By flying on other people’s ships, the European Union only enriches its rivals space race
Although European astronauts have been flying into space since 1978, for decades they have had to be passengers on Russian and American ships – Europe does not have its own, so it depends on other countries. 45 European astronauts from the Space Research Association published a manifesto addressed to the authorities and posted on the website of the European Space Agency (ESA), writes arstechnica.com.
The document states that the leaders of the European Union should quickly decide whether the continent intends to accelerate its attempts to remain in the leading positions among the “space” states.
“While Europe is still at the forefront of many space-based endeavors such as Earth observation, navigation and space science, it is lagging behind in areas of increasing strategic importance: space exploration and transportation. Europe’s GDP can be compared with that of the United States, but its joint investment in space research does not even reach one-tenth of NASA’s expenses,” the manifesto states.
According to the organization, Russia has Soyuz, China has Shenzhou, and NASA has Crew Dragon ships developed by SpaceX. In the next two years, India intends to demonstrate its own project.
According to representatives of the Association of Space Explorers, the lack of own ships does not simply force to rely on the whims of partners, including Russia, NASA and private space carriers. Flying on SpaceX ships, the European Union only enriches its rivals in the space race.
“If we miss the chance to change the status quo, we will be forced to purchase flights to space from other entities, without any guarantees that our needs and values will be prioritized,” the agency said and urged not to repeat past mistakes that led the European Union to dependence on the supply of energy carriers and information technologies.
In addition, inaction will affect industrial competitiveness, with European taxpayers’ money being spent on foreign rivals.
The document appeared on February 16, when ESA held a summit in Toulouse, during which strategic issues of space exploration and the fight against climate change were discussed. Among the speakers was French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as other influential people. It is possible that the final decision on the creation of the EU’s own ship will be made during the meeting of the Council of Ministers in Paris in November of this year – it is there that the future cost estimate will be drawn up.
The day before, it became known that the European Union will spend $6.8 billion to create its own analogue of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite Internet.
