Via Satellite - April 2007

this sequence of images was captured by this sequence of images was captured by the Ultraviolet/Visible/near-Infrared spectrometer aboard Venus express in April 2006 during its capture orbit around Venus. Venus express can resolve complex cloud structures by use of the infrared windows present in the atmosphere of Venus.

how the stars are moving. Therefore, we track the distribution of mass and the structure of our galaxy. That is a major project. We are just kicking off the spacecraft building phase.”

ESA is collaborating with NASA on the Lisa-Pathfinder mission, a technology demonstrator that will test Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. “We are doing this test so that we can build with the Americans a decade from now a gravitational wave telescope that will fly in deep space and actually follow the Earth around the Sun and look for gravitational waves,” says Southwood. “These are predicted by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. They have never actually been directly observed, although they have been indirectly observed. We are leading the frontline development of Lisa-Pathfinder.”

Southwood believes that perceptions of the importance of space science are beginning to change. “We are beginning to get to the notion that if you want to manage this planet successfully in the coming century, you better get on top of it in terms of monitoring it from space,”

he says. “It is the only way you get a global view. Earth is a global system. It is still very unexplored in terms of understanding how that global system works. Space is really a fundamental element in putting the system together. That is a change that has taken place in public perceptions over the last 20 years. But, I think at the policy level, it has taken Europe a long time to understand this. We now have to follow that through with Earth monitoring using the scientific capacities we have developed.”

Setting The Stage

So how vibrant is the European space landscape currently? Bouvier believes 2006 was a particularly strong year. “A number of key programs and scientific milestones were achieved in 2006 with the successful in-orbit capture of Venus by Venus Express. You had the successful launch of MetOp, which is the first Polar orbit meteorological satellite in Europe,” he says. “This was done in conjunction with the U.S., and this cooperation is paving the way for long-term strategic cooperation between the U.S. and Europe in meteorology, with allocation of missions and programs across both sides of the Atlantic. I think this is a very promising scheme which has been started with MetOp.”

Building on this success and defining a long-term space vision will be a major challenge for all involved, par-

ticularly in the run-up to the ESA Ministers conference in 2008. “Among the challenges that ESA faces are its relationship with the EU (European Union), its role as [a research and development] organization and its relationship with the European Commission,” says Reid. “There are subtle differences. Making ESA an organization that is even better aligned to the demands of the European citizens is going to be one of the challenges. The enlargement of the EU also represents a challenge for ESA. There will be clearly pressures on its budget. It has a very ambitious set of objectives in science and exploration and if ESA remains true to its path, it will find innovative technical and organizational solutions to deal with the budget crunch in some of those areas.”

Bouvier says, “We have in Europe, a political setup which is more complex and not as straightforward as the political organization in the U.S. We have to secure the political decision making process, which involves more countries in an enlarged EU, ESA, etc. It is more difficult here than in the U.S. due to this specific political situation in Europe. To define a long-term space vision in Europe takes more time.”

While political issues will continue to dominate, Kocel believes one of the challenges is to foster innovation. “We need to innovate, to have initiatives such as the X-Prize or X-Prize Cup. These initiatives create a pendulum and vibrancy in the market,” he says. “ Before we have that we will not have the amount of innovation we have seen in the U.S. However, the advances we have made in Europe in terms of microsatellites are really interesting. If you look at the small microsatellite programs in universities in Europe, it is very impressive. There are signs of major breakthroughs coming about. This is the sort of innovation that is coming from the roots.”