Space
Green Paper
1.1.1
Independent access to space
Launch
vehicles and launch infrastructures are the key elements in any space project.
Since 1980 Europe has, through Ariane and the space centre in Guyana (an infrastructure
of European interest), independent and reliable access to space, giving it
considerable freedom of initiative in achieving its space ambitions.This autonomy
has been combined with commercial success which began in the 1980s in a favourable
international context, notably including: - the
fact that the US more or less stopped using conventional launchers, replacing
them by the space shuttle until its accident in 1986;
- the
ban on Russian launch vehicles from the commercial market until the end of
the Soviet regime (1990).
This
stage has now been overtaken by events. The European operator Arianespace currently
faces fierce competition combined with a downturn on the launch services market.Ariane-5,
the new generation launcher, is operational but under the current circumstances
its medium?term competitiveness must be based on new technical developments
and the renewal under preparation, of the method for public support of its
use.At the same time, the range is widening with the advent of the Vega launch
vehicle planned for 2006 and the introduction, likewise envisaged for 2006,
of the Russian Soyuz launcher at the Guyanese space centre. European
autonomy and competitiveness: a delicate balance
- The
permanent availability of a reliable launch
vehicle
to
meet European institutional demand - 0 to 3 missions a year - has to date been
based on a launcher capable of schedule maintaining workload through service
contracts on the world market, i.e. a launcher in practice optimised for telecommunication
satellites.
- In
accordance with this principle, the commercial success of Ariane
has
ensured the economic equilibrium of its use and has enabled the states to focus
their efforts by priority on new developments intended to maintain competitiveness
- This
balance is currently threatened by three factors: the economic constraints
of the transition
between the two generations
Ariane-4
and Ariane-5, the contraction
of the commercial market and
the fall in prices due to worldwide
overcapacity
of
means of launch.
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A
fundamental question which emerges over and above the process of restoring
the economic stability of the European launcher in the medium term is the need
to guarantee European access to space in the long term.
Q1:
Should Europe maintain, until 2020 and beyond, its independent access to space,
based on the development of a family of European launchers and their preferential
use by institutional users?What
should be the formula for a wished-for evolution in the sharing of responsibilities
between the public authorities and the private sector in the economic balance
of the use of these launchers and in the finance of new developments?
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