The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently in a difficult situation to send into space due to the crisis with Russia. Soyuz rockets are now deprecated and the space agency is considering a partnership with Elon Musk’s space firm SpaceX.
ESA is in preliminary talks to procure the same service from Elon Musk’s SpaceX firm, as it has lost access to Russian Soyuz rockets. ESA is currently in the process of choosing between SpaceX and rockets supplied by Japan or India. ESA Managing Director Josef Aschbacher explained that SpaceX is one of the more functional and definitely one of the foreground options.
“We are investigating technical compatibility, but have not yet requested a commercial offer,” Aschbacher said. Of course, we need to make sure these are appropriate. “Negotiations between the space agency and SpaceX are still at an early stage, and we think relying on the company’s launchers will only be a temporary solution.”
ESA isn’t the only space agency forced to form new partnerships after Russia withdrew its rockets. In March, Russia stopped supplying rocket engines to the United States in retaliation for sanctions. As a result, Northrop Grumman recently announced that it has partnered with Firefly Aerospace to build a fully indigenous rocket that would eliminate the need for Russian engines. Until the new rocket is ready, the company will lease SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets to send the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station for cargo missions.
Falcon 9 rockets have already completed 35 missions this year, but it looks like SpaceX will have to make these rockets even more accessible as new launches are added to the program.
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