ALEXANDER CAMPBELL / LONDON
But European Space Agency says that despite dispute over funding, satellite programme is a good test for co-operation
Europe's troubled Galileo satellite navigation project could yet serve as a "good model" for future joint space programmes despite continuing international squabbles over its funding, says European Space Agency (ESA) director-general Antonio Rodot….
He emphasised the urgent need for progress on Galileo at a European Union space policy workshop in London on 20 May, saying that "without a decision soon the collected expertise will disappear... there are 1,000 people involved. You cannot destroy it one day and hope to rebuild it the next day."
Galileo is a joint ESA-EU project, and Philippe Busquin, EU commissioner for space policy, agreed that "it will be a great triumph for the [European] Commission and ESA to reach a decision...a test of European ability to co-operate in areas such as space".
However, Spain is still objecting to German/Italian leadership of the €3.2 billion ($3.7 billion) project. UK science minister Lord Sainsbury called for Spain to be publicly shamed for its delaying tactics: "We need to stop messing around and vote on the current position on [workshares]. If it is seen publicly that one country is standing out against a general consensus, it will need to make its case in public."
Supporting Sainsbury, Rodot… said: "It would not be a problem embarrassing Spain or anyone else."
Busquin says Galileo could represent a new strategy for ESA - to boost its funding from European member states by launching satellites with military, as well as civil, applications.
Under its charter "ESA cannot finance defence research - not officially", Busquin says, "and states want to keep their independence in defence matters...but the line between defence and security is very narrow". The EU is allowed to fund civil security projects.
Satellite navigation has obvious military uses, as does the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) project, which will use Earth observation satellites to monitor ice movements, but also to watch Europe's borders.
Jack Metthey, EC director of space and transport research, says that the involvement of national defence ministries "is developing" in projects such as GMES and Galileo that "by definition can be used for military applications".
Source: Flight International
