Unlike other space nations, Europe cannot send astronauts into space itself. But things could get moving at a space summit.
Toulouse – Europe’s space agency Esa wants to make progress on the question of its own access to space.
Esa boss Josef Aschbacher hopes to get a political mandate at the space summit in Toulouse to start the discussion on the subject. As Aschbacher once said, Europe cannot afford not to have autonomous access to space. What is meant is the possibility of bringing astronauts into the cosmos yourself. Although Europe has a spaceport in Kourou in French Guiana, there is no European spacecraft for manned flights.
Europe’s future in space
Esa astronauts are currently flying into the universe with the US space agency Nasa. According to Esa, apart from Europe, all major powers in space had their own access. With the increasing commercialization of the past few years, private providers are also making the way into the cosmos possible. In Aschbacher’s opinion, Europe lagged behind and was satisfied with its status quo. According to ESA, the ability to take astronauts into space aboard their own vehicles would secure Europe’s future in space.
The responsible ministers of the European Union also want to talk about climate change in Toulouse. For example, ESA expects concrete political decisions on how to proceed with a project for the more targeted use of earth observation data to mitigate climate change. Other topics will be networking and the safe use of space. The meeting in Toulouse combines a meeting of the ESA Council of Ministers with an informal meeting of the responsible EU ministers. dpa
