Photo: ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) has unveiled its comprehensive Strategy 2040, delineating a five-pronged roadmap for Europe’s future in space exploration and technology. Central to this strategy are the development of reusable launch systems and the advancement of crewed spaceflight capabilities, reflecting Europe’s ambition to enhance its autonomy and competitiveness in the global space sector.
Advancing Reusable Launch Systems
A pivotal aspect of Strategy 2040 is the emphasis on reusability in launch systems. To that end, the agency is actively developing the Space Rider program, an uncrewed orbital lifting body spaceplane designed to provide routine and cost-effective access to space.
Building upon the success of the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), Space Rider aims to conduct missions lasting up to two months, with a turnaround time of less than six months between flights. This initiative signifies a strategic move towards reducing launch costs and increasing the frequency of missions, thereby enhancing Europe’s competitiveness in the global space market.
Graphic: ESA
In tandem with Space Rider, ESA is developing the Prometheus rocket engine and the Themis reusable first-stage demonstrator. Prometheus is a ArianeGroup-built low-cost, reusable methalox rocket engine designed to be versatile and efficient, utilizing liquid oxygen and methane as propellants. Themis aims to validate the technologies necessary for a reusable rocket first stage, incorporating the Prometheus engine in its design. This project is very early in its development cycle, but a low-altitude hop-test using Themis is scheduled next year from Esrange launch facility in Sweden, as part of the EU’s SALTO project.
Enhancing Crewed Spaceflight Capabilities
ESA’s Strategy 2040 outlines ambitious plans to bolster Europe’s role in crewed space exploration. The agency envisions sending European astronauts to the Moon and Mars, reflecting a commitment to participate actively in international exploration efforts and to assert Europe’s presence in deep space missions.
To support these aspirations, ESA is developing the Argonaut program, a series of large logistics landers designed to deliver cargo to the lunar surface. These landers are crucial for establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon, providing the necessary supplies and infrastructure to support crewed missions. The Argonaut program exemplifies ESA’s dedication to contributing significantly to lunar exploration and paving the way for future crewed missions to Mars.
Furthermore, ESA is collaborating with international partners on the Mars Sample Return mission, a precursor to crewed missions to the Red Planet. The agency’s Earth Return Orbiter will retrieve samples collected on Mars and return them to Earth, advancing our understanding of the Martian environment and informing future human exploration.
Strengthening European Autonomy and Resilience
Another key focus of Strategy 2040 is enhancing Europe’s independent access to space. ESA is developing the Ariane 6 launch vehicle, designed to provide reliable and cost-effective access to space for European missions.
The recent flights of Ariane 6 bolsters Europe’s launch capabilities and restores credibility to that end, but Ariane 6 comes at great cost: it is an expensive rocket to build and fly, and as such cannot be flown in a quick cadence. It is a rocket built for heavy payloads, and that in a market that is moving towards constellations of small satellites with relatively rapid replenishment.
| Specification | Ariane 6 (Ariane 64 variant) | Falcon Heavy |
|---|---|---|
| Height | Approximately 60 m (196.9 ft) | 70 m (229.6 ft) |
| Width | 5.4 m (17.7 ft) | 12.2 m (39.9 ft) |
| Mass | Approximately 860,000 kg (1,900,000 lb) | 1,420,788 kg (3,125,735 lb) |
| Payload to LEO | Up to 21,500 kg (47,400 lb) | 63,800 kg (140,660 lb) |
| Payload to GTO | Up to 11,500 kg (25,400 lb) | 26,700 kg (58,860 lb) |
| Thrust | Approximately 8,000 kN (1.8 million lbf) | 22,819 kN (5.1 million lbf) |
| First Stage Boosters | Four P120C solid rocket boosters | Three Falcon 9 boosters strapped together |
| Engines | First stage: 1 Vulcain 2.1 engine Upper stage: 1 Vinci engine |
27 Merlin engines |
| Fuel | Liquid hydrogen (LH₂) and liquid oxygen (LOX) | Liquid oxygen (LOX) and RP-1 (kerosene) |
| Launch Cost | Estimated at over €100 million (~$110 million) per launch | Approximately $97 million per launch |
To foster a robust space industry, ESA plans to increase civil funding, encourage cross-sector partnerships, and stimulate private investment. The goal is to position Europe as a hub for commercial space activities, equipped with the necessary infrastructure and talent to support a thriving space economy.
