Between rockets, old satellites, a dozen monitors and huge antennas, Pedro Duque, former astronaut and president of Hispasat, one of the largest communications satellite operators in Europe, describes why Europe needs an independent and strong space industry.
Duque made two special flights for the European Space Agency (SEA) in 1998 and 2003. From then until 2018, Duque continued to be linked to space, later passing through the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain to finally take on a new professional challenge. as president of the company Hispasat.
This Spanish company, now chaired by the former astronaut, is a communications satellite operator that offers coverage in America, Europe and North Africa. For Duque and his team at the Hispasat company, a key objective is to provide a seamless Internet connection through satellites in areas that lack infrastructure.
Despite the EU’s continued support for innovation and science in space, the European space industry has always been accompanied by a notable funding gap. To establish a comparison that exemplifies this, the United States government spends between five and ten times more money than the rest of the European governments in promoting space innovation, which shows the difficulties that European companies have in being innovative.
For Pedro Duque, this is an aspect that could be improved and that at the European level “we could consider ways to attract more capital from private investors. At the moment, American companies have much higher budgets.”
Despite this situation, some progress is being contemplated in this area and the recently published report, Letta, highlighted the promotion of the space industry as an important area in which the EU should “do more” in the future. “Europe is always a little behind. But when it comes to public investment, we are in the process of striking a balance between each country’s legitimate goal of promoting its own industry and the benefits of an EU-wide market. The best way to achieve this is by allocating public resources to the best technological solution, wherever it is created,” said the president of Hispasat.
Deutsche Bank and Hispasat
Hispasat is one of the main space companies in the world and has strengthened its position in recent years. In a world full of challenges, disruptions in markets, technologies and a new geopolitical situation, Deutsche Bank advises Hispasat in key markets.
