Sanctions taken in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine affect several European satellite launches planned for this year.

Thus, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced last Thursday the end of its cooperation with Russia, which means that it no longer uses the Russian Soyuz launcher to carry out its missions.

Two satellites manufactured by the OHB company for the European Galileo localization constellation were to be embarked this year on board a Soyuz launcher.

These departures are cancelled, giving rise to many questions about the need to seek another commercial partner to carry out these launches.

"In the case of Galileo, nothing is yet planned" to find another launcher, assured Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB, during a press conference.

But "there is no great urgency to proceed with other launches to continue to operate the constellation," he said.

The headquarters of OHB Space Systems in Bremen, northern Germany, January 25, 2020 Patrik Stollarz AFP

In other words, the 24 satellites already in orbit and all manufactured for more than a decade by OHB are enough to make the Galileo system work properly.

The SME from Bremen (north) has produced the ten satellites of the constellation which remain to be launched and which will make it possible to optimize the precision of the European navigation system.

These satellites were to be launched from the Kourou base in French Guiana aboard the Russian Soyuz launcher and later the European Ariane 6 rocket, which is not yet ready for a first commercial flight.

The ESA would like, in the current context, a rapid ramp-up of Ariane 6 launches. The boss of OHB, who advises the ESA in its choices, mentioned Wednesday other "possible alternatives", citing the American rocket Space X or the Indian GSLV.

"Space X is of course the rocket that everyone is talking about, mainly in Europe because it is our biggest competitor," Fuchs explained.

At this stage, Mr. Fuchs does not believe "it is not possible to make a decision in the very short term" for an alternative launcher and possibly another launch base.

ESA can no longer rely on the Baikonur site in Kazakhstan, where the Soyuz rocket was launched.

The London-based OneWeb satellite operator, which also had to suspend its planned Soyuz launches, announced on Monday that it would resume them using the services of SpaceX to continue the deployment of its constellation.

© 2022 AFP