The Director General of the European Space Agency wanted to see a commitment from its 23 member states – including Spain – that Europe would not be left behind in space, and he did. The meeting of ministers of the countries that formed the European Space Agency concluded today in Bremen, Germany, with a budget of 22,100 million euros for the next three years. Austrian Joseph Aschbacher expressed his admiration, saying: “This is a record level of commitment,” he said in a press rush. He said to the dignitaries of the presidency, who were assisted by the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, and the Director of the Spanish Space Agency, Juan Carlos Cortes: “You have written a new page of history.”
The ESA needs a presupposed backbone that mitigates the increasingly worrying reality: from being the second largest power in space, it has become the third, to several bodies of absolute leaders, the United States and China, whose power seems never to stop at the point of being the favorite to put astronauts on the Moon in 2030, even before its North American rival. The fact is that cooperation with the American partner has been amazing since Donald Trump arrived in Casablanca, so Europe may have to continue moving forward on tasks of the utmost importance.
At the last minute, the European Space Agency was able to save one of its flagships: the project to send the first European exploration rover to Mars within the ExoMars mission. The project has suffered major delays due to the Ukrainian war and is awaiting a milestone due to the possible departure from the United States. Biro informed Aschbacher that NASA has confirmed its participation, which is essential. It can contribute to the launch module, the power unit based on radioactive isotopes and brakes, which are necessary so that it does not end in failure, as did its previous mission that was launched in 2016. The project, which will be launched in 2028, continues to advance at 100%, as confirmed by the European Space Agency.
ESA has also been able to maintain US support for other major science missions. Among them is “LISA”, a constellation of three ships separated by more than a million kilometers, but united by lasers designed to capture gravitational waves produced by the black dots. The project budget is approximately 1,700 million euros. It is also expected to follow the example of New Athena, which, with a similar assumption, will be the largest X-ray space telescope in history. The Director General of the European Space Agency also believes that with the new assumption approved for science, he hopes that in the future it will be possible to approve a robotic mission that will make a 10-year long journey to the frozen moon of Saturn Enceladus, where it will land and analyze the calculations launched from its powerful springs in search of traces of life.
This achievement led to the success of Spain, which became the fourth largest country in the organization, behind Germany, France and Italy, the traditional leaders of the organization in both industrial and financial terms, and greatly superior to the United Kingdom.
At this meeting, Spain allocated 1.854 million euros for the next three years, an unprecedented assumption that, if it continues, could translate into more Spanish astronauts who can travel to space, in addition to the main candidate: the lioness Pablo Alvarez. However, the current uncertainty surrounding NASA funding means that Alvarez will travel to the International Space Station. There is also news about the possible flight of the astronaut from the Sara Garcia Reserve, which will be accessible at a special mission park if the Ministry of Science commits to paying for it.
Spain has committed to increasing its annual contribution to ESA by $155 million, up to $450 million each year until 2030. Spain also plans to significantly increase its contribution to ESA’s optional programmes. In particular, the budget for these doors will rise from 500 million euros to 1400. With this contribution, Spain will be able to support the illicit company PLD Space in the commercialization of the Miura 5 launcher and the development of advanced versions of the launcher, with an investment of 169 million euros through the European Launcher Challenge (ELC, in English abbreviation) of the European Space Agency.