The space ministers of the European Union (EU) and European Space Agency (ESA) met on November 25 in Brussels, Belgium for the seventh time since the two organizations signed a framework agreement in 2004. The two groups have overlapping, but not identical, memberships. The EU is a political body, while ESA is technical. The two have worked together on the European Galileo navigation satellite system and the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program for several years.

The Space Council meeting took place as part of a meeting of the Council of the European Union on “Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space).” A press release from the EU said that the Council “endorsed a resolution on the orientations to be taken so that Europe can continue to develop world-class space infrastructures and applications, and to rely on efficient space systems to serve its citizens.” The Galileo and GMES programs were given special emphasis.

Among its many points, the resolution itself “ACKNOWLEDGES the increasing dependence of the European economy and policies … on space assets and the critical nature of space infrastructures for autonomous European decision making….” It also “NOTES the EU’s proposal for a Code of Conduct in Outer Space” and “RECOGNISES the need for a future Space Situational Awareness (SSA) capability as an activity at European level…”

Article 189 of the Lisbon Treaty, which went into force in December 2009, gives the EU an explicit role not only in European space applications like Galileo and GMES, but also in space exploration. The resolution issued yesterday “CONSIDERS” that Europe’s robotic and human space exploration program should be undertaken “within a worldwide programme” developed by building upon existing international partnerships. The International Space Station (ISS) is specifically cited as an example. The resolution “TAKES NOTE” of the decision by some ISS partners to extend operations of the ISS until at least 2020 and stresses the need to effectively utilize the facility.

Regarding space exploration, the resolution “STRESSES the strong common interest of Member States in Mars exploration” and “CALLS UPON the European Commission and ESA [Director General], jointly, to develop and propose a European exploration strategy…”

ESA issued its own press release, quoting Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain as saying that the Lisbon Treaty with its Article 189 is “good news for space, good news for Europe and good news for ESA. It allows us not to do the same thing differently, but to do more, together.”

For anyone who won’t be preparing Thanksgiving dinner or watching the Macy’s Day parade tomorrow at 16:00 European time (10:00 am EST), the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Union (EU) will be webstreaming a press conference about their seventh Space Council meeting. The meeting of ESA and EU ministers in charge of space activities will take place that day in Brussels, Belgium.

According to ESA’s press release, the theme of the meeting is “Global Challenges: Taking Full Benefit of European Space Systems.” ESA says the theme “reflects the important synergies that can be created to benefit Europe’s citizens when placing the technical expertise provided by ESA at the service of a range of EU policies.”

Last week, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden had an “all hands” meeting with Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) employees. Among the topics was a brief summary of his recent trip to China. Other than a brief press release after the trip, few details have publicly emerged until now.

Traveling there with Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight, and Peggy Whitson, Chief of the Astronaut Office, Bolden said “we got an opportunity to see everything.” That is in contrast to the 2006 trip by then-NASA Administrator Michael Griffin where the NASA group reportedly was provided little access to Chinese space facilities. Gerstenmaier and astronaut Shannon Lucid were part of the 2006 delegation.

Bolden reported that his NASA delegation started in Beijing and visited “most of their facilities where they produced the Long March” rocket, and also traveled to the Gobi Desert. China launches its human spaceflight missions from the Jiuquan launch center there. It is the original Chinese space launch site (now there are two more and a fourth under construction) and is the site for launching many Chinese satellites destined for high inclination orbits, including those that support military space missions.

He said that he stressed to the Chinese that if they are seeking to cooperate with the United States in space that “they will have to demonstrate to us that they could be transparent in all dealings,” “demonstrate that they were willing to exercise reciprocity,” and the cooperation “had to be mutually beneficial to both nations.” He also emphasized that he went there to listen, not “to propose or to make any deals or anything.” The latter was a matter of controversy before the trip. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and others in Congress insisted that Bolden assure them before the trip that he would not broker any deals on human spaceflight cooperation while he was in China.

During the MSFC meeting, Bolden observed that the Chinese were “struggling right now with how they split up responsibility for programs,” and that the head of their human spaceflight program is also in charge of the Chinese anti-satellite program, which he found ironic. He did not name the individual, but said that his host started the conversation by saying that China does not need the United States and vice versa, but that if the two worked together “the potential…is incredible,” according to Bolden’s account.

Many other topics, mostly domestic, were also discussed. A transcript provided to SpacePolicyOnline.com by NASA is available here. Space News, which first revealed the existence of the transcript in a story posted Friday, reported that the meeting was held on November 16. NASA provided the transcript to SpacePolicyOnline.com upon request. It does not appear to be posted on any of NASA’s websites as of this moment.

