It seemed that the new space race had two well -defined sides, but the last turns in NASA have left faithful members such as the European Space Agency in the lunge. Now that has turned his gaze to the East.
We have an agreement. The European Space Agency and its counterpart from India (ISRO) have just signed a statement of joint intent to collaborate in flights to space. The strategy includes a first phase of cooperation in the low terrestrial orbit, and a second phase on the moon.
Both agencies have pledged to work on the interoperability of their respective spacecraft, so that they can be found and attached to the low orbit. The collaboration will be extended to the training of astronauts, land simulations and parabolic flights.
From the orbit down to the moon. The agreement also opens the door for Europe to play experiments on Indian Poem platforms, which take advantage of the upper stages of PSLV rockets as orbital platforms.
More in the long term, it will be an opportunity for European astronauts to travel to the planned Space Station of India, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, whose completion is scheduled for 2035, with a first module in 2028.
They also enter the joint robotic mission bag to the moon. India is in the small list of spatial powers that have successfully alunicized. The Chandrayan-3 mission carried the Vikram module and the Rover Pragyan to the South Lunar Pole.
New alliances. The agreement, signed by the CEO of ESA, Josef Aschbacher, in New Delhi, arrives at a critical moment for European projects in space. The White House presented last week a budget proposal that would involve a cut of almost 25% for NASA. This “scissors” impacts fully into programs where ESA has invested significantly: the Orion ship and the Lunar Gateway station.
In a statement, Aschbacher said he seeks a commitment between international cooperation and improving his autonomous abilities. “The complexities and costs of space missions often exceed the capacities of a single nation,” he said. “In this context, associations have allowed us to reach great milestones that would be unimaginable alone.”
In March, ESA had already signed an agreement with the Japanese Space Agency Jaxa to explore joint missions to the moon and Mars. The trend is clear: before the drift of the United States towards a more nationalist approach and focused on private commercial systems (Spacex, Blue Origin …) for its lunar and Martian ambitions, ESA is diversifying its alliances.
European diplomacy. While the United States prioritizes the speed and reduction of costs through the private sector, leaving aside the traditional international collaboration models, the ESA Diplomacy strip presenting textually as a “reliable partner.”
Part of that diplomacy makes a close collaboration with China unlikely, at least while NASA remains its main partner. India, with its growing spatial ambitions and future manned flights, emerges as a key strategic alternative on this new space geopolitical board.
Image | Isro
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