Europe — towards a new long-term programme

The European response to the US invitation to participate in the space station programme will determine the long-term future of the European space industry. The European Space Agency is charged with replying to the invitation, which will be one of the items on the agenda of the first ministerial meeting of the Council in early 1985. All going well, by the end of 1985 Europe will have developed a new long-term strategy towards space which will include substantial collaboration with the USA.     

Competitiveness of the European space industry. Lessons from Europe's role in NATO

This article aims to illustrate how the predominant role of the US military space capabilities within NATO adversely affects the European space industry's competitiveness and performance, as compared with the USA space industry. Thus, first the intra-NATO specialization is illustrated, followed by an analysis of the economics of the space industry. The connection is made through an economics model whose results verify the hypothesis, and predicts that the recent commitment by the WEU to military space can improve the position of the European space industry, especially if followed by close cooperation between the WEU and ESA.     

Space: a challenge for Europe

This Viewpoint presents an industrial perspective of the policies needed to support and advance the capabilities and competitiveness of the European space industry. It is argued that Europe needs a coordinated longterm space policy to help create the climate in which industry can invest in and exploit space. Europe must also accelerate the development of advanced technology products and services, improve its competitiveness in applications and commercial markets including launchers, and secure fair and reliable international partnerships in in-orbit infrastructure and manned space activities. To this end European governments are urged to acknowledge the increasing political, economic and military importance of space and their continuing governance of space activities, and to establish mechanisms that promote industrial competitiveness; the development of the commercial sector; autonomy in key technologies; and international partnerships which are fair and affordable.     

CNES—the way forward: A new strategic plan

This article is based on the French space centre's (CNES) new strategic plan, which marks a shift in strategy. Guided in particular by changed political circumstances and the growing maturity of the space industry, the agency plans to renegotiate its relationships in all major sectors. While the inevitability of European integration and hence cooperation is acknowledged, there is a firm commitment to ensuring that French national and foreign policy is well served.     

Governance of national space activities

Senior political and space agency personnel joined representatives of industry and other space-related institutions for a conference, held in Budapest in January 2009, on how best to structure national and European space governance. Four sessions examined the subject of the conference from a top-down European, a bottom-up national, a theoretical and actor-based and a discursive–participative perspective. The themes and outcomes of the conference are reported below.     

Soyuz in French Guiana: A strategic perspective

After a proposition from Russia to France, ESA agreed to see Soyuz rockets take off from French Guiana. From industry, to governments and agencies, many Russian and European actors were involved in this project and they all had different motives. It is therefore relevant to try to discern them so as to understand the rationale behind this cooperative endeavor. Soyuz's primary role is to consolidate Arianespace commercial position in the launching market and to bring activity and founding to a stagnating Russian space sector. With this decision Arianespace will have a full range of commercially available launchers with Soyuz completing the two European rockets Vega and Ariane V. But since Vega and Ariane must have the priority, there is a risk to see an insufficient launch rate for Soyuz, which would not satisfy the Russian partners. Commercial elements alone cannot justify the agreement. There is a larger strategic ambition behind. What is at stake is the future development of innovative launch systems. It is important for ESA to maintain an autonomous access to space and to maintain a dynamic and strong European propulsion industry. Cooperation with Russia can offer an increase of expandable rockets capabilities and can pave for the next generation of launch vehicles. Moreover, we can detect an interest in acquiring a system that has the potential for human space flight capacity. Finally, the decision to launch Soyuz from French Guiana was the conjunction of Russian and French national interests, which led to a complete redefinition of the relations between Europe and Russia. It is of strategic importance that we, Europeans, adapt to this evolution and understand the new place that Russia takes in our space sector.     

Effects of commercialisation in the European space sector

Space activities are evolving from publicly financed to commercial undertakings. In 2000, the 50% mark was reached in Europe and this figure shows a steadily increasing tendency. Reduced public funding and increased technical maturity in space technologies have been the major forces driving this commercialisation process. European industry has adapted itself to this new environment with a number of mergers over the last decade. Strategic alliances represent the second, current phase in this process in order to cope with the challenges of the global space sectors. Besides national space legislation, new regulatory frameworks, initiated by the European commission and the WTO, as well as an increasingly internationally oriented workforce will accelerate this commercialisation process.     

What is the state of play in European governance of space policy?

