SPACE WIRE
Europe's space industry facing "severe crisis", say experts
PARIS (AFP) Jun 24, 2003
Europe's space sector is mired in problems that can only be resolved by massive investments by governments, a top forum on the future of the European space programme has been told.

Industrialists and scientists told the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission and ministers from the main funding nations that without big cash pledges, Europe will never realise its dream of being a space power with the standing of the United States.

"Space cannot be considered as a strictly commercial sector," Pascale Sourisse, president of Eurospace, representing corporations in the European space industry, said at the gathering on Monday.

"European authorities have to take into consideration both the institutional character of the sector and the huge investments done by the American authorities in this field, which provides US industry with a very strong competitive advantage."

She added: "The European space industry is facing a severe crisis and there is a real danger that the very high level of technologies and skills that Europe acquired thanks to the past investments cannot be maintained."

Europe's 7,500 space scientists were equally forthright.

The United States, with a similar gross national product to Europe's, invests between six more government money in space sciences, their representative, Roger-Maurice Bonnet, a former ESA executive and a member of France's Institute of Space Astrophysics, said.

"Starvation [of funds] cannot be the answer," he said.

The two-day gathering, which ended on Tuesday, is the last public consultation of a "Green Paper" put forward by the Commission on Europe's long-term future in space.

The ideas will be hammered out into a strategic blueprint by the end of the year.

European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin said that current annual spending on space in Europe amounted to around six billion euros (6.9 billion dollars) a year, half of which was spent by ESA and the other by national programmes.

"Europe has to double this amount in the coming years," he told reporters, adding that "public-private partnerships" were a key way of raising the funds.

Europe's activities in space, as opposed to programmes by national governments, have until now been civilian.

But presentations made at the forum, and remarks made by some of the decision-makers, reflected expectations that Europe will veer more and more into the military or security domain.

Satellite-based intelligence and surveillance deficiencies, highlighted by the Iraqi war, will have to be overcome if a European defence force is to evolve, they said.

A presentation by a Greek colonel, Alexandros Kolovos, of Greece's National Center for Space Applications, representing the views of the security and defence sector, said the EU should consider the need to deploy satellites for reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance around the world, as well as "global command, control communications and information."

Satellites could have a dual civilian/military use, he said.

Those taking part in the conference included the research ministers from France, Italy and Germany or their deputies. These countries are the biggest contributors to ESA, an institution that is a different legal entity from the

SPACE.WIRE