Source: Wikimedia CommonsEurope is a bit on the back foot when it comes to the Space market. The United States and China have more satellites in orbit than Europe and even Russia comes close to European satellite numbers. With that being said, Europe has been making moves to rectify their capability gap with new rockets, large swaths of satellite orders and now a large-scale development center.
Bulgaria is not a country that jumps to mind when talking about space but they will be in the future. The Bulgarian company EnduroSat is developing a space development center near the capital, Sofia. The unused Dobroslavtsi airport will become Europe’s largest center focused on space technologies, defense and emerging industries with research and education facilities.
EnduroSat offers various satellite buses, antennas, computers, solar panels and other hardware needed to make an operational spacecraft. With buses approaching $10 million, these are not major satellites in terms of size but they are well-placed for proliferated LEO constellations. With that being said, the company is aiming higher with next-gen satellites near the size of a Boeing 737.
The gap between Europe, the United States and China is not just about satellite numbers but of sovereign capability, especially in the commercial sphere. The United States has Starlink, China has its Thousand Sails and Guowang constellations and Europe really has not joined the march for their own constellations. True the Europeans have the planned IRIS2 constellation, however, this is a beginning not a true competitor to United States commercial enterprises. Despite this, constellations such as IRIS2 need large-scale manufacturing, not traditional boutique production. EUAlive states that, “The European Innovation Council (EIC) has supported the company because of its potential to become Europe’s largest space infrastructure company by revenue by 2030.” Having such a center on domestic soil will prove beneficial in the future.
The EU will be a major market for EnduroSat and could spawn a large constellation down the road that could rival constellations elsewhere. Whether commercial, civil or military space endeavors, Europe is playing a high stakes game of catch-up. The Bulgarian center that will be built should speed up the process and close the gap with Washington and Beijing.
Carter Palmer has long held a keen interest in military matters and aviation. As a FI's space systems analyst he is responsible for updating the reports and analyses within the Space Systems Forecast – Launch Vehicles & Manned Platforms and Space Systems Forecast – Satellites & Spacecraft products.
image sources
- Dobroslavtsi_Air_Base_-_Entrance_03: Wikimedia Commons