The European way of doing space differs from others in that, while carried out cooperatively, there is no fully integrated space policy. This is inevitable in a non-sovereign entity whose members do not have the same priorities in many vital sectors such as energy, industry and political economy, and has nevertheless produced some excellent programmes. But, against the background of the worldwide increase in space players and capabilities, Europe's current lack of ambition and foresight, and its limited ability to respond to external developments are worrying. It needs to be more open about its governance and financing plans, something missing from the latest European Commission communication. In these difficult economic times a complete rethinking of future space plans would enable Europe to prioritise on the strategic niches which must be preserved, while proper investigation of the management failures of the flagship programmes might help avoid such difficulties in the future.     

Prospects for Euro-Indian space cooperation

This is the executive summary of a report prepared for the European Commission by LD consultants on the status of India's space industry and the prospects for European firms to invest in it. India has impressive launch capabilities, telecommunications and disaster warning satellites but commercialization of its activities is occurring only slowly. There are many opportunities for joint ventures with Europe (which must not let the USA consolidate its superior position in the broadcasting field) but issues of technology transfer and India's unhappiness with the MTRC must first be resolved. As well as selling products and services, Europeans should also be prepared to buy those Indian components that are available more competitively.     

European initiative & strategy for prioritising and harmonising space technology R&D

This document outlines the objectives, strategy guidelines, and the approach for the harmonisation of European space technology activities, in line with and in support of the resolution “Shaping of the Future of Europe in Space”, adopted at the ESA Ministerial Council in May 1999.Under an overall ESA co-ordination, the European space sector is elaborating a technology strategy based on top-level priorities (Dossier 0), on the mapping of European development and competences and on a co-ordinated Space Technology Master Plan (ESTMP). This plan shall take into account the various European developments, industry capacities and budgets and shall enhance the complementary role of the various partners towards common objectives.The proposed strategy includes selection of priority activities as pilot projects for harmonisation. For these pre-selected pilot projects, agreements are required on responsibilities, leaderships, partnerships and budget commitments.     

Is there really any duplication in Europe''s space activities?

At a time of declining space budgets in Europe, and of a consequent need to make savings, accusations of wasteful duplication—resulting from the large number of national agencies pursuing programmes alongside ESA—are rife, as are calls for the space industry further to consolidate. This viewpoint argues that duplication is not really the issue, however, since most national agencies have become specialists in particular fields. Nor would industry restructuring be straightforward, given the fact that Europe cannot be satisfied with a single source of supply. What is needed is better coordination between space agencies upstream to avoid later duplication, as is now being pursued through ESA's ‘harmonisation process’. The move to create a Network of Centres could also promote worthwhile collective action. These initiatives are more realistic than the technocratic aim of completely restructuring European space.     

Choices for Europe

The first European space conference was held in Paris from 22 to 24 April 1991. There were disappointingly few continental European delegates, which is perhaps explained by the fact that these people already know what is happening on the European space scene, something a variety of speakers attempted to cover.     

The Future of Public–Private Partnerships in Satellite Communications

Around 50 leaders and experts from space industry, governmental and financial institutions participated in an ESA conference on “The Future of Public–Private Partnerships in Satellite Communications” in Vienna in March 2009. An increasing portion of commercial and institutional space projects are operated under the provisions of service contracts, with public–private partnerships (PPPs) becoming a significant source of financing for space programmes. The conference was based on a study initiated by ESA and performed by Euroconsult, Milbank and ESPI, outlining the main perspectives of modern PPP models in the European satellite communications sector.     

Global and European challenges for space law at the edge of the 21st century

An international symposium, ‘Global and European Challenges for Air and Space Law at the Edge of the 21st Century’, organised by the Institute of Air and Space Law (Cologne) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), took place from 8 to 10 June 2005 in Cologne. The conference assembled space law experts from industry, academic and international institutions world-wide. Areas of discussion were national space legislation, the current relationship of ESA and the EU, and common issues in air and space law with regard to future aerospace applications. This report examines the common denominators underlying all these three areas.     

Defining a European space research policy: The role of the European Space Science Committee

The willingness of the European Union (EU) to acquire an important position by defining a well articulated space policy for Europe requires a redefinition of the roles of the various actors of this policy. This has been demonstrated at the last ESA Ministerial Conference despite the financial difficulties encountered by all spacefaring European countries. The European Space Science Committee (ESSC), an associated Committee of the European Science Foundation (ESF), actively participated in the elaboration of such a policy by presenting the point of view of the space scientific community and making recommendations to ensure that scientific space research is appropriately accounted for in overall European space policy. The ESSC is briefly described along with its activities and contributions to the definition of a European space policy.     

