Europe aims to increase space launches but remains behind the US

The European Union has announced plans to sharply increase the number of orbital launches and expand space infrastructure. According to the Financial Times, Europe is significantly lagging behind the US and China in this regard and is taking measures to improve its position in the future. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports .

Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for Defense and Space, stated that by 2034, Europe's demand for orbital launches is expected to increase approximately sixfold. According to European Commission forecasts, the region will require about 62 space launches per year by that time.

These rocket launches will be necessary for deploying and maintaining satellite constellations intended for the Galileo navigation system, the Copernicus Earth observation program, as well as secure communications and government needs. Currently, Europe's primary heavy-lift launch vehicle is the Ariane 6, launched from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.

Infrastructure expansion plans

Although there are plans to increase the launch frequency of the Ariane 6 rocket from 10 to 14 per year, experts believe this will not be sufficient to meet future needs. For this reason, Europe is exploring the possibility of creating a network of distributed spaceports.

Andrius Kubilius noted that future launches are expected to utilize the Andøya spaceport in Norway and launch sites in Scotland. Additionally, Portugal is exploring the possibility of launching rockets from the Azores, while Canada is also being considered as a potential partner.

It is noted that some of these sites are located in territories outside the European Union. In particular, although Norway and the UK are not EU members, they are full members of the European Space Agency, and Canada holds the status of a cooperating state.

Global competition and future prospects

The expansion of launch geography should help Europe manage the growing number of satellites and reduce dependence on a few spaceports. However, to achieve the set targets, Europe must not only expand its launch infrastructure but also significantly increase its rocket production capacity.

It is worth noting that even if the European Union fully implements its plans and achieves 62 launches per year, it will still lag behind the US and China in global competition. For comparison, the US plans to conduct 10,000 space missions per year by 2035.