Representatives of 28 space agencies from around the world endorsed a declaration calling for increased international cooperation at a “summit” sponsored by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) on November 17.

The declaration makes recommendations from IAA to the world’s space agencies in four areas: human spaceflight, robotic planetary exploration, climate change, and disaster management. It concludes that a “consensus widely recognized is that many global challenges to come can better be solved by countries working together.” A larger circle of partners is needed, it says, but “confidence, trust, transparence [sic] and best practice sharing will have to be the key points for reducing impediments while promoting a safe and responsible use of space.” The IAA unveiled studies written by IAA members in each of the four areas at the summit.

Read a SpacePolicyOnline.com summary of the meeting by looking under “Our Meeting Summaries” on the left menu or simply by clicking here.

Scientists have been examining particles in Japan’s Hayabusa asteroid sample return capsule to determine if the probe successfully brought back anything from the asteroid it visited, Itokawa. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced today that “about 1,500 grains were identified as rocky particles, and most were determined to be of extraterrestrial origin, and definitely from Asteroid Itokawa.”

The Hayabusa capsule was recovered in Australia in June, but the mission had encountered many challenges. While JAXA was lauded for the technical feat of getting the capsule back to Earth, it was not clear if it actually had any of Itokawa’s material inside. The mechanism that was intended to grab the sample apparently failed, but scientists were hopeful that at least some dust had made its way into the return canister. It seems that those hopes have been realized.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden issued a press release today summarizing his October 16-21 trip to China.

Saying that NASA met its objectives for the visit, but stressing that it “did not include consideration of any specific proposals for cooperation,” Mr. Bolden said they reached a “common understanding of the importance of transparency, reciprocity, and mutual benefit as the underlying principles of any future interaction between our two nations in the area of human spaceflight.”

The trip was controversial with some member of Congress, including Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), the ranking member of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA. He insisted in a letter to Mr. Bolden before the trip on assurances that no specific cooperative human space flight programs would be discussed.

Representatives of Japanese and European space agencies told a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) audience yesterday about the difficult economic conditions facing their space programs, like that here in the United States, and how international cooperation is key to moving forward — and China should be part of it.

Norimitsu Kamimori, head of the Washington office of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) explained the constrained funding for his civil space agency, pointing out that some plans, like future robotic lunar exploration, have been put on hold. And while Japan would like to cooperate more with the United States on earth science missions, funding shortfalls make that difficult.

Andreas Diekmann, Juergen Drescher, and Emmanuel di Lipkowski, the Washington representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA), Germany’s space agency, DLR, and France’s space agency, CNES, respectively, sounded a similar theme about the outlook for funding for their space activities. They are hopeful that the European Union (EU) will provide more funding for space activities now that it has an official role in space policy thanks to the Lisbon Treaty, which went into force in December 2009. They believe that space programs will benefit from the higher-level political attention accorded to EU activities.

International cooperation will be essential to realizing future plans, they said, especially in human exploration. Mr. di Lipkowski said that “None of us question the need for American leadership in space.” In response to a question about China’s role in future international space activities, all four endorsed the idea. Mr. Kamimori pointed out that China is Japan’s neighbor and they already have established a cooperative relationship, especially through the Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), created in 1993 after the 1992 International Space Year. Mr. Diekmann added that ESA has had cooperative programs with China in space science and that China participates in the International Space Exploration Coordination (ISEC) working group of countries discussing future human space exploration. Mr. Drescher said that NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden’s ongoing trip to China is an “important cornerstone to keep stability and understand where we are.” Mr. di Lipkowski added that China, with its population and economy, cannot be ignored and “we have to bring them into the tent to see how we do things.”

The four were members of a panel organized by CSIS’s Ashley Bander to discuss “The Year Ahead in Space.” All four praised the International Space Station (ISS), but emphasized that it is essential that the facility be put to good use now that so much has been spent on building it. Mr. Drescher and Mr. di Lipkowski warned that potential users may be lost because they do not want to deal with the layers of bureaucracy or lengthy time frames for getting an experiment on orbit. “We have to prove that this laboratory can deliver and not be a white elephant,” Mr. di Lipkowski asserted. Mr. Drescher added that “we have to rewrite” the book of “how to access ISS and give it to the scientists.” Mr. Diekmann, however, said he would not “paint such a dark picture” of ISS utilization given that assembly has just been completed and a full crew complement only recently became available to conduct science experiments. ESA, he said, has a strong utilization plan and user community for ISS.

