July 21, 1968. Neil Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 spaceflight, planted his foot on the Moon, becoming the first human being ever to do so. The moment is immortalized in the words “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” And in a flash, the U.S. is united by a supreme achievement of human courage, intelligence and daring.
Perhaps it is because of this achievement, and U.S. victory in the Cold War ‘space race,’ that the U.S. continues to take space so seriously. Perhaps it is because of China’s assertive push to become an equally strong player in the space arena.
The field, of course, has changed — space today means navigation, the internet, weather forecasts. But what hasn’t is its connection to soft power and innovation, as well as — however much we might wish for an end to conflict — something vital to national defense.
It isn’t just the U.S. and China that recognize this. Europe does, too. And yet, Europe continues to lean heavily on its allies when it comes to the space sector, and thus defense. A recent batch of Galileo navigation satellites, for instance, designed to provide precise location data to users in the same way as the U.S.’ Global Positioning System, will be sent into space not by European launchers, but by American ones. A private company, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has been contracted for the job.
It’s good to have friends like the U.S., and access to its most successful private companies. But contracting U.S. companies does nothing to support European autonomy: Europe could do more of its share.
The end result might be the same (and desirable): Europe gets its satellites into space; problem solved. But it perpetuates a longer-term problem, which is Europe’s failure to support its homegrown space sector and become more independent.
Investment is an issue. The challenge isn’t so much a lack of money or appetite, but the conditions for investment, which are needlessly…
Read the full article here