Investors bet big on Europe's space sector
Europe’s space sector is having a 'Back to the Future' moment.
In Space News, Jason Rainbow reports that rising defence budgets and geopolitical shifts are creating new investment opportunities for Europe’s space industry:
‘“Europe is having a little bit of a ‘Back to the Future’ moment,” Alpine Space Ventures investment partner Bulent Altan said on a March 12 conference panel, revisiting defense investments that could drive a commercial space boom.
“It was harder to find parallels maybe about a year or two ago, but now on the European investment side, you’re seeing defense spending go up,” said Altan, a former SpaceX executive who has invested in companies in the U.S. and Europe.
He was speaking after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the ReArm Europe Plan last week, a proposed 800 billion euro ($872 billion) initiative to bolster defense and resilience as the U.S. reassesses its global security role.
Programs such as IRIS², Europe’s $10 billion-plus multi-orbit broadband initiative, also reflect a shift toward integrating commercial space into defense — a ‘dual-use’ strategy that has become a key part of the U.S. government’s approach to space.’
In Washington Technology, Cailabs US President Jeff Huggins argues that as maritime sabotage rises, satellites hold the key to protecting them and ensuring global connectivity:
‘Advances in satellite communications, including the proliferation of space sensor types, bring capabilities not previously available. One is the ability to track maritime traffic around the globe, and so in and around undersea cables, at a level of detail and at a speed not possible before. If a ship, or another entity, is acting in a way that could damage undersea cables, accidentally or on purpose, satellites can pick up on it. They can inform the relevant parties and enable them to take action to prevent any damage from taking place.
Accurate tracking requires the rapid transmission of data from satellites to the ground. And the problem here is that there are data transmission bottlenecks. Specifically traditional radio-frequency (R.F.) downlink systems are limited to Mbps speeds that struggle to keep up with the Gigabits of data generated every second from the myriad of satellites collecting data from space.
There is a need for low latency – for minimal ‘lag’ – in maritime monitoring that can be significantly improved with the advent of Gbps Optical Ground Stations. This points to the vital supporting role that optical communications has to play.’
Phys.org reports that SpaceX's Starship rocket will depart for Mars next year:
‘SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Saturday its massive Starship rocket would leave for Mars at the end of 2026 with Tesla humanoid robot Optimus onboard, adding that human landings could follow "as soon as 2029."
"Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely," Musk said on his X social network.
Starship—the world's largest and most powerful rocket—is key to Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars. Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall—about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty—Starship is designed to eventually be fully reusable.
NASA is also awaiting a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade.’
Tereza Pultarova reports for Space.com that climate change could make Earth's space junk problem worse:
‘Growing concentrations of greenhouse gases are making the upper atmosphere thinner, decreasing its ability to pull space junk out of orbit. As a result, far fewer satellites will be able to safely operate in near-Earth space in the coming decades, with local space debris emergencies likely to become a norm, a new study suggests.
Scientists have known since the 1990s that complex processes taking place in Earth's atmosphere because of climate change could reduce the density of the upper layers of the planet's gaseous shroud. When the upper atmosphere becomes thinner, satellites and old space junk encounter less drag as they hurtle around the planet. They therefore stay afloat longer, and the lower regions of space become more cluttered. Over the past decade, studies have emerged estimating how much exactly these atmospheric changes affect those satellites.’
Joe O'Halloran writes for Computer Weekly that record contracts from the European Space Agency are driving the UK space sector’s mission forward:
‘Lauded by the country’s science secretary Peter Kyle as a “launchpad for innovation and investment”, generating thousands of highly skilled jobs across the country, the UK’s space sector is celebrating its most successful quarter on record, with the total value of contracts secured for the UK sector through the European Space Agency (ESA) reaching £844m since June 2022.
The UK government believes that the recent increase in contract wins will deliver wider benefits of more than £1bn to the UK economy and support an additional 3,800 highly skilled jobs. The UK space sector currently employs 52,000 people and generates an income of £18.9bn each year.
It also notes that the global space sector is an important driver of growth, forecasted to triple by 2035, reaching £1.4tn per year. A significant share of the UK economy, as much as 16% of UK GDP, now depends on products and services provided by satellites, such as communications, navigation, timing and Earth observation.’
And finally, the NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose intended 10-day stay at the International Space Station turned into nine months, welcomed SpaceX Crew 10 to the station over the weekend, setting the stage for Wilmore and Williams to return to earth as soon as this week: