Space: A European success story
Space research is a European success story, said Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin, speaking on European space research strategy in Brussels on 25 April. Mr Busquin cited various statistics to support his claim, and reminded his audience of the two current European project, which he described as 'key elements in the European strategy', GALILEO and GMES. 'Despite a European investment which is six times less than that in America, we have an industry that is in the foreground, and employs more than 33,000 people and has a turnover of 5.5 billion euro', said Mr Busquin. GALILEO, a satellite navigation system and GMES, a surveillance system 'contribute at once to European politics and the development of industrial competences. They permit, moreover, the establishment of certain partnerships between the public sector and industry,' Mr Busquin continued. The success of the two projects depends however on the degree of mobilisation of all public and private sector actors and a coherency of activities which rises above institutional frameworks and different legal systems Referring to the American navigation satellite, the Commissioner added that Europe cannot accept a navigation system that is under the control of the military of a single state, even if it is an ally.