Faced with two space giants like USA and China, Europe stays in the rear. “We have a weak voice,” acknowledges the Senior Strategy Officer for Human and Robotic Exploration of the European Space Agency (ESA), Stefaan De Mey. The European role in space exploration depends on big players like the POT. “Now we have recruited new astronauts, but they will only be able to travel to space on North American and Russian missions,” explains De Mey.
However, Joan Anton Català, author of the book geopolitics of space (of the Catalan publishing house, Anfgle Editorial), affirms that the THAT needs the POT because the latter “is a monster and has a bigger budget.” According to Space Revolutiona report prepared by experts in the sector, the average of the European GDP that is invested in space is only a fifteenth part of the budget of the North American agency. But “ESA has many missions of its own and has proven to be very capable,” underlines the writer, who specializes in astronomy and astrophysics. This intergovernmental organization, which has 22 member states, is independent of the EU, which has its own European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA, for its acronym in English), although they collaborate with each other.
The average GDP that Europe invests in space is only one fifteenth of the budget that NASA allocates
End point to cooperation with Russia
The war in Ukraine has increased the European military spendingas well as the concern for defense and security not only on Earth, but also in the alien orbit. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Politics and Security, Josep Borrellhe said, on September 26 at the inauguration of the new building of the European Union Satellite Center, that space, which he referred to as “the new frontier of geopolitics”, “has acquired a strategic dimension”. He cyber attack that the Russians carried out against the Ukrainian communications satellite KA-SAT just a few hours before the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 is a clear example of this.
Until the start of the war, ESA had projects in common with roscosmos, the Russian space agency. And, although Russia already intended to distance itself from the West, Catalá points out that the Russo-Ukrainian conflict”it hastened the breakdown of relations and tightened the rope.” Likewise, De Mey insists that the end of cooperation between Russia and Europe was “proof of the lack of European autonomy”, since the joint missions to the Moon already Mars -like sending a european rover to the red planet aboard a Russian lander – could not be carried out. “We weren’t able to land the rover on Mars on our own,” he laments.
Europe’s lack of spatial autonomy, unlike the US, China and Russia, worries experts, who advocate an ambitious strategy of their own
Pursue spatial autonomy
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Recently and due to the current geopolitical scenario, the space sovereignty also has aroused some interest in Europeans. “If we don’t wake up, other countries like China or the United States will take over the space economy,” says Català. Clémence Poirier, researcher at the European Institute for Space Policy (ESPI), concurs: “Europe is a bit behind the Chinese and the Russians. We must not miss this opportunity. Otherwise, we will be left behind.”
For years, Europe has been a supporter of cooperation in space. According to De Mey, “the decision not to invest in autonomous human space exploration was a conscious one.” By 2030, space powers have announced more than 100 lunar missions, but, for now, Europe only leads two of them. And, despite the fact that in the last two decades, Europeans have developed their own industrial capacity and knowledge, they do not have autonomy. “Europe should have its own ambitious strategy and be able to go to the Moon. It is important to be a relevant partner, with a leadership role and a strong presence. If not, we will not have election maneuver and we will remain as subcontractors of the POT“adds the expert.