The EU is a “highly dependent” technology entrepreneur Elon Musk’s from the SpaceX company.
SpaceX plays a very dominant role on a global level. In Western countries, it can reach an almost monopoly position.
Karu’s message is delivered by a professor of computational space physics at the University of Helsinki Minna Palmroth.
Musk’s influence only grows when Donald Trump will begin his presidency in January.
Trump has described Musk as a “super genius” and “the most important person in the country”. Trump placed Musk on a task force to help cut government spending and let him participate in summit talks.
In the Trump era, the duo may even aim for Mars, experts estimate.
When SpaceX conquers space, the EU may fall behind development permanently, says Professor Palmroth.
It would be particularly important for the EU to ensure that it is able to launch satellites independently.
It is important for several reasons:
Communication satellites guarantee a network connection without cables. Weather satellites provide invaluable information about storms in the midst of climate change. Intelligence satellites tell whether Russian military bases are empty or full.
All this requires launchers. They take satellites into space or into orbit.
Now the field is dominated by SpaceX. Europe fell off the hook years ago when the chips were hit for the wrong option.
Grinning Bowles, dreaming Musk
– SpaceX seems to be selling dreams. That’s fine, we all have to dream, Richard Bowles acknowledged at the interview.
The year was 2013. Bowles, director of sales for the European space company Arianespace didn’t cover it uphow ridiculous he thought Elon Musk’s dreams were.
Musk’s idea was to build a new type of launch vehicle.
In his vision, a reusable launch vehicle would carry a satellite, probe or spacecraft into space. When the cargo would detach from its target, the launch vehicle would descend in a controlled manner back to the ground.
The launch vehicle would soon be ready for a new launch.
Arianespace estimates that the production of reusable rockets would be terribly expensive, if one could be made to work at all.
– I think a relaunching rocket is a pipe dream. But a person must not be awakened from sleep. They have to wake up themselves, Bowles continued to grin.
Fast forward to October 2024.
Millions of people watched the live broadcast of SpaceX’s Super Heavy launch vehicle landing:
The rack easily caught the massive rocket.
After maintenance, the rocket could be launched into space again.
Musk’s rockets have made a big impression on Donald Trump.
Watch the video below of Trump saying he “loves” Musk during his presidential victory speech in West Palm Beach, Florida:
Launching SpaceX’s current basic model, the reusable Falcon 9 launch vehicle, costs around $60-70 million. Launches could be even cheaper, but there is no pressure to do so because there is no competition.
The reason for this is the adversities of the European space industry.
Europe dominated the launch market for decades with the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. However, launching it quickly cost more than one hundred million euros.
As the successor, it was decided to develop the single-use Ariane 6, whose launch price was planned to be around 65–85 million euros.
However, the corona pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine caused major production difficulties.
ESA has planned about nine Ariane 6 launches annually in the future.
SpaceX, on the other hand, plans to launch almost 140 launch vehicles next year.
SpaceX is able to scale up quickly because each new rocket can be relaunched multiple times.
ESA’s disposable rocket falls to the ground as scrap metal after launch.
The situation is not ideal, especially when Ariane 6 has been used to develop almost six billion euros EU subsidies.
State subsidies like smoke to the sky
However, SpaceX’s profit is not only about Musk’s excellence, Professor Palmroth points out. SpaceX has received procurement contracts worth 15 billion dollars from the United States. Musk has admitted the meaning of this help itself.
– Many people think that SpaceX is great when it is private. But it has exactly the same state subsidies as Arianespace, says Palmroth.
However, SpaceX differs from traditional space companies in many ways.
While many other players in the space industry rely on long-term launch modeling and simulation, SpaceX is known for relentless, non-stop rocket testing.
Rockets are launched with the threat of explosion to learn how to make them stay together.
Every manufactured in-housein order to avoid subcontracting chains that require time and coordination. Dedication is expected from the company’s engineers: in the job advertisement an aerodynamics engineer is expected to be “willing to work overtime and weekend work”.
Europe’s Arianespace, on the other hand, is a traditional space company. It has three owners: ESA, the French space agency CNES and the French aerospace giant Airbus.
The Ariane 6 rocket was mainly developed in France, Germany and Italy, but ten other EU countries also did smaller work.
Star tickets space race
– If we don’t get our launches working, Europe’s strategic autonomy in space is gone. It is this self-determination that is one of the basic pillars of the EU, says Palmroth.
Satellite launches involve questions concerning the security of the entire EU.
One of these is the orbits available for satellites of EU states and companies. Currently, the US and SpaceX only sell commercial launches to lower orbits.
– If a US and SpaceX monopoly is created in Western countries, it will be more difficult for us to buy satellite launches for higher orbits, Palmroth explains.
Solutions can be found even closer.
For example, Norway and Sweden are developing their launch capabilities. Palmroth insists that the EU should urgently concentrate its resources so that access to space is in its own hands.
– The United States is going space-side in the direction of China, to rapid state-led decision-making. There is nothing left for slow ones, says Palmroth.