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EU not boldly funding space ambitions
Brussels (AFP) Sept 26, 2008 The European Union wants to become a major player in space projects, EU ministers agreed Friday, amid concerns that member states and industry are unwilling to provide the astronomical costs involved. The EU ministers agreed on "the need to develop instruments and financial schemes for European space policy," announced French Research Minister Valerie Pecresse, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency. However a statement issued after the ministerial meeting gave no details on the funding needs or means, highlighting the problem. The 27 EU ministers in charge of space and research just stressed "the need to find long-term financing for space infrastructures, particularly in the field of observation". The EU is currently developing two headline space projects; the Galileo system for satellite navigation and Copernicus which will use satellites to monitor the environment. So far the community budget has earmarked 1.2 billion euros for 2007-2013 for the development phases of Copernicus, with none yet budgeted for its subsequent operation. The much-delayed Galileo project was finally given the green light in April with a 3.4 billion euro budget up to 2013 scraped together from unused farm funding. The 30-satellite Galileo project is meant to challenge the dominance of the US-built Global Positioning System (GPS), which is widely used in navigation devices in vehicles and ships. The EU aims to have up in space by 2013. "We have modest needs till 2013 for Copernicus", said EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen. "But we will then meed stable and durable financing," he added, without giving any figures. The space war is raging with some member states wanting to cut the community spending and not prepared to give space exploration its own budget, an EU source said. "We are not in a position to send people into space or to bring back material which we launch. We have to ask for help from the Russians," said Verheugen. "The question is; do we want to remain dependent or are we capable of making a collective effort to become independent?" he asked member states. Related Links The latest information about the Commercial Satellite Industry
Billion-dollar European probe set for asteroid encounter
Paris (AFP) Sept 3, 2008Far from Earth, a robot spacecraft has been prodded from deep slumber to make a rare encounter with an asteroid, the intriguing orbital debris that could offer clues into the making of the Solar System. |
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