After the conflict in the Ukraine prohibited Western access to Russia’s Soyuz missiles, the European Space Agency (ESA) has started preliminary technical conversations with Space-X that could result in the temporary use of launch pads, according to CNBC.
Alongside Japan and India, the Elon Musk-owned American company and European rival to Arianespace has emerged as a major alternative, but the final choice will rely on how the delayed Ariane 6 missile in Europe will be delivered on schedule.
Japan is eagerly awaiting the launch of its newest missile.
And SpaceX has already benefited from the political fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by absorbing other clients who severed connections with Moscow’s increasingly isolated space industry.
OneWeb, a rival to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband project, has at least one Falcon 9 launch scheduled for March.
In addition to constructing a replacement version of the Antares rocket, whose Russian-made engines were removed by Moscow in reaction to the sanctions, Northrop Grumman last Monday scheduled three Falcon 9 missions to carry NASA’s cargo to the International Space Station.
So far, Europe has relied on the Russian Soyuz for medium payloads, the Italian Vega missile for small payloads, and the Ariane 5 for large missions. The new Ariane 6 has been postponed until next year, while the next-generation Vega C made its premiere last month.
The more precise Ariane 6 schedule will be more obvious in October, according to ESA Director General Joseph Asbacher. The European Space Agency will only then complete a backup strategy that it will then offer to the 22 ministers of the agency’s member nations in November.
According to Asbacher, the conflict in Ukraine demonstrated the failure of Europe’s ten-year policy of collaboration with Russia in gas supplies and other areas, including space.
In a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin last month, the newly appointed head of the Russian Space Agency, Yuri Borisov, declared that Russia would leave the International Space Station after 2024.
Western authorities claimed that the Russian space agency had not revealed any new withdrawal intentions, although Borisov later confirmed that Russia’s plans had not altered.
In actuality, and I would almost say almost symbolically, work on the space station is ongoing, Schbacher told Reuters. Whether we like it or not, we are all dependent on one another, and we don’t have many other options.
How did the conflict between Russia and Ukraine help SpaceX?
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