“Change of era” to keep Europe on the global space map: in the face of international competition, the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to position itself as a simple customer, instead of directly managing certain space programs, even if this means revising the rule of its operational history. AFP reports.

With the Americans, Chinese and Indians racing to the moon, startups booming, and the space economy set to double to €1 trillion by 2040, not to mention a rocket crisis denying them access to space, the Europeans had to respond. .

After tense talks in Seville, the 22 member states reached an agreement that “marks a decisive turning point in the history of European space,” according to French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire.

The agreement provides for an annual subsidy of up to 340 million euros to finance the economic balance of the Ariane 6 rocket from the 16th to the 42nd flights.

This corresponds to planned launches between 2026 and 2030. The financial balance of the first 15 flights has already been secured by a preliminary agreement.

For the small Italian Vega-C rocket, grounded after an accident in December 2022, government subsidies could reach 21 million euros a year from its 26th to 42nd flight, Aschbacher said.

These subsidies should ensure that the two rockets can withstand stiff international competition, especially from the US company Space X, which alone launches nearly two rockets a week.

Modeled after NASA

In particular, the agreement establishes the principle of a new model based on the one adopted by NASA in the USA for several years.

ESA will launch a competition between manufacturers to design a cargo ship, which it then plans to use as an anchor customer. The goal is to act quickly and reduce costs.

As far as future missile programs are concerned, it is also about manufacturers pitting themselves against each other.

Primarily for small launchers, a niche occupied by numerous European startups. ESA plans to allocate 150 million euros to individual industrialists to develop their rockets and then purchase launch services.

Ariana lesson 6 learned

“Prior to Ariane 5, the launcher was designed and developed by the agency, and the manufacturers were only subcontractors. Now, on the other hand, we can simply buy release services from the manufacturers responsible for development. The problem with Ariane 6 is that we have created a hybrid model that has the worst of both worlds,” said a close source.

As a result, between delays and cost overruns, ESA member states were forced in Seville to subsidize the rocket’s operation by up to 340 million euros a year to keep it competitive against SpaceX.

But SpaceX is also “heavily subsidized by the U.S. government,” which pays far more for purchased flights than it charges commercial customers, says Philippe Baptiste, president of Cnes, the French space agency.