Objective Moon: China and Russia against America and Europe, space in two blocks

But while the Americans talk a lot about their spaceflights, the Chinese take a more “clandestine” approach according to Emmanuel Jehen. Regarding the Moon, they all target the same area of ​​the South Pole, where there is frozen water in craters.

Teamwork

” Gateaway is a program that connects partners to the International Space Station without the RussiansEmmanuel Gehen explains.So, the Europeans – responsible for the unit, the communication antenna – and the Canadians, and a few Japanese. This cooperation made it possible for the Europeans to get two “tickets” to sail around the moon, which would be the first for a European, but he has not yet set foot.“” We hope to see a Belgian foot on the surface of the moonadmits Pierre Cocoy, Director of Space Service at bellspool Federal Public Service Programming Service Science Policy.Probably not for Artemis 3 … will depend on the choice.“

Since 2020, the space has represented an annual investment of 275 million euros per year for Belgium, that is, 250 million euros for the European Space Agency and 25 million euros for other activities, such as bilateral cooperation with Argentina, but above all CNES in France … or money that comes back to Belgium in the form of contracts. A portion of the 25 million also goes to other ESAs: Yumitsat (which produces weather satellites for other purposes), European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ( ECMWF) And the The O (European Southern Observatory, Chile).

In November, the European Space Agency’s Ministerial Council will convene in Paris, and Thomas Dermaine will represent Belgium there. It is said that Belgium could review its “space” budgets there. Luxury in this time of crisis? Not really, because for the money invested there is a guarantee of return. An investment “in space” is an investment in our future, too.