ESA will start a competition to develop commercial vehicles to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station by 2028.

“I’m asking for a small but very impactful step, the first step that enables a much bigger ambition,” Josef Aschbacher, ESA director general, said in remarks at the opening of the ESA Council meeting there. “I propose a competition between innovative European companies to deliver a space cargo return service to transport cargo to the International Space Station by 2028 and bring it back to Earth.”

Details about the competition have yet to be worked out. Aschbacher said at a media briefing after the ESA Council meeting that he will establish a small “tiger team” withing the agency to start the program. He envisioned a first phase where ESA provided study contracts to two or three companies in the near term with a total value of 75 million euros ($80 million), using existing funding.

It’s unclear what level of interest the ESA competition will attract, but some European companies have already announced plans for cargo spacecraft. The Exploration Company, which raised 40.5 million euros in a Series A round in February, is working on a series of capsules, with a goal of sending one to the ISS as soon as 2027. Rocket Factory Augsburg, a company working on a small launch vehicle, announced in September it is partnering with Atmos Space Cargo and OHB on a cargo vehicle.

In the US, Dragon and Cygnus are working well, Dream Chaser is looking promising, and Starliner is… well, Boeing. I’m eager to see what European companies can come up with.

  • @[email protected]English
    2•8 months ago

    Cargo contracts starting in 2028 for a station that should deorbit in 2030 seems like a tough sell. ESA should probably formally partner with one of the CLD stations and set up a longer research (and cargo) contract there. Maybe Starlab, which Airbus is a partner on? In my perfect world, ESA would fund a 2nd Starlab, either to dock to the first one or as a separate station in a different orbit.

    As far as the US vehicles go- Crew Dragon is really the exception, not the rule, for signing commercial contracts (free flyers, ISS private flights). I’ll give Cygnus some credit for getting absolutely milked by NG for every pressure vessel they can think of, with the only contract I know of being the Lunar Gateway HALO, plus a partnership to deliver cargo to Starlab. I would lump Starliner and Dreamchaser in the same category until proven otherwise, but hopefully Dreamchaser has a better first flight (as long as no one crashes a forklift or something into it at Plum Brook).