Europe’s quest for autonomy in space

French President Macron wanted to bring the entire space industry to Paris, but at the International Space Summit which opened yesterday, most of Europe was represented, whilst only a few American companies attended, following the Trump Administration’s intervention. The European space sector has its headquarters in the French capital, home to the European Space Agency (ESA), but there is no shortage of challenges, both for Europe and for the Élysée Palace, which is organising a summit announced a year ago, subsequently moved from spring to September: closer to the end of Macron’s term of office and to the ESA ministerial meeting in Rome in December, and thus to French interests. It is no coincidence that Macron has appointed two special envoys: astronaut Thomas Pesquet and entrepreneur Hélène Huby, CEO of The Exploration Company, which on 8 September announced a $450 million funding round – the largest Series C ever secured by a European space company.

After years of losing ground to the New Space Economy dominated by SpaceX, Europe is attempting to change direction, but times are tough and allies are few and far between. Trump warned American industry leaders not to go to Paris, as their presence would have appeared to endorse European space policies, accusing Paris of anti-competitive practices and of having organised the summit without consulting Washington. Yet Europe’s desire to strengthen its space independence comes as no surprise: Europe remains the only major player to launch satellites using non-European rockets, it still lacks autonomous access to orbit for its own astronauts, and it may soon lose the International Space Station as a destination too. While the White House may not welcome an autonomous Europe, France, Italy and Germany also face internal tensions: France is defending its leadership role, Germany is seeking a more central position, and Italy remains on the periphery, with less innovation but, so far, a close relationship with the United States. If Trump has widened the rift with Europe, the risk is that Europeans will also become divided in the space sector.