As to whether ISS is a good model for future international space projects, Mr. di Lipkowski noted that the ISS cooperative framework was developed during the Cold War and a new model will be needed for the current era of international relationships. Offering an impassioned defense of human spaceflight activities, he stressed that “We are living in terrible economic times. We can’t do what Apollo did. My message is that we have to cooperate.” Ruing the fact that younger people today are not very interested in space activities even though it is one of the few sources of “positive” news, he emphasized that what is needed is new governance and export control models and a vision “or we will go nowhere.” “We have to sell us, the space community, to the political community and not think that everything we do is marvelous and brilliant.” He added that people need to understand that space is not expensive in the overall scheme of things, that in the United States, for example, NASA is only 0.6 percent of the federal budget. Mr. Diekmann said that space applications are the top priority in Europe exactly because the benefits are more visible to the public.

The panel also emphasized the need for balance between robotic and human spaceflight, and among exploration, space science, and “managing Earth” using earth science satellites.

Closer collaboration with the United States on new space transportation systems was another theme. “That doesn’t mean we have to build a common launcher,” Mr. Diekmann said, “but we need common interfaces for a more intelligent combination of capabilities,” that is, a “common space transportation policy.”

The cloud of debris from the 2007 Chinese antisatellite test now numbers 3,037 pieces according to the latest issue of NASA’s Orbital Debris Quarterly News. China launched a kinetic kill attack against one of its own satellites in January 2007. The action was globally condemned less for its militaristic nature than for the massive amount of orbital debris it created, imperiling other satellites.

The NASA publication reports that 97 percent of the debris is still in orbit three and a half years after the event “posing distinct hazards to hundreds of operational satellites.” The debris from that one event represents 22 percent of all catalogued space objects in low Earth orbit according to NASA. Debris can generate more debris by collisions within the cloud.

This debris cloud, and another created by the 2009 unintentional collision of an operational U.S. commercial Iridium communications satellite and a defunct Russian Cosmos satellite, spurred the new push for improved Space Situational Awareness (SSA). SSA is a major feature of President Obama’s new National Space Policy. Generally, SSA is intended to make information available to satellite operators on the location of other satellites and debris so collisions can be avoided.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden is headed to China October 16-21. Aviation Week & Space Technology first publicly reported on the trip two weeks ago, noting that it would include discussions about potential U.S.-China cooperation in human spaceflight. In an exchange of letters with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), the top Republican on the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, Bolden confirmed the dates of the trip and assured the Congressman that the talks are only introductory in nature.

Rep. Wolf has made it clear year after year that he opposes human spaceflight cooperation with China. He wrote a letter to Mr. Bolden on October 5 asking for details on the China visit and reminded the agency that Congress has not approved any such cooperation. Rep. Wolf said in the letter:

“It should go without saying that NASA has no business cooperating with the Chinese regime on human spaceflight. China is taking an increasingly aggressive posture globally, and their interests rarely intersect with ours. The U.S. intelligence community notes that China’s attempts to spy on U.S. agencies are the most aggressive of all foreign intelligence organizations. China’s aerospace industry for decades has provided missile technologies and equipment to rogue regimes like Iran and North Korea.

“There is no clearer indication of the gulf that exists between our two countries than the Chinese government’s treatment of its own people. China routinely imprisons or places under house arrest Catholic bishops, priests and Protestant house church pastors. Their congregations are forced to gather in secret. As of July 2009, there were 689 Tibetan prisoners of conscience, 439 of whom were monks or nuns. Uyghur Muslims face persecution by the Chinese government as well. China maintains an extensive system of slave labor camps as large as that which existed in the former Soviet Union.”

Mr. Bolden replied on October 8, assuring Rep. Wolf that the talks on human spaceflight are introductory only “and will not include consideration of any specific proposals for human space flight cooperation or new cooperation in any other areas of NASA’s activities.” Mr. Bolden went on to say that a reciprocal visit “by Chinese Government officials to NASA facilities” is being planned and such plans “will be guided by the degree of transparency and openness that is displayed during my visit.” Finally, the NASA Administrator added that:

“Let me stress again that NASA’s interactions with Chinese organizations will continue to be based on the principles of transparency, reciprocity, and mutual benefit and conducted with appropriate interagency coordination. NASA’s interaction with Chinese entities will be in accordance with existing law and policy, and any specific future opportunities for potential cooperation will be coordinated through interagency review prior to formalization with Chinese partners. Additionally, NASA will comply with the Congressional certification requirements that pertain to prospective cooperative agreements with Chinese entities, as set forth in section 126(a) of the NASA Authorization Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-391).”

