“Europe must organize itself” in the face of SpaceX which “has acquired considerable geopolitical weight”, believes the boss of Arianespace

“Europe is a great space power”assures Saturday November 11 on franceinfo Stéphane Israel, the executive president of Arianespace, the company which markets space launchers, while Ariane 6 will make its maiden flight in 2024. Stéphane Israel, however, warned in the face of competition from ‘Elon Musk and his company SpaceX. “This actor has acquired considerable geopolitical weight”he indicated. “Europe must organize itself, be ever more agile and ever more innovative”.

franceinfo: A European summit on space was held this week in Seville, there was talk of a “change of air”for European space, is this a polite way of saying that we are not far from an industrial crash for space in Europe?

Stéphane Israel: Above all, it’s a way of saying that it was a great summit for space Europe. This is first of all very good news for Ariane 6, for the thousands of engineers and operators who work on this rocket throughout Europe, and in France in particular, and who now have a perspective. This is very good news for our customers, since this rocket has a perspective for the next ten years, and very good news for the strategic space economy.

There is securing of financing for Ariane 6, but this is not done without compensation, there is also the opening of the launch market to competition. Will this change anything in European space?

Yes, and this is also the second very important news. First, manufacturers make cost reduction commitments. The entire industrial chain, and Arianespace is part of it, is committed to reducing costs by 10%. And there is the opening of a more competitive model, with more competition in Europe. Until now, and Arianespace has been the expression of this, we have been in a 100% cooperative model. We will now project ourselves into a model where there will be cooperation, but also competition, to prepare for the future. It’s called walking on two legs.

The idea of ​​reducing costs to remain competitive, in a context which is nevertheless extremely delicate: the delays of Ariane 6. Besides, when will the first rocket take off?

The next important step for Ariane 6 is a test which will take place in Kourou. On November 23, we will ignite the first stage of the rocket, what we call the central body, for eight minutes, which is a way of simulating a first flight. The date, in 2024, will be announced by the European Space Agency a few days after this test.

Opposite, there is competition from players like SpaceX, the Indians. Does all this also undermine the historical model of European space?

You mention the Indians, they are an exceptional partner for Arianespace. We launched 25 satellites for India. We work a lot with them, I see them more as a partner. Then, obviously, the elephant in the room is Space [d’Elon Musk]. It’s not just Ariane’s competitor. SpaceX today has 5,200 satellites in orbit, out of approximately 8,000 operational.

“Two out of three satellites above your heads belong to a man called Elon Musk”

Stéphane Israel, executive president of Arianespace

at franceinfo

SpaceX has become the world’s leading satellite manufacturer and will soon be the leading satellite operator, through its subsidiary Starlink. This means that it is the entire chain: the rockets obviously, the satellite manufacturers, the operators. Hence the importance of European mobilization.

But are we weighing up when we see that in the United States there is a lot more public money, a lot more private money? Can we compete with Elon Musk, SpaceX?

There is approximately five times less public money than among Americans. There are many fewer launches to operate, that’s a fact. Now Europe is a major space power. She is getting organized. Commissioner Thierry Breton was in Seville, alongside the head of the Space Agency, and he reiterated his desire to create, for example, a large European constellation. This is a project that has dynamism, ambition, a vision and which will allow us to be in the race.

So, explain to us very concretely, what is the risk? From an operational, commercial and sovereignty point of view, that all or almost all satellites belong to Elon Musk?

We saw this with Mr. Musk’s ability to cut the signal in Ukraine. It is a situation which means that today this actor has acquired considerable geopolitical weight. Europe must organize itself, be ever more agile and ever more innovative. She must have big plans. I mentioned the European Constellation project which is a very large project which will allow Europe to have sovereignty in low orbit. We must all be united behind this project.

But we nevertheless see that Europe has entrusted SpaceX with the launch of its Galileo satellites, the European GPS. Does this mean that in recent years we have missed something?

We are in a difficult moment, we are not going to hide it. There are launchers which are at the end of their life, like Ariane 5. A launcher which arrives late, we must not hide it. There was also a launcher that could and should have done the trick, which was to have the Soyuz project in Guyana. This project came to an abrupt end with the invasion of Ukraine, because Soyuz should have launched it. As there are delays, the European Commission must use Space X, but it has said that this is on a provisional basis.

However, we have the impression that Europe is a little on the defensive. In space, we are not dreaming, talking about the Moon, about very big projects. Are we in the process of consolidating what remains of European space?

We participated in the most important project: Ariane 5 which launched the James Webb telescope, NASA’s most important project. So that means that we also know how to make people dream. There is a very nice Euclid project, which is currently producing images. We will go to the Moon one day with European astronauts. But it is true that in terms of exploration, Europe will have to continue to accelerate. There is still a little work to do, but here too in Seville, there have been some first decisions.