The European Space Agency is pushing for its members to back a program that allows it to independently launch its own astronauts into space, as well as an ambitious space exploration program.
On September 12, 1962, the then president of the USA, John F. Kennedy, pronounced in Houston some words that would go down in history: «We chose to go to the Moon». With that speech, he manifested the firm intention of his administration to get the Americans to set foot on our satellite for the first time. On February 16, 2022, Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), did something similar at the European Space Summit, held in Toulouse, France. ‘The time has come for a ‘ European ambition ‘ for space. Here and now », he declared after the French president, Manuel Macron, talk about the importance of space exploration for Europe.
Because the current management of the ESA does not want the old continent to be left out of the new space race, it is taking advantage of all possible opportunities to promote new goals.
A clear example is a new call for astronaut positions -including the first para-astronaut in history-, a process that has only taken place three times since 1978, the last one in 2008. But the executive wants to go further and is pressing for the member partners to approve new goals as ambitious as creating their own independent astronaut shuttle and taking the first European to walk on the Moon, a fact that Aschbacher dared to put a date on 2035. And the road would not end there, since later the trip of Europeans to Mars would have to be considered. Even further. Why not the promising moon of Saturn?
At the moment, only the United States, Russia, and China are capable of sending their own manned ships into space. Until recently, Europe contracted tickets on the Russian Soyuz; however, since NASA signed a contract with SpaceX for its Crew Dragons to take their astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), ESA has also opted for this means of transport. And although the messages so far suggested that we would continue to buy our ticket to space from other countries or companies, the new board – Aschbacher was appointed a year ago now – wants its own independent system.
“Why should Europe be excluded from the group of countries that dominate human spaceflight on their own? Should we run the risk that Europe will be overtaken by more and more countries in the development of the next strategic and economic zones, outer space? “said the director-general of the ESA during the same intervention, who demanded a” political mandate of course”, since “the ESA already dominates the technology”.
Thus, the head of the European space agency explained that he is establishing a high-level advisory group on human space exploration as part of his project. A group made up mostly of experts from outside the sector, “to ensure independent and impartial advice to prepare decisions at the ESA Ministerial Conference in November this year and a follow-up Space Summit in 2023.” Because their intentions will be worth nothing if the twenty countries that make up the space agency do not give their approval.
The ‘Manifesto of European Astronauts’
After the summit, the ESA published the text ‘ Manifesto of the European astronauts ‘, in which it is warned that the mistakes of the past in other strategic domains should not be repeated, «which made us depend on external actors for our energy requirements or information technology development. It also stresses that Europe remains a leader in areas such as Earth observation, navigation and space science, but has “a lagging position in the increasingly strategic domains of space transportation and exploration.”
The next day, Frank De Winne, director of ESA’s European Astronaut Center, stated that politics is the first part the agency must resolve, referring to support from member countries. “We hope to have that answer by the end of the year.” The big event will be the ministerial meeting, a meeting that is held once every three years, in which state members make decisions about which missions and programs will go forward and with what budget.
Once the program gets the go-ahead, it’s time to think about the details. “Which launcher we will use is not decided. Should it be an Ariane 6 or should we do something different as our colleagues at NASA have also done with SpaceX or with other companies?” De Winne said. Because, at the moment, Europe is allied with the French company Arianespace, which makes Ariane rockets. She has been responsible for, for example, creating the rocket that lifted the James Webb Space Telescope on its first leg of travel.
The ‘Matoshino Manifesto’
A year earlier, the ESA published a text, the ‘ Matoshinos Manifesto ‘, in which it stipulated its plan to accelerate its space race. Basically, the writing indicates three ‘accelerators’: to use the spatial vision of the Earth to raise awareness about the state of our planet and its possible futures; to help governments act decisively on crises facing Europe, from floods and storms to wildfires; and safeguard ESA astronauts and assets from interference from space debris and space weather.
It also points to two ‘inspirers’ “to reinforce European leadership in science, technological development and inspiration”: an icy moon sample return mission; and, precisely, the human exploration of space.
It is not the first time that Europe has thought about manned space flights. In the early 1980s, for example, the French space agency CNES began studies on the Hermes spaceplane, which would have been launched using the Ariane 5 rocket. However, the project was abandoned in the early 1990s after numerous delays. and financing problems without a single ship being built.
And, currently, research is already being carried out on manned missions in Europe. For example, a study presented at the 2021 Global Space Exploration Conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, looked at how the European Space Center in French Guiana could be converted to host human spacecraft launches. Or more recently the journal ‘ Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews ‘ published a paper exploring the feasibility of hibernation as a method for long space travel.
In addition, ESA is also involved in the Artemis Programme: spearheaded by NASA, this ‘new Apollo’ aims to return men and the first woman to the lunar surface within this decade as a prelude before humans visit Mars. “ Three seats have already been secured through our participation in the Gateway build. And if we can make more contributions to Artemis, that opens a door for European astronauts to set foot on the Moon,” David Parker, director of human and robotics exploration at ESA, said at a press conference a year ago.
“All we need is the support of decision-makers: give ESA a mandate to develop an ambitious roadmap for Europe’s future in space exploration, together let us achieve what was previously ‘impossible’ – states its manifesto. The time to set sail is now .”
