EU Commissioner wants fast internet for all Europeans via internet satellites
Thierry Breton, the current EU Commissioner for the Internal Market and in the past CEO of, among others, the current Orange and Atos, has stated in an interview that a new satellite system is needed to provide all Europeans with fast internet.
From the reproduction of the interview that Reuters had with Breton, no further details can be gathered about this plan for a European constellation of internet satellites. It will probably resemble, for example, SpaceX’s Starlink plan, which will eventually have to consist of many satellites in order to provide worldwide coverage. It seems that Breton is mainly referring to a satellite network that is only intended for Europeans.
Breton indicated that the European Union wants to invest more money in rocket launches, satellite communications and scientific discovery missions, in order to keep up with Chinese and American ambitions. “Space is one of Europe’s strongest assets and we give ourselves the opportunities to accelerate things,” says Breton.
He says that for the first time money from the EU budget is being used for new technology to launch missiles, including reusable missiles. In that context, an agreement is concluded with Arianespace worth 1 billion euros, to give the company ‘more visibility’, in exchange for more innovation.
Breton acknowledges that American SpaceX has redefined the standard for launches. In that context, he sees Ariane 6 as a necessary step, but he thinks we need to think about Ariane 7 now. Ariane 6 is likely to hit the air for the first time next year. This rocket builds on Ariane 5. Its main purpose is to increase the number of launches and significantly reduce the cost per launch. However, it is not yet a design in which reusability plays a role. That will probably play a role with Ariane 7.
The Commissioner hopes that the European Commission will embrace the plan to invest €16 billion in space. Incidentally, this plan comes from 2018 and covers the period 2021 to 2027; the European Parliament already voted in favor of this last year. A large part of this budget should go to Galileo and Copernicus; the latter is the EU’s Earth Observation Programme. Galileo is the existing European satellite navigation project; Breton wants the scheme to replace the relatively older Galileo satellites with newer ones to be brought forward. As far as he is concerned, that should start at the end of 2024 instead of in 2027.
Furthermore, the EU Commissioner wants a start on a Space Traffic Management system to prevent collisions in traffic and he wants a billion euros to be invested in a European Space Fund to help start-ups.
An impression of Ariane 6, in a configuration with four boosters.