European Space Agency (THIS) has revealed new details of its large-scale European Resilience from Space program (ERS), for the implementation of which it plans to attract over 1 billion euros at the agency's upcoming ministerial conference.
The program was presented 28 October during the European Resilience from Space conference in Brussels. Its purpose is to create a comprehensive system of space observations, navigation and communication, which will strengthen European defense capabilities, security and response to crisis situations.
The initiative arose against the background of growing security threats in Europe, in particular, because of Russia's aggressive policy, as well as the awareness that, that the continent can no longer rely entirely on US defense support. ESA aims to unify European efforts in space defence, avoid duplication of programs and create a truly autonomous security system from orbit.
ERS will be one of the key proposals, which ESA will present to member states at a ministerial conference on November 26-27 in Bremen. The total budget of the program is estimated at 1,2 billion euros.
Satellite observation
The largest part of the financing — 750 million euros — ESA plans to direct to the creation of a new satellite constellation for observing the Earth. At the initial stage, the agency will combine the national satellites of the EU countries into a "virtual" system, to make the most of available resources. However, this approach will only provide about a dozen images per day for specific regions, while the target benchmark is monitoring at an interval of y 30 minutes.
To achieve this, ESA plans to deploy a new network of optical and radar satellites, equipped with additional sensors (infrared, radio frequency, etc), as well as edge computing and intersatellite connection technologies. The first demonstration devices should be launched by 2028 year.
Navigation and time
The second component of the program involves the creation of the LEO PNT system — a low-orbit grouping of positioning satellites, navigation and time synchronization, which will complement the European Galileo system and increase its resistance to interference. ESA is asking for this direction 250 millions of euros.
Secure connection
The third direction concerns the development of secure communications and is based on the existing IRIS² project. ESA plans to spend on its initial research 50 millions of euros, will 150 million euros for demonstration missions. The total request for the development of IRIS² within the framework of the ministerial conference is 600 millions of euros.
ESA sees IRIS² as a secure communications framework for Earth observation satellites and navigation systems within the ERS.
A joint initiative of ESA and the European Commission
ERS is being developed in partnership with the European Commission and will be the first stage of a larger joint project. ESA will be responsible for the technical development of the systems, and the Commission for their further exploitation, by analogy with the Galileo and Copernicus programs.
Although the details of the future co-financing have not yet been determined, the initiative is consistent with the plans of the European Commission to allocate 131 billion euros for defense and space in the next seven-year financial framework, which starts at 2028 year.
ESA considers the current moment to be optimal for the start of the program, as it allows initial development to begin before the EU budget is finalised. At the same time, the agency recognizes, that the full autonomy of Europe in the field of space security remains unattainable for now — in particular, due to the dependence on American components, which are subject to ITAR export restrictions.
Source: https://spacenews.com