Article text (English translation)ESA boss: ‘With such a low contribution, the Netherlands will lose space activities’ Bruno of Wayenburg 9–12 minutes Thousands of space enthusiasts will be flocking this Sunday on the grounds of space center Estec in Noordwijk: teenagers, adults, parents with children on their hands or on shoulders, some dressed as Star Wars character or alien. Where normally fences, cameras and strict passport control keep out uninvited guests, you can now walk over the heads in the Space NL tent, where you run into astronaut André Kuipers. There are also numerous employees of the European space agency ESA, to tell the public about ‘their’ satellite, rocket or other space project. ‘Great’, says Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s Director General, in the afternoon. Estec is the largest development and testing centre of his organization. For the occasion, Aschbacher was stabbed today in a tough blue astronaut overall. “People come here from all over Europe to see what we do. Space is about technology, but also about inspiration and the sparking of dreams.” In recent years, those dreams have been less peaceful. Satellites transmit images of battlefields and communicate with drones, tanks and command posts. Cross- and ballistic missiles and drones rely on satellite navigation to calculate their target, although those signals are increasingly being disrupted. A growing number of countries, including the Netherlands, have provided its armed forces with a space department. In July, the Netherlands launched its first operational military satellite. What does this war mood mean for ESA? In 1975, the founding declaration involved “excluding peaceful purposes.” “The defense dimension is not entirely new. Space travel is by definition dual use [for peaceful and defence applications]. Take ESA’s weather satellites. Farmers and shipping use those for weather forecasts, as do air forces and intelligence services. And missiles were once developed to deliver bombs. ‘In recent years, it has become clear that Europe needs to become more autonomous and resilient, including in space. We have therefore had discussions with the ESA Member States to clarify how to interpret the ESA mission: to what extent should we work on defence applications? ‘The outcome: ‘peaceful purposes’ does not exclude defence applications. The United Nations also has peaceful purposes and at the same time deploys armed blue helmets. ESA will not work on assault weapons, such as military missiles, but we can and will develop technology for defense purposes. “This is how we are now building the European satellite communication network IRIS2. There is also a proposal for European Resilience from Space [ERS], a project for defence applications. That’s a constellation of satellites with high-resolution cameras in the optical and infrared range, and with radar, which can take images of the same area several times a day. In the final constellation of dozens of satellites, they pass by every twenty to thirty minutes. Individual satellites in it are owned by the national defence ministries, but through interoperability everyone has access to the same images. “ESA has a lot of experience in building such satellite systems. Member States can register for this project at the Ministerial Conference, at the end of November in Bremen. “The first satellite is due to be launched as early as 2028, which is extremely fast in space terms. ESA may have a little dynamic image – partly wrongly, I think – but we can do this. For Italy, ESA is building the Iride network, which consists of 68 satellites with similar targets. The first seven satellites were launched in June.” Defense in space is no longer just about signals. Russia, China and also the US have done tests with the shooting down of satellites. Recently, a British general reported that the six British defence satellites are being disturbed and shadowed by Russian satellites on a weekly basis. “This is exactly what I mean by the inherent dual use character of space technology. Operations in which one satellite comes close to another can serve to repair satellites, move them or clean up harmful space debris. But also to disturb them, to listen, to hijack or destroy them. “We are also working on this technology. For the scientific mission Proba3, two satellites must fly very precisely in formation. One has a camera, the other a disc that covers the sun very precisely. Only in this way can you make images of the corona, the thin outer layers of the sun. ‘But we could also use the same methods for satellite formation flying, at the request of Member States, for other purposes. We would like to do that, but at the moment there is no program to develop that.” You mentioned the ministerial conference in November, what are the main points there? ‘ERS, that project for defence applications. And we have plans for Earth observation, always a priority for us, for weather satellites, IRIS2, monitoring against incoming large asteroids, scientific projects, the development of European small launchers and of the space economy in the individual Member States. “This year, our budget was 7.7 billion euros. It remains to be seen how much Member States want to provide over the next three years. Part of their contribution is mandatory, part optional: Member States decide for themselves how much they invest. According to our georeturn system, their money will come back through assignments for their national space industries.” What is the Dutch contribution? “We would like to say something about that. The Netherlands contributes 173 million euros mandatory [for three years], related to gross domestic product. In addition, 170 million has been announced for the optional program. When I saw that completely, I first thought I didn’t get it right. This is far below what I consider appropriate for the Netherlands, given the capacity of your industry and the importance and necessity of European space ambition. “Of course the decision is up to the government, but we believe this creates major problems for the Dutch space industry. If this amount remains so low, the number of ESA contracts with Dutch companies will decrease, which will result in a reduction in space activities in the Netherlands. It’s that simple. “And that is beyond the fact that Estec is located here, the largest ESA centre. According to our estimates, 3,500 employees and all visitors provide the Dutch economy with about 600 million euros per year. “This is separate from the contracts for the space industry. If you contribute proportionately to the total amount, you would amount to 1.1 billion euros – which also flows back to the Dutch industry. So how come you only contribute 343 million in total?” Isn’t it a voluntary contribution? “Yes, but the result will be that Estec’s activities will be reduced. And they will then go to centres in other countries, because I cannot continue to support them with this funding. “Three years ago, I decided to move the headquarters of the Human and Robotic Exploration centre from Noordwijk to Cologne. There are many Member States with great interest in building these types of centres and strengthening their industries. So I think the Netherlands should take another good look at its contribution. “ Speaking of austerity: The Trump administration wants to cut 6 billion dollars on NASA, almost a quarter of the budget. ESA cooperates intensively with NASA, especially in scientific missions and in the manned lunar program Artemis. “There are nineteen scientific missions in which we work together. Three of them would be major consequences from the cuts: the space-gravity wave antenna LISA [planned launch 2035}, X-ray telescope Athena [2037] and the Venus mission EnVision [2031]. Nothing is certain yet [Congress and Senate are holding back the discount for the time being], but we are looking at how we can absorb those cuts, within Europe or with other countries, such as Japan. “In some cases, we have already decided to work on alternatives. We can’t wait for a decision in the US. The Mars Sample Return mission has already been scrapped for the time being; it would return collected rock samples from Mars to Earth. ESA would supply a Mars satellite, ERO, as an intermediate station in the return journey. We are now looking at how we can convert that mission into a research satellite in an orbit around Mars.” How is the development of own European missiles? “With the Ariane 6, we have had our own European heavy launcher since last year. To develop smaller and cheaper European rockets and to boost the European space economy, we have launched the European Launcher Competition.” Last March, the German ISAR Aerospace made a first launch attempt with its Spectrum rocket, from northern Norway. The rocket soon crashed, but ISAR considered the attempt a success because of the experience gained and the data collected. No problem, says Aschbacher about the incident: “This is part of developing a rocket. I think they are very capable at ISAR and will soon launch a rocket successfully. I’d like to become a client of them. “There are four other European rocket makers in the competition. ESA will then become the anchor customer and also support the building and improvement of physical infrastructure for European space. I will also ask the Member States for a contribution in November.”
Thanks for posting!
It’s an interesting time for Europe. They have plenty of expertise in satellites, pressure vessels, etc., but very little domestic launch capabilities. Looking forward to see how the rockets from ISAR, RFA, PLD, and MaiaSpace turn out.
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