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Paris, 16 May 2003
Information Note
Nx 10-2003

Access to space today and tomorrow: what does Europe need? 

Part 3 of 4

The construction of the Soyuz Launch Complex, located some 10 km
North of the existing Ariane 5 launch facilities, would last 2,5
years and enable the start of the exploitation by Arianespace in
2006.  The ESA Director General has tabled a programme proposal
encompassing the development, construction and exploitation of the
necessary facilities and means of exploitation of Soyuz at the GSG,
including the provision for its further upgrading to the manned
flight. 

ESA Member States are invited to cover initially 256.8 MEURO
(2003 e.c.). In terms of payments, Arianespace would reimburse some
120 MEUROS - covering at least the costs of Russian deliveries- out
of the profits of the exploitation of Soyuz. The remainder would be
paid by participating States as from 2006.

The Programme Declaration- the legal instrument that freezes the
commitment of the member states to the programme- is to be drawn up
by 30 September 2003 and is to be subscribed by 31 Decenber 2003.

3. The International Space Station: the way ahead
In early 2001 the US was anticipating a significant cost increase in
its portion of the ISS programme and initiated a reassessment with
potential repercussions for the ISS Partners. As a consequence of
this new situation at that time, the ESA Ministers who  met in
Edinburgh in November 2001 approved the funding for Period 1
(2002-2006) of the ISS Exploitation Programme (863.9 MEURO at 1998
e.c.) but decided, however, to block an amount of 296 MEURO (at 1998
e.c.) of the 2002-2004 sub-envelope corresponding to about 60% of
these activities, pending clarification of the overall ISS situation.

(Note: ISS Exploitation Period 1, subenvelope 2002-2004, covers
activities related to ATV procurement activities, including the first
ATV production unit; procurement of Ariane 5 for ATV; sustaining
engineering for flight and ground elements; Columbus operations
preparation and initial operations; preparation and execution of the
first ATV mission; astronaut activities; utilisation coordination and
support; and ESA programme integration.

Period 1 of ISS Exploitation is composed of fixed and variable cost
activities to be undertaken in the period 2002-2006. The Period 1
financial envelope amounts to 863.9 MEURO at 1998 e.c. and is divided
into a firm sub-envelope of 518.2 MEURO for 2002-2004 and a
provisional sub-envelope of 345.7 MEURO for 2005-2006).

Since 2001, NASA has seen significant internal organisational changes
and has substantially consolidated its part of the ISS programme. Due
to this, as well as to  intensive work performed by all international
partners, in December 2002 stability in the ISS programme was
regained by agreeing in principle on a ISS configuration which best
meets the utilisation and resource requirements of the Partners
(approval of that ISS configuration and conclusion of corresponding
formal agreements is expected for the end of 2003). Such
configuration would allow for a level of European utilization of the
ISS as originally intended: full use in particular of ESA's Columbus
laboratory for research and application purposes and the use of
Ariane 5/Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) as a key logistic element
during the exploitation phase.

The agreed scenario foresees a rescue capability for a six person
crew using two Russian Soyuz capsules docked to the ISS from
2006/2007 onwards and for a crew of at least seven through a
combination of a newly developed NASA Orbital Space Plane (currently
planned to be available in 2010) and one Soyuz capsule docked to the
ISS. This scenario also caters for accommodation and life support
capabilities corresponding to the crew size and a transport fleet for
the necessary upload and download logistics based on a combination of
ESA's ATV, Japan's HTV (H-II Transfer Vehicle), Russian Progress and
US Shuttle. 

Following these achievements in ISS programme consolidation, the
unblocking of the ISS Exploitation Programme funds is proposed to
take place in a phased approach: in a first step an amount of 124.1
MEUROS (1998 e.c.) is to be unblocked at the Council at Ministerial
level, covering time-critical activities mainly related to the
availability of the ATV (which also helps mitigate the impact of a
reduced Shuttle fleet after the Columbia accident of February this
year) and the European ISS ground segment (including ATV control
centre and user support facilities). 

This amount also covers operation preparation activities including
crew operations and astronaut training activities.

The second step concerns the unblocking of the remaining funds
(171.9 MEUROS at 1998 e.c.), covering the procurement of Ariane 5 for
the 3rd ATV (scheduled for launch in 2006/7) and the ESA programme
integration costs for 2004. Unblocking of these funds will be decided
upon before the end of 2003.

4. Relations with the European Union
ESA and the EU have tightened their relations since 1998. In June of
that year the ESA Council adopted a resolution that laid the grounds
for reinforcing the synergy between ESA and the European Community; a
similar resolution was adopted at the same time by the Council of the
EU. In May 1999 the ESA Council at Ministerial level in Brussels
again took a step forward in strengthening the relations with the EU,
and, in parallel, the EU Council adopted in December 1999 a
Resolution on Developing a Coherent European Space Strategy.

The European Strategy for Space was prepared jointly by the ESA
Executive and the Commission during the year 2000. In November 2000,
in Brussels, both the ESA Council at Ministerial level and the
Council of the EU adopted a  Resolution  welcoming this European
Strategy for Space and calling for steps to jointly develop further
the Strategy. A Joint Task Force bringing together representatives of
the Executive and of the Commission Directorates concerned with space
was created in January 2001 and several thematic working groups were
also created, addressing the key topics and concerns outlined in the
Strategy. In November 2001, the ESA Council at Ministerial level
again welcomed the work of this Joint Task Force and emphasised the
importance of the relationship between ESA and the Union  in a
Resolution called "Space serving European citizens". 

The grounds for enhanced co-operation between the EU and ESA takes
into account their distinct missions and institutional basis, with
the aim of increasing the resources devoted in Europe to space
related activities and efficiency in managing these resources. Space
is recognised by all players as being a critical tool- through its
applications- in the European Union's major policies such as
transport, environment, information society and security.

 - Continued -

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