{"id":830011,"date":"2025-02-26T13:12:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T19:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/will-esas-fair-contribution-reinvigorate-europes-space-ambitions-no-it-wont\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:12:56","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T19:12:56","slug":"will-esas-fair-contribution-reinvigorate-europes-space-ambitions-no-it-wont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/will-esas-fair-contribution-reinvigorate-europes-space-ambitions-no-it-wont\/","title":{"rendered":"Will ESA\u2019s \u2018fair contribution\u2019 reinvigorate Europe\u2019s space ambitions? No, it won\u2019t."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Europe, imaged by an Earth observation satellite. Credit: NASA \/ LANCE\/EOSDIS Rapid Response team<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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At a Dec. 18, 2024, ESA council briefing<\/a>, the Director General, Josef Aschbacher, said the agency would strive in 2025 to \u201csimplify\u2019\u201d the long-standing principle of geo-return. According to that principle, ESA pays back to each country in industrial contracts the value of what it gives to the agency. If France gives 100,000 euros to ESA, ESA gives France 100,000 euros. It\u2019s a policy that ensures fairness. But it\u2019s also one that has come under fire. As recently as September, Mario Draghi, in his \u201cFuture of European Competitiveness report,\u201d blamed geo-return <\/a>for Europe\u2019s failure to \u201creact to the global technology evolution,\u201d citing a downturn in its space industry\u2019s commercial and export sales. Geo-return, critics claim, hurts competitiveness.<\/p>\n

The good news, for those critics, is that a different approach is being tested. \u201cFair contribution\u201d involves allowing companies to compete for projects, and then letting member states make contributions based on how their companies did. ESA will have companies compete to build launchers, an industry in Europe industry that which Draghi said was \u201cin crisis\u201d. Funding will be allocated in line with the results of the European Launcher Challenge. Industry can form consortia and propose to ESA based on that. ESA will then prepare formal procurement proposals to member states for funding based on those plans from industry.<\/p>\n

Importantly, Europe here is working on how to establish the right bureaucracy rather than how to get more funding overall. The smallest amount of money typically awarded to contractors by NASA is close to the largest given by ESA. There is a night-and-day difference in funding between the world\u2019s biggest space players and Europe. Making the continent competitive is crucial, but it\u2019s still only half the battle. If Europe wants to be independent \u2014 if it wants to reach its long\u2013term, greatly prized goal<\/a> of \u201cstrategic autonomy\u201d \u2014 it must attract more investment. For the critics, relaxing geo-return could even obscure this need for funding.<\/p>\n

At present, many space startups, especially those making defense products or products with dual-use applications, are still viewed with suspicion by government and public agencies in Europe. They\u2019re often seen as untested, unproven and therefore not worthy of sizable investment. That\u2019s a problem, because many space startups develop technology or products with defence applications; the two areas often overlap. Growth-stage companies, equally, struggle. Lack of available funding causes companies to stagnate. Because Europe has exceptional education and research institutions, producing world-class talent and technology, the continent has become a hunting ground for the United States and Asia, which will back talent and support innovation so that they flourish. European talent ends up supporting the space industries elsewhere at the expense of our own.<\/p>\n

Another key reason for this is Europe\u2019s lack of programs like the U.S.\u2019s DARPA, which provides significant funding to startups working on critical, high-impact technologies. This financial support is crucial for startups, as it not only supports growth but also attracts additional venture capital and debt funding. Addressing this gap could be vital to reinvigorating Europe\u2019s space ambitions and fostering a thriving ecosystem for innovation within the continent.<\/p>\n

This is becoming a pressing necessity. The new pace Race is growing more competitive. Countries like India, Japan and Europe are all competing to go to Mars. Under a Trump administration of which Elon Musk, head of SpaceX is part, we can expect the U.S. to double down on private space and its role in, for example, the Artemis program. ESA risks becoming pushed to the sidelines. Given the overlap between space and defence, with space companies producing materials, communication methods and other dual-purpose technologies, this makes Europe vulnerable. ESA has to strengthen its commitments, be open to making changes, become less reliant on NASA \u2014 or risk getting left behind. If Germany, France and the United Kingdom were to use their soft power and clout to press for greater progress in European space, that could happen.<\/p>\n

Will fair competition and relaxing geo-return reinvigorate Europe\u2019s space ambitions? It certainly signals a change of attitude at the agency, one that reflects present realities and isn\u2019t content just to continue what was done in the past. In a sector like space, which grows more and more strategic, and in which companies are always innovating, a flexible approach is required to stay competitive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the brutal truth is that no, fair competition and relaxing geo-return will not reinvigorate European space ambitions. Indeed, the shift I\u2019ve discussed is a mere drop in the ocean in terms of its effect. It won\u2019t lead to funding on a level that is anywhere close to where it needs to be. Direct government payments still go to the big companies and not the startups. European startups are still left unable to generate revenue with government contracts, either during R&D or production. This has to change. And it has to change fast. We need a transformation of approach, and a transformation at the level of culture. Unless we bring down barriers, address bottlenecks and start moving funds towards Europe\u2019s space startups, then the continent\u2019s ambitions will remain unfulfilled.<\/p>\n

Robert Br\u00fcll, is the CEO of FibreCoat, which manufactures super-resistant, radiation-shielding materials with applications in the space and defense industries.<\/em><\/p>\n

SpaceNews is committed to publishing our community\u2019s diverse perspectives. Whether you\u2019re an academic, executive, engineer or even just a concerned citizen of the cosmos, send your arguments and viewpoints to\u00a0op*****<\/span>@*******<\/span>ws.com<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to be considered for publication online or in our next magazine.<\/strong>\u00a0The perspectives shared in these op-eds are solely those of the authors.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRobert Br\u00fcll, is the CEO of FibreCoat, which manufactures super-resistant, radiation-shielding materials with applications in the space and defence industries.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Europe, imaged by an Earth observation satellite. Credit: NASA \/ LANCE\/EOSDIS Rapid Response team At a Dec. 18, 2024, ESA council briefing, the Director General, Josef Aschbacher, said the agency would strive in 2025 to \u201csimplify\u2019\u201d the long-standing principle of geo-return. According to that principle, ESA pays back to each country in industrial contracts the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":830012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39289,27555],"tags":[21366,11263],"class_list":{"0":"post-830011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fair","8":"category-esas","9":"tag-esas","10":"tag-fair"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}