2024-07-25 13:10:37
The European agency Eumetsat recently caused a surprise by choosing the American rocket Falcon 9 of SpaceX to launch its weather satellite MTG-S1 at the expense of the European rocket. Announced a few days before the inaugural flight of Ariane 6, this turnaround weakens a European space industry that is losing momentum.
The operator of European meteorological satellites, Eumetstat, announced on June 27 that it will entrust the launch of its Meteosat MTG-S1 satellite[1] to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. However, the contract between Eumetsat and Arianespace was formalized in March 2021 and was to result in the MTG-S1 sounder being placed into orbit for the third flight of Ariane 6 in early 2025.
The reasons for this turnaround, revealed by Le Mondeare not specified. A day after the announcement, Eumestat CEO Phil Evans said only that “exceptional circumstances” motivated this decision without detailing which ones. The initial contract including four launches by the Ariane 6 rocket, this withdrawal raises uncertainty regarding the future of the other three satellites.
According to Le Monde, it was the Eumetsat executive committee that asked the board of directors, representing the 30 member states, to cancel the contract signed with Arianespace to choose SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
This withdrawal comes as Ariane 6 was preparing to make its maiden flight from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou. Announced less than two weeks before this decisive launch for the Arianespace group, this choice could reveal a lack of confidence in the future performance of this rocket. The four years of delay accumulated by the group could explain this mistrust. However, the president of Arianespace had stressed, a few months earlier, that the 30 flights displayed on the order book were a mark of confidence on the part of customers: “We have thirty missions to carry out, which is unprecedented for a launcher that has not yet flown.”according to comments reported by Le Monde.
Absence of European preference
The choice of the European agency Eumetsat brings to the fore a crucial problem with major strategic stakes: the absence of European preference in the space sector. Indeed, while in the United States there is a preference for national launchers, in Europe there is a lack of regulatory framework that penalizes European rockets on the market.
The repercussions are also political since it is Germany allegedly maneuvered to impose the choice of SpaceX to the detriment of the European company Arianespace and despite the opposition of France. The pressure would come from theJoint action by Berlin and German satellite manufacturer OHB Group.
This disunity highlights the lack of a common strategy within the European Union. The president of the CNES[2]Philippe Baptiste, showed himself critical of this decision and calls on the European Commission to take “the necessary measures to ensure that all European institutional satellites are launched on small and large European launchers”.
A return to Europe’s sovereign access to space?
This change of direction demonstrates that the European space industry is facing a major challenge: regaining its autonomy in the space sector.
Europe hopes to regain this independent access to space through the success, on Tuesday July 9, of the inaugural flight of Ariane 6 with the deployment in orbit of around ten micro-satellites. Following this launch, the president of Arianegroup announced that he wished to promote the use of European rockets to launch European public satellites; He urged European states to show “common sense” ».
While the end of 2022 was marked by theFirst commercial flight of new Italian Vega-C rocket fails and that Europe has only carried out three launches in 2023, including the last two Ariane 5s and a Vega rocket, the United States once again dominates global space launcher market by carrying out 107 orbital flights in 2023. A performance that owes a lot to Elon Musk’s firm, which alone has recorded 96 launches during the year, or two per week.
[1] Meteosat Third Generation
[2] National Center for Space Studies
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