ESA finally has a commercial launch strategy, but will member states pay?
Late this year, European governments will have the opportunity to pay up or shut up.
The European Space Agency is inviting proposals to inject competition into the European launch market, an important step toward fostering a dynamic multiplayer industry officials hope, one day, will mimic that of the United States.
The near-term plan for the European Launcher Challenge is for ESA to select companies for service contracts to transport ESA and other European government payloads to orbit from 2026 through 2030. A second component of the challenge is for companies to perform at least one demonstration of an upgraded launch vehicle by 2028. The competition is open to any European company working in the launch business.
"What we expect is that these companies will make a step in improving and upgrading their capacity with respect to what they’re presently working," said Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA's acting director of space transportation."In terms of economics and physics, it’s better to have a bigger launcher than a smaller launcher in terms of price per kilogram to orbit."
