Europe needs all of us to build its future.

Member States today need to reestablish their strategy for growth and competitiveness beyond austerity budgets and in the context of increased competition. In this respect, the industrial space sector is highly strategic in economic and political terms. In a growing competitive environment, new actors proclaim to become “space powers”, and China is one of them. The reallocation of European spatial programs spending remains doubtful under the current economic crisis.

However, space markets are traditionally public, and remain hardly attractive to private investors, especially because of the length of the space technologies development cycles. Consequently, how the EU can ensure this high added-value know-how? How to promote links between industrial actors and scientists?

This is an important economic issue: the European Commission estimates up to 240 bn Euros for the potential market of location based services. The indirect economic and social benefits are estimated around 60 and 90 bn Euros (in 2010-2027 cumulative terms).

In the European Commission’s communication “Towards a space strategy for the European Union that benefits its citizens” COM (2011) 152, the Commission asserts its will to support an ambitious spatial Research & Development. But given these highflying goals, what types of financing instruments are required to address the worldwide challenge Europe will face in the industrial space sector? How to create incentives for both public and private investors to cooperate in this field? How to implement long-term financial leverage? 

For political reasons, space policy must ensure autonomous access to space for Europe: as a public good, it will assure a greater strategic independence for Europe, confirming its place of global player in the international sphere. Economically speaking, the industrial space sector is proving to be a vehicle for competitiveness: it disseminates its applications in the whole economy and society, strengthening demand for services using space-based resources, and expanding it to new economic fields.

Taking into account above-mentioned strategic aspects, the question is whether an integrated and consistent industrial policy is required, at the European level? How to reinforce a sector-based approach for the industrial space sector?

European authorities have completely redesigned Galileo funding after abandoning the mechanism of Public-Private Partnership. What lessons can be drawn from that? How to rationalize the governance of the industrial space sector?

Besides, SME’ access to finance proves to be limited, resulting in a lack of investment in Research and Development (R&D). Could an integrated European policy associate more closely the SME and major groups of the sector? Could this reduce the European dependence on third party technologies? 

Is it relevant to implement international cooperation in this field (such as the one between Roscosmos and ESA, building a launch facility for Soyouz rockets at the European facilities in Guiana)?

Finally, a comprehensive space strategy would avoid the scattering of public resources. However, will the creation of a specific budget impede the required coordination of public and private actors?