The Ariane 6 rocket will not fly for another year, but Europeans, divided and pressured by the success of the American SpaceX, are trying to rethink a strategy to guarantee autonomy of access to space in the future.

The United States, which spends five times more budget on space than Europeans, has chosen to buy launch services instead of developing its own program, which has favored the success of companies such as millionaire Elon Musk, which propose rockets reusable.

The consequence is that “the rules of the launchers are currently defined outside of Europe”, warns Thierry Breton, the European commissioner in charge of the space dossier.

“Considering the industry disruptions we are seeing, our current approach will take us successfully to 2050? I highly doubt it and think we need a more offensive and more aggressive strategy,” Breton told a European space conference in Brussels.

The question is crucial. Without access to space, there is no space policy, and even less for a country like France since the technologies of the launchers are used for its nuclear deterrence.

The Italian rocket Vega C will fly this year and Ariane 6 in 2022, but Europeans seek to reflect on what their successors will be like and what will be the role of the public, which represents about 80% of launch needs in the world.

Should we renounce, in the name of efficiency, the so-called geographical return rule in force within the European Space Agency ((ESA)? It provides for industrial orders proportional to the contributions of each country.

Should we think of an “Ariane Next” (which will replace Ariane 6) on which ArianeGroup works with the Prometheus (low-cost reusable motor) and Themis (reusable vehicle module) programs, or make room for small launchers for the projects are multiplying, particularly in Germany?

– “The egg and the hen” –

For Thomas Jarzombek, German government coordinator for the space program, “Ariane must become much more competitive, which will require major organizational changes.”

“The response of the EU cannot consist in saying that we are going to continue with the same organization that we have had for 20 years and simply modernize the technology of space vehicles,” he tells AFP, before indicating that he is favorable to the opening from ESA flights to launchers other than Ariane and Vega.

For ESA CEO Jan Wörner, “more competition” would be needed in Europe for future launchers. “If we had a cheaper launcher, we can launch more and if more is launched, the cost of the launch can be reduced. It is the chicken and the egg,” he summarizes.

Faced with the Franco-German tension, the Economy Ministers of the two countries, Bruno Le Maire and Peter Altmaier respectively, confirmed in December in a joint statement their determination to “carry out” the Ariane 6 project, and urged the industry to “improve efficiency and competitiveness “, emphasizing the” crucial direction “involved in developing micro-launchers.

Instead, they abstained from mentioning the consolidation between ArianeGroup, the Italian Avio and the German OHB – which participate in Ariane 6 -, as the French minister wanted months ago.

Indeed, “Germany did its homework,” says Arianespace President Stéphane Israël. Berlin contributed 54 million euros of the additional 218 million (65 and 264 million dollars, respectivelyariabe

) agreed in December by ESA Member States for the Ariane 6 program which was delayed due to the pandemic.

For Thierry Breton, “Europe cannot allow itself to divide on these strategic issues” and must be “capable of going beyond national interests”.

The European Commissioner hopes to bring together ESA, industrialists, Member States and the European Parliament “in the coming months” around a “European alliance of launchers” to establish a “common European roadmap for the next generation of launchers” .

Their future depends on it, sums up a French source, who assures that “there is no interest neither for the Germans nor for the Italians nor for the French in competing (among themselves) with SpaceX in front”.

More from Author Ben Oakley here: https://globelivemedia.com/author/ben-oakley/

Categorized in:

Tagged in:

, , , ,