Aschbacher, the designated head of ESA, wants “closer to NASA level” – climate –

Aschbacher was appointed the new ESA Director by the ESA Council on Thursday and will take office in early July 2021. The 58-year-old Tyrolean is currently ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programs and Head of ESRIN, ESA’s Earth Observation Center near Rome. He accepted the job “with reverence and humility” and went to work “full of ideas and motivation,” he said and thanked Gewessler and Klaus Pseiner, CEOs of the FFG Research Promotion Agency and Austrian representative on the Council of the ESA, for supporting your candidacy.

In the APA interview, Aschbacher said that “the same level as NASA, realistically, of course is not feasible”, “but I want to bring Europe closer to NASA.” His vision is “to make space more important in Europe, that is, so important that its importance is roughly on par with America and China.” As an economic power and as a political bloc, Europe must be equated with these two blocs, “but space is unfortunately not comparable, investments are lower here, but the importance of space itself is much less.”

Together with the EU Commission, Aschbacher wants not only to create a fascination for space, but also to launch projects, “perhaps also flagship programs the size of ‘Galileo’ or ‘Copernicus’, and thus take Europe to the next level . bring “. He does not want to say much about it yet, but rather to present his plans on the first day of his mandate, that is, on July 1, 2021. “The concepts are in my head, they have to be developed and coordinated with the member states and the Commission”.

Climate Protection Minister Gewessler, responsible for space agendas, congratulated Aschbacher on the unanimous vote: “It is an honor and a pleasure that ESA is led by such a competent Austrian for the next few years.” It also shows that Austria is very active in space research, and this is of particular importance, in particular Earth observation in the fight against the climate crisis.

For Gewessler, Austria has “continually become an internationally recognized partner in the space sector” since it joined ESA in 1987. His department invests € 70 million annually in space exploration, of which around two-thirds goes to the ESA. This would also support innovative companies in Austria that benefit from ESA orders. The minister announced that her house would invest six million euros from the economic stimulus package in ESA programs and thus support top-level research.

One of the pillars of investments in ESA’s programs and in the Austrian space program ASAP is Earth observation. Of ESA’s expenditures, an average of ten million euros per year would go to earth observation activities, and ASAP this year a volume of funding of 7.7 million euros for earth observation and land use data and services of the Earth observation program of ESA and the European Commission “Copernicus”. “planned.” This money also helps us fight the climate crisis, “Gewessler said.

Because satellites like the recently launched “Sentinel 6” would provide data on Earth with which better and more effective measures could be taken against the climate crisis. As concrete projects under Austrian management, he mentioned the observation of the snow cover in the northern hemisphere, the development of which provides conclusions on the development of the climate system or the large-scale observation of soil moisture.

Aschbacher emphasized the great importance of space technologies for all of our lives. They would provide information, “for decision makers, but also for citizens to understand what is happening on our planet, how it works and how the interrelationships can be better understood.” This allows for better weather predictions. The satellites would also help with the monitoring of the various climate agreements, an issue that is “close to its heart. That is why I am particularly satisfied with the goal of Austria being climate neutral by 2040, that is a feeling and I would like to help. to achieve it “. says Aschbacher.