credit: EADS Astrium / caption: this ESA/Russian Federal Space Agency funded design seems very distant now
Hyperbola has come into possesion of the figures for the European Space Agency's transportation and human exploration budget for the next three years
A couple of related figures were kindly provided last week by ESA human spaceflight and microgravity directorate coordinator Piero Messina but Hyperbola has managed to obtain more sums including the spend for the European robotic cargo lunar lander
Messina informed Flight that for International Space Station (ISS) the budget was
- ISS Exploitaton P3: time-frame 2008-2012, subscription: 1373,6 MEuro
- ISS ELIPS P3: time-frame 2008-2012, subscription: 298 MEuro
These figures related to astronaut time aboard ISS and the research conducted and ESA's hardware and services provision to meets its obligations under the barter arrangement agreed between the partners for station
Meanwhile the figures that Hyperbola has obtained, relating to European manned spacecraft research, evolution of the Automated Transfer Vehicle into the Advanced Re-entry Vehicle (ARV) and the lunar cargo lander are the following
- ARV phase A €21 million
- Lunar cargo lander €11 million (ESA had originally asked for €20 million)
- Human exploration scenario studies €6 million
- Russian co-operation €4.9 million
So after all the publicity surrounding the ESA-Federal Space Agency joint venture that was called Crew Space Transportation System it seems that it has been still born
Major obstacles seem to have been a Russian insistence on CSTS being lanched on a new Russian rocket, which had not been designed in detail, from a yet-to-be-built spaceport in Asia and almost zero western European involvement in the crew capsule bar the avionics - Russia's electronics are years behind the west's
The one mystery surrounding the ESA ministerial meeting I have yet to fathom is the complete lack of any reference to the global exploration strategy
I can only assume that everyone is waiting to see what president-elect Barack Obama does. If he supports the return to the Moon, even if it is delayed to say 2030, and if the Ares I crew launch vehicle gets cancelled and Ares V cargo launch vehicle becomes man-rated, or not?
on December 8, 2008 7:01 PM | Reply
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"ARV phase A €21 million"
21 MILLION EURO just to "re-enter" on Earth the ISS' trash!!!!???????
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on December 8, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply
post edit: I suppose all these figures are "billion euro" not "million"
on December 9, 2008 9:17 AM | Reply
Nope not billion, MILLION
And the ARV is for returning cargo to Earth, downmass capability as it is known, not trash or even rubbish
on June 23, 2009 10:39 PM | Reply
There is no reason for ESA to develop a human capable launcher, by 2015 there will be plenty of choice. Hitch a ride on the Orion capsule, Russian Soyuz, or ask the Chinese for a ride. The only reason to build a manned capable launcher is if you think you will get enough tourists on board. Also you should wait for the results of the SABRE engine.
Get out of the ISS in 2020. Beyond that it will cost too much money. It is pointless to keep redoing the same experiments. Future tests will be done beyond low earth orbit using robots.
The most interesting thing is the Lunar Cargo Lander, which is a relatively cheap way of joining NASA on the moon. Hopefully a nice platform to launch remote-controlled robots.
With the money saved from getting out of the international space station you get to build that 6 booster Ariane vehicle, for larger telescopes and future robotic missions.
I'd like to see plans for a pressurized robotic lunar base (inflatable) coming from ESA. Remote-controlled robots which will require high bandwidth telecommunication satellites and positioning systems around the moon. Make them remote-controlled, not automated. It is more flexible that way. Keep the human brains or supercomputers here on Earth.
I'd like to see equipment being manufactured on the moon, melting metals with electron beams or laser. I'd like to see oxygen being produced from the metal oxides on the moon. I'd like to see genetic engineering of plants that grow on the moon. All this should be done with robots alone.