XPost: talk.politics.misc, sci.space, alt.politics.eu
XPost: soc.culture.eu

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/22/european-space-agency-humans-launched-space-from-europe/

Humans could be launched into space from European soil under
plans by the European Space Agency (ESA) to stop relying on
the US to get its astronauts off the ground.

Josef Aschbacher, the director general of ESA, said that
many of the great explorers had been European so it was
“strange” that Europe did not have the capability to venture
away from Earth without help.

He warned that without investment in a European human
spaceflight programme, ESA would quickly fall behind
countries such as China and India, particularly when
humans return to the Moon.

. . .

But do they actually have the money ???

Putting humans into space is EXPENSIVE and DANGEROUS.
China only recently got into the game (and is doing
quite well IMHO) but it had more money than anyone.
India and Japan have an interest, but I haven't heard
of any real motion happening there. Of them, India
will likely be first.

We can argue the merits of humans -vs- bots in space
all we want. There are positives and negatives for
both, but in the end hybrid programs will likely
yield the most results.

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