The new space race

Space as a stage for geopolitical competition (or diplomacy) is nothing new – it has been this way since the race to the Moon and was continued during the Cold War. What is emblematic of this newer race is the relevance space plays in our everyday lives and the dependency that society and nations have on space for the economy, technology, medicine, entertainment, communication, security, transport, I could go on. Whereas space has traditionally been its own domain, its own sector, it is now becoming more and more interwoven with all other aspects of civilisation and society. Space has an enormous geo-strategic significance. Excellence in space mirrors global political and economic leadership. In short, a nation cannot be superpower if it is not a space power.

Over the last five years, the whole playing field of traditional space actors has been redefined as the commercialisation of space erupted, astronauts began launching to the International Space Station on American commercial vehicles, the Chinese flew to the Moon and launched their own national space station, and space tourism became more than just an intriguing concept. While new space protagonists were popping up from unexpected places, Europe was going in the opposite direction as growth and innovation were slowing. What’s more, ESA-EU cooperation was at a historic low and needed reversal. Simply put, European space was getting too comfortable with its own status quo.

This was the environment we found ourselves in when I took office in March 2021, and was ultimately the inspiration behind Agenda2025, a huge team effort from all corners within the ESA workforce and ESA Member States to reverse, streamline, unite and accelerate European space momentum. The first thing we did was to agree on a fresh start with the EU. We have shared many common victories and successes over the years, but there was some strain, and at the core of that strain was an ambiguity of roles and overlapping institutional agendas. We settled that with the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement. The FFPA was an important milestone and a sign of the changing times, of a renewed relationship between ESA and the EU.?Next came the creation of the Matosinhos Manifesto where ESA was given a clear and strong mandate by its Ministers to further develop Agenda 2025 through the Accelerator and Inspirator concepts – in close cooperation with the EU and other partners.

The first two Accelerators, ‘Space for a Green Future’ and ‘Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response’ will put satellite and data infrastructure into place by using key technologies like artificial intelligence, cognitive cloud computing, quantum gravimetry, high-performance computing and in-orbit communication to address the biggest challenge to humankind: climate change. All nations in Europe have declared carbon neutrality by the middle of this century as the most urgent action. We will develop a digital twin of our planet and create climate information factories across Europe through small and large industries to support carbon-neutrality. The second Accelerator will tightly link with the secure connectivity initiative proposed by the European Commission.

But this is not enough. The number of satellites launched is growing exponentially, dramatically increasing the risk of collisions. We cannot leave our satellite infrastructure or our astronauts at risk. This is the third Accelerator: ‘Protection of Space Assets’ posed to contribute to safeguarding and protecting European assets from space debris and from space weather interferences. Through these Accelerators we will support citizens, decision makers, civil protection agencies, firefighters, and rescue forces on the ground. ?Accelerators will also help unite Europe around programmes tackling the key challenges ahead of us while ensuring that users are in the focus.

Finally, we cannot talk about European space ambition without talking about inspiration. Our quest will always be driven by a common dream, to better understand our world, to explore, to discover. We need a forward-looking, independent, sovereign Europe, which remains at the forefront of the space adventure to inspire young talents and to motivate them. Thus, we have identified two Inspirators, one to explore whether there is life out there through a sample return mission to an icy moon of the outer Solar System, and one on human exploration. On the latter, human exploration, we need a united European political vision and leadership.

Our Accelerators and Inspirators must be relevant and awe-inspiring enough to incite the younger generation, a generation hungry to solve the challenges of their times that were created by ours and the ones that proceeded us. It is the current generation of youngsters who will push innovation and catapult our European industry into the worldwide race from which we cannot be absent. Thus, their buy-in towards STEM studies and careers is crucial. We must capture their attention via inspirational European space programmes.

If at Matosinhos we decided on the ‘if’ of an accelerated European space vision, the Space Summit is where we will decide the ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘when’ of the Accelerators, particularly of the ‘Space for a Green Future’. It is where I also hope to receive a clear mandate to initiate a debate for human exploration in Europe and have the political support to pave the way for an icy moon sample return mission. Thus, the Summit is the major political steppingstone on the way to the ESA Council at ministerial level in November 2022, where I strive to present a coherent set of attractive programme proposals for Europe. ?

Our plans are challenging, I know. But the Space Summit could go down in European space history. I say could, because we, ESA, are in a position to envision and propose a more ambitious European space future but, ultimately, it will be up to the highest political level of decision makers to put their weight behind tangibly accelerating European space activities. Maybe they will choose not to. But I firmly believe that Europe is at a crossroads, and we simply cannot afford to stand still like we did some 20 years ago when information technology was booming, leading to the creation of some of the largest companies worldwide. Unfortunately, these companies are today not based in Europe despite a recognised world-excellence of Europeans in this domain. In space, we can make the difference as we have global leadership and excellence in many domains, and we need to convert them into global successes for Europe and its people.

My plea is that Europe be not merely a player in the new world, but to be a game-changer in the near-future of space, not merely for the sake of space, but for the sake of European people, for our well-being as a continent, for the inspiration of young talents and for an economic stimulus. Space unites people around dreams and big visions. We are ready to do that. Now. At the #SpaceSummit!

?

?