Don't Leave Space to the Americans Alone

The US has enjoyed a substantial lead in space since the 1960s, and now with help from SpaceX and others that lead will widen. Other countries must take notice.

At the International Astronautical Conference (IAC) this year, a new concept for a European manned space vehicle was introduced. Dubbed SUSIE it would initially ride atop an Ariane 6 rocket, before later being moved to the next generation reusable rocket from ArianeGroup. SUSIE itself is a large spacecraft, capable of carrying 5 astronauts in addition to having a cargo pay similar to that of the Shuttle (although obviously much smaller). On completion of its mission it will reenter and land using a powered descent, and then be reused itself.

Credit: ArianeGroup

Its an innovative design no doubt, not something that is very similar to capsules or spaceplanes developed before, and as such it’s announcement caused quite a stir. Were development of this concept to go forward, it would be a big step forward for European space capabilities.

Alas, in the cold light of day, the chances of this are not g…