Europe enters the private space war at the hands of Belgian Elon Musk

The new struggle for commercial control of space, embodied by businessmen such as Elon Musk either Jeff Bezosarrives in Europe at the hands of the Belgian Benoit Deper, who aspires to turn his company into the largest satellite factory on the continent and offer the EU its long-awaited strategic autonomy.

At just 36 years old, and after working for NASA in the United States and then for the European Space Agency, Benoit Deper runs Aerospacelab, his own satellite company that he founded in 2017 because, according to what he said in an interview with EFE, he “bored” that in government agencies everything was “too slow”.

“When you start a new project (in public agencies) you must have political support and you need time to get financing until everything is resolved. And it usually takes between five and 15 years to finish your satellite.”says Deper at the end of a visit with EFE to his company’s factory, in the Belgian city of Leuven-la-Neuve.

Instead, this entrepreneur explains that, with commercial companies, it is possible to complete the entire process in six months or a year, “since once you have the money, you can go fast because you make the decision”assures.

However, it recognizes the importance of public space agencies when developing research projects that require a lot of investment.

READ ALSO: Elon Musk looks towards zero ads on Twitter

“I think we need each other. Agencies go where there is no commercial purpose, such as sending people or robots to Mars. You can’t make money doing this, it’s pure science and should be funded by the agencies.”holds.

Deper belongs to a booming industry known as “the new space”an emerging global private sector that includes companies developing cheaper aerospace technologies, such as “SpaceX” of Musk and Blue Origin of Bezos.

Although he recognizes them as pioneers in their sector, the founder of Aerospacelab says he does not feel fully identified with these personalities: “We are much smaller than them and I think also less crazy”ironic.

Aerospacelab manufactures satellites to sell to other companies and institutions as well as for his own company. With them, it collects and sells data and images on an infinite number of topics (meteorology, agriculture or control of critical infrastructures, among others), and offers communication services and resources that, for example, can be used in sensitive fields such as defense and security. security.

In search of strategic autonomy

Deper believes that companies like his can promote the strategic autonomy that the leaders of the European Union (EU) seek for the community club, offering with their satellites “a secure communication system” and zero kilometer, which does not depend on third countries such as the United States or China.

“We are positioning ourselves as one of the providers to make this happen”sentence.

One of the cards to achieve this is the new factory that they intend to open in 2025 in Belgium, with a capacity to produce 500 satellites a year, something that, they say, will make it the largest plant in Europe within this sector.

According to Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder, companies in this private industry “they have great potential to provide added value in the search for strategic autonomy” Y “strengthen the European pillar within NATO”since they also direct part of their commercial activities to the field of security and defense.

Dedonder argues that in the current geopolitical context, marked by the war in Ukraine and international tensions, it is important “strengthen the industrial fabric” because, according to statements to EFE, the public and private sectors share “common objectives”.

READ ALSO: Musk has a lot to lose if he avoids paying off Twitter’s debt

The risks of privatizing space

However, faced with the growing influence of these companies, the director of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), Hermann Moeller, stresses the need to create “a legal framework that protects the government and public interest”.

Moeller warns that the private aerospace industry is a player “increasingly relevant” in the future of armed conflicts and explains, during a telephone interview with EFE, that the original interest of these companies, which was eminently commercial, has now reached the security and defense markets.

“What is happening right now, and this is certainly a risk, is that the commercial sector dynamics are much larger and faster than the typical regulatory framework and law making that is still practiced on the public side,” says the director of ESPI, which is a European think tank located in Vienna.

And adds: “It is a challenge for the public side to keep up with that speed in terms of regulation”.

Therefore, he points out that politicians will have to ensure that the services of space companies “are provided in such a way as to protect government interests” and what are they “subject to specific legal restrictions in the contracts”.

Within this public-private coexistence, Moeller does not believe that governments lose sovereignty and, for the future, he predicts a system based on “multi-orbital solutions”which are in the hands of different operators, both public and private.

READ ALSO: Space X employees fired for criticizing Musk’s policy on Twitter

Source: EFE