European space research in support of international partnership

The envisaged future space research programmes, whether in the field of space exploration or Earth observation are becoming more and more technically complicated and so costly that a single nation can hardly afford to realize them. Major non-European space-faring nations, China and India will progressively play an important role besides US, Russia and Japan. The Space Advisory Group of the European Commission recommended that the European Commission supports within Horizon 2020 a comprehensive Robotic Mars-Exploration Programme under European leadership that should become an essential element of a coordinated international space research programme. The International Space Station (ISS) experience shows that cooperative space programmes build links between industries and laboratories from around the world, which then further develop in non-space related activities, with positive impact on the economy and scientific research. Strategies need to be developed to mitigate the gradual increasing risks incurred by climate change. In order to lower their entry barrier to engage in space emerging and developing space nations need to be included in cooperative space programmes. We present the recommendations of the Space Advisory Group of the European Commission concerning Europe's participation to global space endeavours.     

EVA 2000: a European/Russian space suit concept

For the European manned space activities an EVA space suit system was being developed in the frame of the Hermes Space Vehicle Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The space suit was to serve the needs for all relevant extravehicular activities for the Hermes Columbus operations planned to begin in 2004. For the present Russian manned space programme the relevant EVAs are performed by the Orlan-DMA semi-rigid space suit. The origin of its development reaches back to the 1970s and has since been adapted to cover the needs for extravehicular activities on Salyut and MIR until today. The latest modification of the space suit, which guaranteed its completely self-contained operation, was made in 1988. However, Russian specialists considered it necessary to start developing an EVA space suit of a new generation, which would have improved performance and would cover the needs by the turn of the century and into the beginning of the next century. Potentially these two suit developments could have a lot in common based on similarities in present concepts. As future manned space activities become more and more an international effort, a safe and reliable interoperability of the different space suit systems is required. Based on the results of the Munich Minister Conference in 1991, the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency agreed to initiate a requirements analysis and conceptual design study to determine the feasibility of a joint space suit development, EVA 2000. The design philosophy for the EVA 2000 study was oriented on a space suit system design of: space suit commonality and interoperability; increased crew productivity and safety; increase in useful life and reduced maintainability; reduced development and production cost. The EVA 2000 feasibility study was performed in 1992, and with the positive conclusions for EVA 2000, this approach became the new joint European Russian EVA Suit 2000 Development Programme. This paper gives an overview of the results of the feasibility study and presents the joint requirements and the proposed design concept of a jointly developed European Russian space suit.     

Moving Europe towards a more effective procurement of space-based assets

It has become essential for European states to consider a more coherent strategy in the procurement of future space assets in order to safeguard European industrial competitiveness. Space-related research programmes remain uncoordinated and separated between civil, military and commercial applications. This paper explores the present European institutional environment and the interaction between different actors involved in space procurement. New developments are underway with the establishment of the European Defence Agency and the attempt to federate existing groups and actions. Institutional users of space systems, including defence customers, often rely on the same technology. The article considers space procurement from a widespread perspective, which goes beyond sectoral boundaries. The establishment of a permanent advisory forum is suggested in order to centralise various requirements at European level and procure space assets more efficiently.     

Innovation and change? The evolution of Europe's small satellite manufacturers

Since the 1980s a trend has emerged to contain the cost of space missions, which has favored trials in the construction and launch of small satellites. This effort has considerably reduced the cost of the satellites because the construction process uses both traditional components and important technological innovations. There have also been market openings for small satellites, both within the telecommunication sector and for scientific missions and those related to Earth observation. This paper contains the results of a survey of the largest manufacturers of small satellites in Europe and investigates how far (if at all) they have changed the structure of the European space industry. It finds that, through the acquisition of small satellite manufacturers, traditional large companies operating in the field of space in Europe have secured for themselves important technological innovations and market opportunities, while maintaining their oligopolistic position.     

Rebuilding US launch capabilities

Attempts to rebuild US commercial launch capabilities through stimulating private industry will be constrained by the fact that free-market competition does not really exist in the space industry. As the worldwide supply of launch vehicles grows, the policy now offered by the US government is only likely to fragment the US space launch vehicle industry. The author argues in favour of a proposal to establish a quasi-governmental corporation for space launches which would both safeguard the interests of government and commercial users and ensure that business acumen was applied.