00:00One is never comfortable with any dependency because you always have to evaluate what does it mean and how much
00:07independence or autonomy you want to achieve for Europe.
00:10And this is something that I have discussed with the ministers just last year when we had the ESA ministerial
00:16conference, which brought a record budget for ESA, 22.3 billion or 31% more than the previous ministerial conference.
00:24And the argument of independence or autonomy was a very strong one, that we need to build up our strength,
00:30not to be isolated and to be, I would say, alone with our capacity, but really being a strong partner,
00:37also for international partners in the US, in Japan, in the UAE, in India and in other countries.
00:43So this is really something where we build up our strength, more autonomy, but also more autonomy to be a
00:48stronger partner in global space programs, of which we are having quite a large number.
00:55And to your point, you have successfully increased the funding now available for the European Space Agency as you coordinate
01:02all of these efforts.
01:03Is it enough, though? Is Europe doing enough to fund its space economy and its space industry?
01:11No, it's not really enough. I mean, we have made huge progress and the success was quite outstanding, as you
01:18mentioned.
01:19But if I compare the figures of public funding in Europe with those in the United States, for example, which
01:25is always our benchmark, the United States is spending six times as much as in Europe.
01:30So if Europe has one-sixth of the public funding, that means in Europe it is the European Space Agency,
01:36it's the European Commission, it's national agencies and member state activities,
01:40then if you only have one-sixth you can be brilliant and excellent, but of course with much less money
01:46you can never achieve the same.
01:47Or the other way around, of course, if you have much more money at your disposal, you can develop very
01:53different space companies.
01:54We see now, of course, with the IPO of SpaceX that the support of NASA and the Space Force really
02:01leads to world-dominating space companies.
02:04And this is something, of course, where volume is just as important as excellence.
02:09Is SpaceX good for Europe or bad for Europe, a challenge for Europe?
02:16I mean, first of all, SpaceX is, of course, a U.S. company, but it operates globally.
02:21I take a lot of inspiration and a lot of motivation for Europe to really see what can be done
02:27with a very, I would say, a very ambitious,
02:31a very aggressive schedule and a very aggressive set of goals.
02:35So I have been in SpaceX quite a few times.
02:38I know their factories, also the leadership pretty well.
02:42We have also interactions and cooperation with SpaceX.
02:46For me, it's really something that helps us also in Europe to say, look, this can happen if you do
02:53a number of things right.
02:55And above and beyond funding, and maybe that is key, what would be your one or two priorities in that
03:01clarion call for governments around Europe to support this ecosystem,
03:05the incumbents and the startups, what would you prioritize to them?
03:08And what would you say needs the most urgency right now to support that ecosystem?
03:13What is needed is always funding.
03:16This goes without saying.
03:17But what is also needed is acceleration.
03:20We need to be simpler, faster, sometimes a bit leaner in the processes and certainly avoid fragmentation.
03:29That means that the member states within Europe, the European Space Agency, have to work together in one common project
03:37rather than doing it nationally because fragmentation also weakens us.
03:41And in times like these where security pressures, economic pressures are so high, we need to stick our heads together
03:48and united we can be extremely strong.
03:51And in times like this is the most common problem.
03:51Philippi Hopkins
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