Europe’s private US competitor Arianespace has emerged as a leading contender to fill a temporary gap alongside Japan and India, but final decisions hinge on the still-unresolved timetable for Europe’s delayed Ariane 6 rocket. “I would say there are two and a half options that we are discussing. One is SpaceX which is clear. Another is probably Japan,” ESA director general Josef Aschbacher told Reuters. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Japan is waiting for the maiden flight of its next-generation missile. Another option could be India,” he added in an interview. “SpaceX I would say is the most operational of them and certainly one of the backup launches that we’re looking at.” Asbacher said the talks remained in an exploratory phase. “Of course we have to make sure they’re appropriate. It’s not like we’re jumping on a bus,” he said. For example, the interface between satellite and launcher must be suitable and the payload must not be compromised by unknown types of launch vibrations. “We’re looking at that technical compatibility, but we haven’t asked for a commercial offer yet. We just want to make sure it would be an option in order to make a decision to ask for a firm commercial offer,” Aschbacher said. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has already swept away other customers cutting ties with Moscow’s increasingly isolated space sector amid the conflict in Ukraine, but a high-profile European mission could be seen as a major win for the American rocket maker. Aschbacher stressed that any backup solution would be temporary, however, adding that he is not worried about Ariane 6’s future. Satellite Internet company OneWeb, a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet business, canceled at least one Falcon 9 launch in March. It has also booked a launch in India. On Monday, Northrop Grumman grounded three Falcon 9 missions to carry NASA cargo to the International Space Station while it plans a new version of the Antares rocket, whose Russian-made engines were pulled by Moscow in response to sanctions.
‘WAKE UP CALL’
Europe has until now depended on Italy’s Vega for small payloads, Russia’s Soyuz for medium and Ariane 5 for heavy missions. The next-generation Vega C debuted last month, and the new Ariane 6, designed in two versions to replace both the Ariane 5 and the Soyuz, has been delayed until next year. Aschbacher said a more precise Ariane 6 program will be clearer by October after the current hot-fire tests. ESA will then finalize a backup plan to be presented to ministers from the agency’s 22 nations in November, he said, adding that the latest Ariane 6 delay was not the result of any major new setback. “But yes, the possibility of needing backup launches is high,” he said. “The order of magnitude is certainly a good handful of launches for which we would need intermediate solutions.” Asbacher said the conflict in Ukraine proved that Europe’s decade-long strategic cooperation with Russia in gas supplies and other areas, including space, was no longer working. “This was a wake-up call, that we were too dependent on Russia. And this wake-up call, we have to hope that the decision-makers realize it as much as I do, that we really need to strengthen our European capacity and independence.” However, he downplayed the prospect of Russia fulfilling a commitment to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS). Russia’s newly appointed space chief Yuri Borisov said in a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin last month that Russia would withdraw from the ISS “after 2024”. But Borisov later clarified that Russia’s plans had not changed, and Western officials said Russia’s space agency had not communicated any new withdrawal plans. “The reality is that operationally, work on the space station is progressing, I would say almost nominally,” Aschbacher told Reuters. “We depend on each other, whether we like it or not, but we have little choice.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Tim Hepher and Joey Roulette Editing by Mark Potter Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
