Tim Furniss/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS
The shortage of public cash for European satellite research is giving the USA a technology leadership that may threaten the competitiveness of European commercial satellite industry, warns Joel Barre, programme director at French space agency CNES.
Meanwhile, the Russian Space and Aviation Agency (RSA) says the country's space budget has benefited by $3.5 billion received from foreign sources since the start of international co-operation, with 70-75% coming from the USA.
Research and development funding in the USA is four times higher than in Europe, says Barre, while the US market is three times bigger. In Europe, he says, industry depends far more on sales of commercial satellites, which account for 60% of the total, while in the USA only 20% of revenues come from the commercial sector. Barre adds that the difference has become more distinct since 1996. "European Space Agency funding for research into communications satellites has fallen 35% and at CNES by 50%," he says.
Armand Carlier, Astrium chairman and chief executive, agrees: "The space business depends fundamentally on public funding. Access to space technology is so expensive that only governments can support the cost."
The RSA also reveals that since 1996, 50% or $1 billion of Mir space station operations have been US-funded. The agency is talking to NASA about a further $100 million, $40 million to be spent on equipment for the International Space Station (ISS).
The Russian Government has allocated the national space programme 733.5 million roubles ($26.5 million) for next year, but the RSA says that this is not enough, citing the 3 billion rouble cost of ISS work alone so far.
The problem of funding Russia's participation in the ISS has "never been settled", says Yuri Koptev, RSA director general. He says that eight Russian vehicles are due for launch next year and that spacecraft production needs to be well in hand for 2002, since it takes over a year to finalise launch vehicles.
He adds that 20 spacecraft under construction for the ISS are being built "on a sponsorship basis at the expense of financial resources found by the manufacturers themselves". This funding is largely from co-operative programmes, such as the Boeing-Khrunichev commercial module.
The RSA says 34 of its 44 remote sensing, weather and communications satellites "could break down at any moment", costing more than $400 million - three times Russia's annual space budget - to replace.
Source: Flight International
