What role for Europe within a future global space exploration approach?

Abstract

Europe is present in robotic exploration though the European Space Agency׳s mandatory space science program and the optional Aurora program. In addition some member states are also involved in projects of non-European space faring countries through bilateral co-operations. Europe is also present in human exploration through the ISS utilization program. ESA and some of its member states participate in the activities of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), a club of 14 space agencies working for the elaboration of a global exploration roadmap. Finally, ESA and the European Union have initiated a political approach with the setting up of an international forum so as to elaborate a commonly agreed vision on space exploration at political level.However the role of Europe in such a global strategy is not well defined yet; Europe has to build its own vision and to precise the role it intends to play in a future global space exploration venture. We try in this paper to sketch what could be such a European vision, taking into account the European capabilities and priorities, and also the foreseeable economic situation. With limited resources, Europe cannot be present everywhere. In the field of robotic exploration Europe has the capabilities to implement first class projects where it is the major partner. In the field of human exploration, Europe needs to join a co-operation where it has to accept to be a minor partner while its contributions should benefit from the legacy of the previous European achievementsThe role of the EU, as a political entity, can be determinant; the high level political forum initiated by ESA and EU can be the nucleus of a global strategy. Also the space part of the new UE R&D program Horizon 2020 can support the European effort by focusing on the technological activities which have been highlighted as key areas for exploration and which may yield applications for the citizen. A key role for EU could be to foster the technology transfers in either way between space and non-space utilizations.