Conference to Discuss the Future of Europe's Space Plans

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) say that all future opportunities belonging to European space plans will make the subject on an extensive debate, to take place October 26-27.

The meeting, at which the general public is invited to attend, will take place in Brussels, under the aegis of the European Parliament, the ESA representatives add.

The talks will reunite politicians and other decision-makers, with representatives and executives from companies in the space industry, and with representatives of the civil society.

The entire event will take place under the high patronage of the President of the European Parliament, Mr Jerzy Buzek. All participants will discover and debate the political and financial stakes of space exploration under the current climate.

Over the past few years, the European Space Agency has made important strides towards becoming one of the largest organizations of its kind in the world.

However, it is very difficult to classify space agencies, because there are numerous factors by which this is done. For example, some have the ability to send astronauts to orbit, whereas others have advanced robotic missions.

But what really stands out is the degree of involvement in space projects that ESA has now as opposed to, say, a decade ago.

These improvements are generally due to a shift in attitudes that European officials had on space exploration, when they realized that Europe cannot lag behind emerging space powers such as China and India.

One of the main goals of the recent conference will be identifying existing opportunities for development, as well as possible methods of cooperating with other space actors around the world.

ESA is already involved in the International Space Station (ISS) project, a $100 billion initiative that has been under development for nearly 11 years.

Some of the most interesting topics proposed for the discussions include establishing  a governance for the European space infrastructures, developing industrial policies, and identifying the stakes of space expansion.

Additionally, experts will also discuss the role that space infrastructure has in the service of planetary management, crisis management, security, defense, and the society as a whole.