After five months on the International Space Station (ISS), Anna Kikina returned to Earth with her eyes full of stars. “It was a wonderful atmosphere! »exclaimed the Russian cosmonaut, referring to her relations with her American and Japanese colleagues during the Crew-5 mission of Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
The station is one of the last areas where Washington and Moscow are still cooperating since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine at the end of February 2022. And space is – more than ever – an area of economic competition and geopolitical conflict.
Is the Old Continent ready to ensure its autonomy in the face of the domination of the United States and the rise of China? Far from it, answers a group of independent experts mandated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in a report published Thursday, March 23.
There is no other choice than to invest more capital, public and private, in the conquest of space by man and by robot in order to free ourselves from the Americans, summarized Cédric O, former French digital secretary of state, now adviser to the ESA, convinced that the cost of inaction would be “even higher than that of an expense”.
“Generate real competition”
With one billion euros, ESA’s exploration budget pales in comparison to the 14 billion dollars (13 billion euros) of the American NASA. Nevertheless, “space is on the threshold of a revolution comparable to that of the Internet twenty years ago”, notes the report. Less expensive to put into orbit thanks to recoverable launchers, the satellites will make it possible to increase civilian and military applications. With, by 2040, the prospect of a market of 1,000 billion euros, of which Europe should aim for 30%.
But the hard point will remain the overhaul of cooperation between the 22 ESA countries, ossified by the rule of geographical return: each State receives a volume of activity in proportion to its participation in the program, thus protecting its industries from competition. On the contrary, it is necessary “to stimulate real competition between European companies and encourage the emergence of new players” similar to SpaceX or Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, the report insists.
Despite its failure on Wednesday, the first launch of a 3D printed rocket from the American Relativity Space is a new reminder of Europe’s backwardness. This could create its own station when the ISS disappears, in 2031, before landing the moon with a first manned flight in ten years.
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