Europe must seek greater space autonomy - Cristoforetti

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 16 - Europe needs to "raise its level of ambition" for greater autonomy in human space travel, Italian European Space Agency astronaut and commander of the International Space Station (ISS) Samanta Cristoforetti said on Tuesday.
    This is both for the purposes of economic growth and for geopolitical positioning on the international stage added Cristoforetti, speaking at a ceremony in Milan to receive the 2022 ISPI prize for her contribution to strengthening Italy's global image.
    The advent of private individuals in human spaceflight is marking "a momentous change," she said.
    For the last 20 years, "astronauts have never had to write a check to buy flights, which instead have been accrued by Italy and Europe by virtue of their contributions to the ISS programme".
    Now, however, with the ISS programme likely to end in 2030 and the advent of new private space stations, "we risk going back 20 years, to when we as Italy also had to buy flights", warned Cristoforetti.
    "So should we not raise the level of ambition to have a more autonomous capacity to access space? Do we want to remain passengers, or do we want to start being players?" she asked.
    "An ambitious human space exploration programme can be revolutionary not only for the flights of astronauts, but also for the broader influence it can have in terms of peace, security, cooperation, prosperity, industrial capacity and inspiration for young people, " concluded Cristoforetti. (ANSA).