by After a profound transformation of the space industry in the last decade, the European model, based mainly on public support, has disappeared in an emerging economy where the USA, China and India are flourishing.
“This model is no longer sufficient for today’s competitive global space economy,” says former Italian president Enrico Letta in the latest European Union report on the single market.
Most industrial resources are now concentrated in a few countries and companies with the ability to build, launch and operate large space systems, which hinders growth and separates Europe’s potential in the global market.
“We are far behind the others and we shouldn’t spend so much time trying to imitate what is already on the market in terms of technologies,” said Reinhilde Veugelers, senior fellow at the Bruegel economic think tank. in Brussels with Euronews.
“Europe needs to ensure that it has a well-functioning innovation system, because there are many inventions that are not dedicated to space alone, but come from other technologies,” she said.
According to Letta, if Europe wants to compete and achieve strategic independence, it must encourage the injection of private capital, introduce common rules and balance the distribution of funds between space activities and different countries.
‘Divide and rule’ does not apply
Until now, the European Space Agency (ESA), which is mostly made up of EU countries plus Canada, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, has operated on the principle that any investment made by a member will be reciprocated proportionally through treaties with its national. industry.
An approach that worked well for space exploration but may not be the best for commercial space.
“We need the best long-term results here, and whoever can deliver them,” Veugelers argues.
If this is done through consortia of several European companies of different sizes and expertise, so much the better.
“With our provision, we in Europe should certainly avoid a war in which each of us subsidizes our own players,” says researcher Bruegel.
Instead of dividing efforts by retreating at the national level, a joint boom could be a better way forward for Europe’s space economy.
“[To grow]maybe we need to think about cooperative models and the so-called risk-sharing sector, which might not be as profitable, but which would allow Europe to have independent access to space and be competitive outside Europe,” Xavier Llaró, co-founder of Pangaea Aerospace, which develops rocket engines, said Euronews.
Speed up the game
In the case of GSE director general, Josef Aschbacher, working on agile procurement procedures should be part of Europe’s recipe for success in the coming years.
“This is what worries me, [the fact] that Europe is not as fast and as big in terms of attracting funding,” Aschbacher told Euronews during the recent meeting of space ministers in Brussels.
ESA’s agenda for 2025 reflects these concerns, with commercialization and attracting capital to the industry at the top of the list.
“For me, you need three ingredients to succeed: a good idea, access to money and speed,” argued Aschbacher, adding that Europe already has the skills and talent.
However, the sector has traditionally been risk averse and unable to attract financial instruments.
“We don’t want to crowd out private investors. We want to boost it when necessary,” says Helmut von Glasenapp, Secretary General of the European Association of Long-Term Investors (ELTI), which represents public investors on a national basis. promotional development banks and other financial institutions.
But in general, their shareholders have asked only a few of those public investors to exclude protection and space or both from their mandate.
“Governments must say what they want, and the second step is who should do it,” emphasized von Glasenapp.
Focus on your strengths
Europe’s access to space is being temporarily provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, one of the world’s most profitable start-ups, which currently dominates the global market for launch services.
The company is currently discussing a sale of existing shares in a deal that could value it at around $200bn [€183.94bn]according to Bloomberg.
“This is a company that can raise between one and two million euros per year from private investors, so we are talking about a different scale,” said Llairó, emphasizing that he thinks Europe is late already for these larger scale projects.
But because space is a sector where technology is linked to profitability, the Union could focus instead on developing efficient engines at a reasonable and competitive price, he says. Public investment could support the development of the core of the launchers, the engines, and then private investment could help grow the rest.
The Bruegel researcher also sees scope in space manufacturing, where small and medium-sized enterprises can play a central role in European and international supply chains.
“With some vision and the development of the right tools, I believe we can get back into the global race,” predicts Llairó.
