secure satellite communications, more secure Galileo, PNT and LEO-PNT, then PRS and the government observation service, as well as all the approaches devoted to defending space, which could become a big problem in the future.
The French minister for space and the CEO of Arianespace are pushing for European preference in the space sector, for launchers and, more generally, for space. Are you in favour of such a preference and how could the European Commission advocate for it?
Yes, when it comes to defence, this is very clear. We need to invest more, better and European. The Commission president spoke very clearly about our goal of developing European independence. And this relates not only to defence, but also to space.
There are several reasons for this. First of all, the Americans are asking us to take responsibility for European defence and security. So we need to develop our own capabilities. For example, the experts say that one of the problems is that we lack our own strategic levers. We are heavily dependent on American strategic levers, including space intelligence data. This is something we need to develop.
Secondly, I keep saying that the defence industry is a crucial defence resource. Having a defence industry close to possible conflict zones is essential. It’s the same with space.
And we’ve learned a lot about how dependence on foreign supplies can become a liability. In defence, we’ve faced this problem and it could also happen with space development. If you buy American weapons, the US administration has the power to say no, you cannot use them the way you want to. So these factors are creating a demand for the development of European industry and European preference, which is only natural.
In our defence, we only raise the issue of preference when it comes to European funds. (…) It would be good really to incentivise Member States that invest their own funds in space development to prioritise European production, but Member States decide for themselves.