Yesterday in Naples the 2012 edition of the ESA Ministerial Council held on 20 and 21 November was concluded. It was successful, with a commitment from the ministers of the countries that are part of ESA and the one who represented Canada to develop the Agency’s programs in the coming years. In recent days, Poland’s accession to ESA was announce raising the number of members to 20.

The main result concerns the budget set at 10 billion Euros ($12.7 billion) over the next three years in space projects. Thus, despite the economic crisis, ESA shows a clear intention to carry on the path of technological development.

The budget is mainly focused on the development of two new launcher, the Ariane 5 ME (Mid-life Evolution) and the Ariane 6. The Ariane 5 rocket currently used works very well but has high operating costs for its launches. Its successors should have lower costs and greater possibilities of satellite launches.

Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, recently stated that in the current market the Ariane 5 is quickly becoming obsolete and ESA should accelerate the development of its successors. Obviously, Musk is making his interest given that his company developed the Falcon 9 rocket, a competitor of Ariane 5, but that’s why his statements should be kept in mind.

ESA’s choice to develop both the Arian 5 ME and the Ariane 6 rockets is essentially a compromise between Germany and France. In the next ESA Ministerial Council, which will be held in 2014, they will examine the initial results of the developments of these rockets, right now the Ariane 5 ME is scheduled to fly in 2017, the Ariane 6 in 2021 or 2022.

A rocket whose development is instead in its final stages is the Vega, to be used for light cargos, meaning small satellites. Additional funding of 85 million Euros demonstrates its importance.

In the field of satellites, there has been an agreement between ESA and EUMETSAT for the development of the Meteosat third generation. Considering the extreme and sudden changes in weather we’re experiencing lately it’s clear that having more sophisticated weather satellites is important to try to limit the damage that can be caused by various natural phenomena.

ESA has also confirmed its collaboration with other nations. The ExoMars mission, in collaboration with Russia, should bring two new spacecraft, an orbiter and a rover, to Mars in 2016 and 2018.

ESA will also provide the service module to the NASA’s Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) called Orion that might be tested as early as next year.

Together with the other nations that operate the International Space Station, ESA will continue its commitment to the exploitation of the station.

The budget is really remarkable considering the current economic problems in Europe but over 30,000 people work for the space industry and an additional 300,000 are working in related fields such as the satellites industry. It’s therefore not about spending a lot of money just to show that Europe is at the same level as the leading nations in space missions but also to maintain and possibly create jobs often highly qualified and to continue technological developments that in the future will bring benefits to European nations. In short, it’s an investment for the future.

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