French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu warned European countries against cooperation with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Instead, the politician advised his colleagues to focus on supporting the European Ariane space program.
French Minister Lecornu advised European countries not to cooperate with SpaceX
Author: Akhmed Sadulayev
“Some European states may be tempted to cooperate with SpaceX to the detriment of our Ariane program, and therefore our strategic autonomy and our industry,” said Lecornu in an interview with Le Journal du Dimance.
According to the French minister, over the past decades, representatives of EU countries have not worked effectively enough in the space sector and “found themselves hostage to outdated approaches,” losing leadership to SpaceX.
In particular, Lecornu admitted that in Europe they were skeptical about Musk’s ideas for using reusable space rockets, considering them impossible.
“We had both industrial and financial opportunities, but we missed them due to risk aversion or simple arrogance. It’s time to wake up,” the minister said.
At the same time, the head of the French armed forces recalled that in mid-December, terminals of the Starlink satellite system from SpaceX were deployed in the overseas region of Mayotte to coordinate the efforts of rescuers to eliminate the consequences of the hurricane.
According to Lecornu, “you have to be pragmatic in an emergency.” Moreover, the French authorities had to use technologies that they “do not yet have.”
Photo: Unsplash
Source: rb.ru
