Esa wants to bring new cargo vehicle to the ISS
The European Space Agency Esa wants to have a European spacecraft developed by 2028 that can carry cargo to the International Space Station ISS and back to Earth.
At the Esa Space Summit in Seville, Spain, the Esa countries launched a competition between European companies for this purpose. The vehicle could later be further developed for manned space travel and could also fly to other destinations if the countries so wished, according to Esa. Nasa can already deliver cargo to the ISS and bring it back to Earth through partnerships with the companies SpaceX and Northrop Grumman.
Esa boss Josef Aschbacher spoke of a very important decision. "This puts Europe on a very good path for space exploration."
Aschbacher sees an opportunity for Europe to offer freight transportation to commercial providers in the future. In exchange, this could lead to the use of future commercial space stations and the flight of astronauts there, for example, according to a letter. The theoretical possibility of further developing the spacecraft for manned space travel also fits in with Esa's efforts to achieve autonomous access to space.
Esa also wants to launch a competition for new launch vehicles. The way in which rockets are procured needs to be changed and is close to a paradigm shift towards a competitive model, said Aschbacher.
Source: www.dpa.com
