The US Vice President had chosen an impressive backdrop for his announcement. In the exhibition hall of the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville (US state of Alabama), Mike Pence announced on Tuesday under the replica of a "Saturn V" rocket an ambitious plan: Within five years, Americans should return to the moon. It is about a mission to the south pole of the moon, where in deep craters ice is suspected.
About one and a half years ago, US President Donald Trump had announced a return of the Americans to the moon - but had become little concrete. The speech of Pence changes the situation drastically. All at once everything should go very fast.
"We're in an all-space race, just as it was in the 1960s, and this time it's even more," says Pence, referring to China's lunar program. A failure of the five-year target is "not an option". The United States was the first state in the world to bring astronauts to the moon in the 20th century, he said, and they want to be at the top when they return to the 21st century, Pence said. (Read the full text here.)
Please no nationalist motivated Space Race
"One thing I would like to clarify is that the first woman and the next man on the moon will both be American astronauts who have launched American rockets from American soil," said the vice president, who also heads the US government's Space Council.
How do these decidedly national sounds of the Americans now reach the international partners of the Americans? Finally, NASA has repeatedly emphasized the importance of cross-border cooperation. Johann-Dietrich Wörner, head of the European Space Agency (ESA) also hopes in a conversation with SPIEGEL for further cooperation opportunities: "My hope is that there is no 'back to the moon' with special emphasis on national interests such as 50 years ago, but that we go forward to the Moon in international cooperation. "
Peak against the Boeing Group
Wörner, however, finds it fundamentally gratifying that the US President also supports a lunar mission after years of exclusive focusing on Mars. The head of the ESA pointed out that Europe is supplying part of the technology of the space capsule "Orion", which was previously intended for the NASA lunar plans, the so-called "European Service Module". "If the demands of the US government are not implemented on time by NASA, we need to clarify what role we can play."
So far, the Americans had planned to land people on the lunar surface again from 2028 onwards. The new SLS heavy-duty rocket and the Orion space capsule should be used for this. With their help people should be taken to a space station in the lunar orbit, the so-called gateway - and from there come to the surface with a lander that has not yet been built.
Now it should already be so far from the year 2024. Whether SLS, Orion and the gateway still play a role, is currently not clear. Instead, technology from private companies such as SpaceX or Blue Origin could also be used, according to Pence's government plan: "If commercial rockets are the only way to bring American astronauts to the moon in the next five years, then it will be commercial missiles . " This is likely to be a head-on against the Boeing Group, which has been involved in the development of the SLS rocket - and has progressed too slowly from the US government's point of view.
Lockheed Martin is already announcing plans
The German Federal Government Coordinator for German Aerospace, Thomas Jarzombek (CDU), praises the "ambitious approach" of the Americans in an interview with SPIEGEL. "As Europeans, we are also ready to join in when we become a true partner and our technology becomes visible." By the time of the Esa Council of Ministers in the fall, Europeans would need "commitment on the concrete path, so whether SLS, Orion and Lunar Gateway will actually be the technology for the lunar mission," Jarzombek said.
Europeans will have to think about how much money they want and can take to get involved in the new moon plans. Among other things, they must determine their contribution to the International Space Station - and express their opinion on how much they would like to be involved in the lunar orbit gateway station.
One thing is clear: the Americans' new plans are expensive for everyone involved. Whether the Trump government will receive additional billions from Congress is not yet clear. The SLS missile planned so far for the lunar missions had political support from senators mainly because of the fact that the production promised numerous jobs in several states. If private missiles are used instead, some regions such as Alabama could fear for money and jobs and therefore lock themselves up.
The aerospace company Lockheed Martin has meanwhile already reported: It has prepared plans for a lunar landing module that can be implemented quickly, says manager Lisa Callahan.