"Space has limited resources"

What is your personal ESA highlight in the coming year?

Josef Aschbacher: We have a very important mission starting between the end of September and the beginning of October. It is called “ExoMars” and has a rover on board that calls itself “Rosalind Franklin”. The rover is the largest that has ever walked the surface of Mars. He has a wide range of scientific instruments on board to explore Mars. We are carrying out the mission in very close partnership with our Russian partners from Roskosmos.

tagesschau.de: To what extent does this mission go beyond the NASA mission with the “Perseverance” rover that landed on Mars in February?

Aschbacher: Our mission has more scientific instruments on board. For the first time we will drill up to 1.70 meters into the surface of Mars, take samples and analyze them there in a laboratory. This is going to be very exciting and very complex.

In 2022, NASA wants “Artemis I”, the first mission of the space shuttle Orion, to orbit the moon. Here, too, the ESA is significantly involved.

Ashbacher: That’s right. NASA’s SLS rocket – the moon rocket that will return to the moon decades after Apollo – bears a small ESA logo. We supply essential components, for example the “European Service Module” with electrical supply and drive systems. NASA’s moon mission could not be carried out without the module being built in Bremen. We are an essential partner that NASA relies on. The time window for a start begins in mid-February. There is no exact date yet.

“We should use space sustainably”

Space has long since turned from being a scientific space to being an economic space. You recently expressed concern about the dominance of Elon Musk and his “Starlink” satellites. What is the problem?

Aschbacher: Elon Musk has so far launched almost 2,000 satellites of the “Starlink” generation. On the one hand, this is very good, because there is a lot of activity in space. On the other hand, these satellites make up about half of all currently active satellites in space. That’s nice for Elon Musk, personally I also admire his huge vision and his energy to realize very complex projects. However, his activity also has consequences, namely that space is occupied and occupied by its satellites – not only physically by the satellites themselves, but also by the frequencies that are used.

That’s the problem: we should use space sustainably. We all depend on satellites every day – for example for navigation devices, weather forecasting or for information on agriculture, forestry, civil protection and climate research in a broader sense. Telecommunications are also very space-based. Space has limited resources. We need to think together globally about how resources are used and who has what right to use satellites and the associated frequencies. This requires new, binding rules.

Elon Musk acts like this because there is no regulating, global “space authority” to slow him down. It seems utopian to bring space agencies and companies – i.e. states and the private sector – around one table, doesn’t it?

Aschbacher: That is a challenge and a very complex process. They have a mix of public bodies and private individuals like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. However, one must not forget that the national authorities of the states issue the licenses for the launch and operation of satellites. This is regulated nationally, but also at international level via the ITU, the international telecommunications authority based in Geneva. So you can intervene to regulate it.

You have been ESA Director General since March and have set yourself the task of making Europe more self-confident in space. In the USA, enthusiasm for space activities is traditionally greater than in Europe. Have you noticed a change in attitude among the politicians in the ESA member states who release the funds?

Aschbacher: The US is more focused on expansion and exploration. The NASA program focuses on the space station, moon and Mars. The European program focuses more on our own planet, i.e. climate protection and sustainability as well as practical applications for people such as reliable telecommunications and navigation. This is also reflected in politics, and this is precisely what Europe’s priorities in space are geared towards. Of course, Europe also has astronaut and exploration programs, but they are much less funded than NASA’s.

When it comes to astronauts, ESA currently has a permanent subscription to the ISS. French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet was followed in November by German ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer.

Ashbacher: Exactly. At the moment we have Matthias Maurer on the International Space Station. He conducts more than 35 experiments with German participation and many other international experiments on the ISS. After Matthias Maurer, the Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will fly to the ISS in the spring. You should also meet Matthias Maurer there. Then, as ESA, for the first time we will have three astronauts in space in direct order. Towards the end of next year, the last four to six candidates in the ESA application process will be selected. With 22,589 applicants, we had a record number of interested parties.

Waiting for “Hot-Firing Test” for Ariane 6

Will the new ESA carrier rocket Ariane 6 also be launched from the spaceport in Kourou for the first time next year?

Aschbacher: The question is currently being discussed. We currently have two milestones ahead of us to be able to really answer the question. One is the so-called “hot-firing test” in the facilities of the German Aerospace Center in Lampoldshausen. This test will take place early next year. If there are no technical changes after that, Ariane 6 could be launched in the second half, towards the end of the year.