Europe Space Chief Heads to Gulf as Bloc Looks Beyond US: ESA Seeks Less Reliance on America, Eyes Framework Deal With UAE
ABU DHABI, November 2 — European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher will meet officials in the United Arab Emirates this week, attending meetings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as Europe seeks new partners and aims to reduce its reliance on the United States for space exploration.
According to Reuters on November 2, Aschbacher said: "Number one, we should strengthen our capability, become a stronger player in the global ecosystem, but one that uses its strength to still work with other partners." He said Europe is "very exposed to the United States" in exploration and that European political leaders had told him the region needed "more autonomy and more strength." The rise of Elon Musk's SpaceX has laid bare Europe's reliance on American space technology.
The European Space Agency's decades-long cooperation with NASA has weakened after Washington scaled back or halted common projects, including the Lunar Gateway programme to deploy a space station in lunar orbit and the Mars Sample Return mission. Aschbacher said about 5 percent of the ESA's budget is linked to cooperation with the US, and Europe also relies on US providers to send its astronauts into space.
Aschbacher said that over the longer term, the ESA hopes to sign a framework agreement with the UAE, which launched the Arab world's first mission to Mars in 2020. The UAE operates several satellites and sent two of its nationals into space through its astronaut programme, but cannot yet organise launches on its own and does not own an independent satellite navigation system like the EU's Galileo or the US Global Positioning System. Discussions between the ESA and the UAE include a possible lunar rover launch and the potential participation of an Emirati astronaut in the EPIC programme, which would fly a crew to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX spacecraft. Aschbacher will also visit a joint venture between Franco-American startup Loft Orbital and Abu Dhabi-backed Marlan Space to develop a satellite constellation, after France and the UAE agreed to deepen a strategic defence agreement between the two countries.
Asked if the UAE could invest in projects in collaboration with the ESA, Aschbacher declined to discuss ongoing talks. He said in September that Europe would need 10 billion euros (11.2 billion US dollars) over the next 10 years to strengthen its autonomy in space. He said the funding gap may be discussed with the UAE but added that the ESA first needs European governments to agree on their own level of funding: "Once this decision is made, we will look into international cooperation."
(Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 欧洲航天局局长约瑟夫·阿施巴赫。 ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. CC BY-SA 4.0，图片来源：Wikimedia Commons。 CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
