​After the Space Summit 2023 organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) on November 6-7 in Seville (Spain), Director General Josef Aschbacher said that European states should strengthen their positions of space power (among us or , Europe is at least second to the US and China in space exploration, manned or unmanned). One way this could be accomplished is by developing a vehicle that can send experiments and supplies into orbit and then to the International Space Station (ISS).

ESA will announce a proposal to its commercial partners to design and build this cargo vehicle (ie without a crew on board) to fly into orbit and to the International Space Station starting in 2028. Time is short, especially given that NASA has announced plans to deorbit the ISS in 2030; although there are some rumors that NASA would like to continue using the ISS beyond 2030, depending also on the wishes of other partners and the condition of the station’s modules.

It is likely that this European commercial vehicle will also be used in the post-ISS era, for future commercial space stations that will exist in near-Earth orbit (there are several such projects for this). Or to the Gateway lunar station under the Artemis program.

Two European companies have already expressed interest in participating in the competition organized by ESA. The Franco-German Exploration Company is proposing a capsule called Nyx, capable of lifting 4 tons into low Earth orbit but returning undamaged through the atmosphere (and thus bringing science experiments conducted in space back to earth).

In the future, Nyx could also be used to send cargo to the Gateway lunar space station, and the first flight could take place as early as 2027. Germany’s Rocket Factory Ausburg (RFA) announced back in September that it is working with three other European companies (Atmos Space Cargo, Sener and OHB) to create an unmanned cargo vehicle that can be used in orbit as an autonomous vehicle. as well as in conjunction with the International Space Station. RFA is best known for developing the RFA One light-caliber missile, which is expected to be unveiled early next year.

The program initiated by ESA is similar to the Commercial Orbital Transport Services (COTS) program of the US Space Agency (NASA), which, however, was started many years ago, in 2005, and which resulted in the Dragon (SpaceX) ) and Cygnus (initially Orbital ATK, now Northrop Grumman).

ESA will provide a budget of 75 million euros in the first phase (about 10 times less than the initial funds available in the US for COTS). Due to financial reasons, ESA has not yet begun the design of a capsule capable of carrying a crew, so European astronauts will still reach orbit aboard American vehicles, at least for the foreseeable future.

In 2008-2015, ESA had its own cargo ship for the International Space Station. A total of 5 ATVs (Automated Transfer Vehicles) were used to send 7 tons of supplies and experiments to the ISS, but ESA abandoned this vehicle to devote its resources to the creation of the ATV-derived European Service Module (ESM). It is currently used in the Artemis program as part of the Orion capsule, providing power and propulsion to the capsule.

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