ESA aims to attract top talent from both within and outside its member states. By promoting space exploration and its benefits, the agency seeks to inspire future generations and cultivate a diverse and skilled workforce to drive innovation in the space sector.
Political Climate
ESA comprises 23 member states, including non-EU countries like Canada, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. This diverse membership necessitates a delicate political balance in policy-making and program implementation to accommodate varying national interests and priorities, and makes broad long-term goals of a document like ESA even more uncertain than most governmental space programs.
Increasingly, European countries have been moving away from the American sphere of influence militarily, and efforts to increase homegrown defense capabilities and weapons system have been gathering steam. This alone may put a great deal of funding pressure on ESA. Other factors like the EU economy in general will undoubtedly have some impact as well. At the same time, European countries are seeking self-reliance for their space-based interests, so funding may be maintained or even increased.
The conflict in Ukraine underscored Europe’s reliance on non-European satellite services, particularly for military communications. This dependency has prompted EU initiatives like IRIS², the multi-orbit satellite constellation, will provide secure, high-speed satellite internet across Europe and beyond, revolutionising connectivity for remote areas. It is a €10.6 billion endeavor to establish an independent satellite network. It sounds a lot like Starlink, albeit one that is a domestic capability built by Europeans and under European control.
Courtesy: ESA
To strengthen Europe’s position in the global space arena, there is a growing consensus there on the need for increased public and private investment. EU ministers have called for enhanced funding to support innovation, competitiveness, and the development of critical infrastructure within the space sector. This strategic focus aims to bolster Europe’s resilience and reduce dependency on external technologies, ensuring a robust and autonomous space capability.
Generally, European startups often encounter significant challenges due to the European Union’s complex regulatory environment, and space startups are no different. An intricate web of over 100 laws and 270 regulatory bodies overseeing the tech sector can be resource-intensive and, thus, very expensive and unproductive in terms of building an actual product. That is pure overhead, an anathema to startups as they generally fly by the seat of their pants financially and need to devote every Euro towards building a product that generates revenue.
In short, while space startups are starting to appear in Europe, the continent would benefit generally from policymakers and the startup community creating a more streamlined and simplified regulatory environment that balances the public interest and the real needs of small, young firms looking to find their footing and grow. As for legacy primes
European Private Sector
The European private sector has thus far only produced a handful of potential private launch service providers, with RFA Augsberg and ISAR Aerospace being the two leaders there currently.
ISAR is planning its first launch in Norway as soon as March 24th. The company’s first test flight will lift-off from Andøya Spaceport in Norway. The mission, dubbed ‘Going Full Spectrum’, will conduct be first flight attempt of an orbital launch vehicle from continental Europe. That first test flight will not include any customer payloads.
Photo: ISAR Aerospace
RFA is also making progress after its setback from a devastating fire that destroyed their initial RFA One launch vehicle. They are now the first company in Europe to have regulatory approval from the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to launch into space from Scotland. The license is not limited in time and covers a wide range of orbits and trajectories. RFA has not announced a specific date for its next vehicle to be tested and launched, other than to say that it will be sometime in 2025.
Graphic: RFA
Will Strategy 2040’s Goals Be Met?
It’s hard to say, and for the usual reasons: politics.
Europe collectively has the technical capability to be at the same level of other major space powers: the US, China, Russia and now India. In many ways, the ESA already is a major space power, albeit one with no crewed capability and last-generation technologies providing its launches. Europe is also largely reliant on a launch site on another continent, which creates additional expenses not spent on spaceflight.
There is no reason why Europe cannot have all of these things: a healthy startup ecosystem developing new technologies and methods, along with crewed capabilities to LEO and beyond as well as launch facilities on the continent — and somewhat quickly at that — but it will have to decide politically that it wants to make key policy changes and financial commitments to enable these things to happen. The choices are theirs to make, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out both in the near and long terms.