If Republicans take control of the House next month, Rep. Wolf could become the chairman of the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations subcommittee that handles NASA funding next year. U.S.-China space cooperation has been a particularly touchy subject since the late 1990s when a Republican-led House commission concluded that China was gaining militarily useful information by launching U.S.-built satellites. The “Cox Commission” findings led to a ban on exporting satellites with any U.S. components to China for launch. Suspicions about China’s motives in wanting to cooperate with the United States in space have not subsided in many circles since that time. Conversely, with China now capable of human spaceflight and launching robotic probes to the Moon — like the Chang-e 2 spacecraft launched October 1 — others see U.S.-China space cooperation as an opportunity to be cultivated.

UPDATE (September 28, 2010): This issue was discussed extensively at the NAC Science Committee meeting today. The committee decided to forward a recommendation to the full NAC, which meets next week in Palmdale, CA, that NASA should keep open the option of a possible partnership with ESA on Euclid, and if ESA does select Euclid to proceed next summer, NASA’s goal then should be negotiation of a joint ESA/NASA program that meets the science goals of both Euclid and WFIRST either as a combined mission or two complementary missions.

ORiGINAL STORY (September 27, 2010)

The NASA Advisory Council’s (NAC’s) astrophysics subcommittee (APS) took a cautious position on the possibility of NASA participating in the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Euclid dark energy mission after two days of intense debate (see our two earlier stories). Euclid is one of three missions competing for two slots in ESA’s science mission program; a decision will be made next summer. The National Research Council’s Astro2010 Decadal Survey recommended a U.S. mission, WFIRST, that would also study dark energy among other pursuits. NASA asked for input from the U.S. astrophysics community, through APS, on the extent to which the two agencies could work together.

In a report to its parent NAC Science Committee, which meets tomorrow by teleconference, the APS conveyed that it supports NASA’s plan to continue discussions with ESA about a possible partnership on Euclid, but it was “primarily to keep the Euclid option open at this time, not endorsement of proceeding to a legally binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).” The APS also “indicated a preference that the US share of Euclid be kept at the present 20% level, rather than being raised to 33% as proposed….” (emphasis in original).

The subcommittee was responding to briefings it received from NASA and the NRC about priorities for space-based astrophysics in the next decade. The Astro 2010 Decadal Survey, entitled New Worlds New Horizons (NWNH), recommended the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telecope (WFIRST) as the top priority for large space-based astrophysics missions in the next 10 years. WFIRST would investigate dark energy, search for exoplanets, and conduct an all-sky infrared survey. Euclid would study only dark energy. The question then is whether the two agencies should work together, with NASA participating in Euclid and ESA participating in WFIRST.

Much is at stake. NASA officials made clear that WFIRST is not likely to launch until at least 2022, while Euclid would launch in 2018 if it is approved by ESA. The APS subcommittee’s letter said that meant “Euclid would … spend 3-4 years making measurements similar to some of those planned for WFIRST, effectively skimming the cream off the dark energy pail.”

Money is another issue. NASA estimates that it would cost $260 million over 10 years for NASA to participate in Euclid at the 33 percent level most recently discussed between the two agencies. The subcommittee asked what NASA astrophysics opportunities would be foresaken to pay for that, and whether having two dark energy missions (Euclid and WFIRST) would create an imbalance in the astrophysics portfolio.

Nonetheless, APS noted that if ESA contributed a like amount to WFIRST and the arrangement therefore was revenue neutral, “[p]articipation in Euclid would then be the first element in a US near-infrared space telescope program leading to WFIRST. Continuing this partnership with ESA on the Euclid and potentially WFIRST missions would fulfill a NASA objective of pursuing a new era of international cooperation in space.”

Thus, they decided to keep their options open by supporting NASA’s plan to proceed with negotiations on U.S. participation in Euclid, but at the lower 20 percent level instead of 33 percent. They also chided NASA for giving them so lilttle time to consider the issues: “In the future, questions to be asked of the APS about such important issues should be provided to the APS in advance of the meeting, so APS members have time to provide thoughtful advice, and, when needed, consult with their colleagues in the community.” (emphasis in original)

The NAC Science Committee teleconference meeting tomorrow is open to the public. It begins at 8:30 am EDT. Dial-in information is available in the Federal Register notice.