The results of the public consultations on the European Space Policy

When asked, whether the EU should engage itself an activities related to the space exploration, which currently is lead by ESA and its member states, the vast majority of respondents answered affirmatively, pointing out various reasons for such a decision.

Most (69%; multiple answers could be chosen) responded that this will contribute to the scientific and technological development of the EU.

The European Commission released figures on the public consultations on the European Space Policy, which were finished on March 15th. 608 entities answered the questions from the Commission.

The Commission has collected 608 opinions from the public consultations on the European Space Policy, which began at the turn of 2010/2011. Following is a brief elaboration of the results published by the European Commission.

The characterisation of respondents First of all individuals (39%) and academic institutions (29%) answered the calling. The next largest groups were micro and small enterprises (7%) and government entities (7%). Also 15 NGOs answered the questions (2.5% of respondents). The national share coincides with the degree of development of space technologies in various countries.

Most participants (more than 100) came from Germany and France. They are followed by Belgium (86), Italy (62), Austria (33), Spain (36), United Kingdom (26), the Netherlands and Sweden (both 24).

Poland sent four answers. From two countries, Estonia and Finland, no response was received. The activities of the respondents, which took part in the consultation, were in almost 70% somehow related to the space sector.

About 12%, were engaged in the manufacture of spacecraft and technologies directly associated with spaceflight or were users of space technology. The next largest group (5%) were those involved in space policy.

Space risks awareness The first set of questions dealt with outer space risks awareness, also known as space situational awareness (SSA), i.e. issues of space weather, space debris and near-Earth objects (NEO). The vast majority of respondents were aware of these risks (86%). Only 2% of the involved people and institutions did not know of the SSA problems.

Almost 60% answered that the risk covered by the SSA may interfere or pose a problem for their own statutory activities. Almost 1/3 replied that such connection does not exist.

Again, the vast majority, 70% of the respondents, believes that the authorities should act to reduce the risk of threats from outer space, still marginal 2% had the opposite view.

Questions were asked whether the EU should develop its own measures to protect spacecrafts from collisions and space weather, with the explanation that the EU currently uses such resources from other countries.

More than 57% of subjects responded that the EU should develop its own technical capabilities, preferably complementary to the measures used now. 26% would like to have a completely independent infrastructure.
Every tenth respondent prefers the status quo.

On the question who should be responsible for the construction of such infrastructure, 51% of the entities and individuals responded that it should be developed in a joint effort of the European Union and its Member States.

Every third respondent said that the EU authorities should play a major role in the creation of such a system.

The Construction only by Member States is accepted only by 5% of the consultation participants. In regard to the SSA costs, more than 50% of the responses indicated, that the sources of the funding are irrelevant, as long as the system works effectively.

Almost 30% of the respondents believe that the EU should jointly bear most of the cost. As many as 52% of participants did not reply to this question.

The survey also asked about private capital participation in the financing of the SSA system. 70% of the responses authorized funding from both private and state sources.

Funding only from public funds was noted in almost 20% of the responses, and only 2% of the responses wanted private funds to cover the expenses.

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ESA & Ariane 5: Paris Air & Space Show

ESA pavilion at Paris Air & Space Show

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket launch successful

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

SpaceX successfully launched the Dragon space capsule into orbit, marking the first such attempt by a private enterprise that could pave the way for the future of space travel.

This photo provided by SpaceX shows the Dragon spacecraft carried by three main parachutes to a gentle soft landing in the Pacific Ocean.

The private company launched a spacecraft into orbit and for the first time guided it safely back to Earth, a feat previously achieved only by large national governments.

Pictures: SpaceX/Getty

Ultra-Precise Mirrors and Optical Systems For Space

Ultra-Precise Mirrors and Optical Systems For Space

Metal mirrors made with extremely high precision and exactly positioned are the key elements of modern telescopes.

A new production technique enables complex optical surfaces to be manufactured with excellent trueness of shape and hitherto unattained positional accuracy.

The mirrors have been built for an infrared sounder telescope.

For space research as well as climate observation and weather forecasting satellites need increasingly powerful optical measurement and recording devices.

They often consist of several aspherically shaped mirror elements which through their precise interplay provide the desired reflection of the incident light.

"All the mirrors must be produced and characterised with extreme precision, that is to an accuracy of less than one micrometer. They also have to be exactly positioned in relation to each other," explains Sebastian Scheiding from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena. Up to now this positioning has been very time consuming as it takes place step by step.

First the individual mirrors are fitted in the telescope one after the other, then the imaging quality is measured.

If inaccuracies or errors are found, they are corrected by positional adjustments to the mirrors. Then further measurements and adjustments are made until all components are optimally arranged.

"We wanted to simplify this complicated and time-consuming adjustment process," says Scheiding. In the research project initiated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) the scientist has therefore developed an innovative production technique which takes into account the later alignment of the components right from the outset.

For this purpose, the individual mirror surfaces are positioned in relation to each other as precisely during processing as they will be later in the telescope. This reduces to a minimum the errors and corrections made when the mirrors are being fitted. The assembly process is simple and reproducible.

"The trick is that we mount all the mirrors for a module in the same machine at the same time and assign them to a common system of coordinates.

To this end, each mirror blank is provided with defined, ultra-precise measurement marks and reference surfaces," explains Scheiding. These fixed marks embody the system of coordinates for diamond turning of the mirror shapes. At the same time, however, they fix the position of each mirror in relation to the adjacent mirrors. Finally they also serve as reference points for subsequent measurement processes to check the quality of the optical system.