PARIS — Two of Europe’s biggest International Space Station contributors have rejected a NASA proposal that would see the European Space Agency (ESA) pay its share of ISS operating costs by building a propulsion module for NASA’s Orion crew transport capsule, saying the proposal is technologically lackluster and unlikely to generate public enthusiasm.
For now, participating ESA member governments are covering their share of space station utilities and other operating expenses with routine supply runs of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), a sophisticated cargo craft capable of automatic rendezvous and docking that is powerful enough to boost the ISS into a higher orbit. However, with only three such missions remaining, ESA member governments are weighing a follow-on barter arrangement with NASA to cover about €450 million ($600 million) in space station utilities costs anticipated in 2017-20.
Enrico Saggese, head of Italian space agency ASI, says Italy remains committed to the space station and expects to invest a total of €1.52 billion in the program through 2020. But, while NASA has expressed a preference for the Orion service-module barter element — a plan that would incorporate ATV technology into the multipurpose crew vehicle the U.S. is developing for exploration missions — Saggese said in a Feb. 13 interview that Europe has moved beyond such capabilities and that for ESA, the proposal would equate to “a negative application” of the agency’s technological prowess.
“The role for Europe would be too low,” said Saggese, who plans to discuss the barter arrangement and other cooperative projects with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden next month on the sidelines of the Satellite 2012 conference in Washington. “We cannot deny the cooperation, but on the other hand, we have reached autonomy and should defend our capability.”
Like Saggese, Yannick d’Escatha, head of French space agency CNES, says Europe’s ISS barter element should involve a more innovative technology development in an effort to raise ESA’s technological profile and garner more public backing for European space programs in exchange for continued ISS support.
Specifically, d’Escatha says France would like to develop a vehicle capable of grappling with and collecting orbital debris that could also have sample-return applications for exploration missions.
“This is what we favor,” d’Escatha said in January. “We are not interested in the service module.”
ESA is slated to hash out a new multiyear budget in November, when its 19 member governments are expected to debate continuing participation in the ISS beyond 2015 and how to pay for it. Ultimately, European governments could decide to end their participation in the ISS in 2015, if NASA and ESA are unable to agree on a barter arrangement.
Photo: NASA
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