Some notes about what’s going on outside the US on space policy topics:
Space News [subscription required] highlights an unexpected comment by a French official: research minister Francois Goulard said in a speech earlier this week that France “would have no autonomous space policy” outside of ESA. The comment apparently took many by surprise, given that France spends as much on its own space agency, CNES, as it provides to ESA (and the CNES budget will grow slightly over the next few years while its ESA contribution remains flat), and the country has freely cooperated with many nations, including non-ESA members, on a variety of projects. Does this represent a real change in policy, a way to rationalize non-ESA spending on space in France, or did Goulard—who has reportedly said little about space in the half-year he has held the post—simply misspeak?
Speaking of Europe, Space News also reports that European governments are contemplating a “Buy European” approach to launch services, requiring ESA member states to use European launch vehicles for their satellites. This would primarily affect small satellites, which have used Russian vehicles (Dnepr, Kosmos, and Rockot); the Swedish Space Corporation has also purchased a Falcon 1 launch from SpaceX. ESA is developing its own small launcher, the Vega, that had been widely expected to capture those launches anyway. The policy would also permit Soyuz launches once that vehicle starts operations from Kourou.
The British space industry is keeping a close eye on decisions to be made by Parliament on the amount of funding the UK will contribute to ESA projects, according to the BBC. Under ESA’s juste retour policies, the more money a country contributes, the more contracts that country’s companies get in return. British companies are concerned that Parliament will agree to far smaller contributions to programs like Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), which means less money for them.
And, as expected, Marc Garneau officially threw his hat (his toque?) into the ring as a candidate for the House of Commons in next month’s elections. As the official Liberal Party press release put it, “his bravery is inspiring, his grace is charming and his credentials are truly out of this world.” Canadians should be thankful for their short election seasons: they will only have to deal with tired rhetoric like “out of this world” through January 23.
