Antonio Rodotá, the director general of the European Space Agency, is the lead official for Europe's participation in the construction of the International Space Station. Below, he discusses the difficulties of moving such a diverse organization forward without offending any of the 14 member nations: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The ESA is building several key parts for the space station, including a pressurized, habitable laboratory called Columbus and the Automated Transfer Vehicle, which will deliver cargo to and refuel the station.
What will be the advantages of the International Space Station to Europeans?
There are a number of advantages. First of all, we are part of one of the biggest adventures in space these days, which is an important issue for us and quite a challenge for all of us.
Secondly, I think we are developing, in this case, some quite new technologies that could be used on the space station and also on other occasions.
Thirdly, we can have access to a unique opportunity in space because we can use the space station, which will be a very good environment for testing new technologies and new activities in space. I think this will be beneficial to everybody.
Why is Europe acting as a conglomeration on this project?
The size of the station is such that we need a common understanding, and we have to join forces. I do think that space is an opportunity for cooperation among nations.
Is it difficult to coordinate so many countries of Europe to one common goal?
This is not specifically a problem of the ESA. This is a general problem of Europe. Obviously, it's not easy, because the culture of 14 countries are quite different.
Possibly some objectives of these countries are quite different. Our task is difficult, but we have to do it, and we are doing it.
There is difficulty on one side, but there is also an opportunity in having 14 member states. Since the policy of some member states could change over time, we have this opportunity to mediate changes in different countries to have continuity in our work.
There are waves whereby one nation could say yes, or some nation could say no, but we have this role of trying to balance the situation in Europe in general.
We as Europe have signed an agreement together with the other countries; we have to stick with this agreement. [Though support from each country could grow or shrink, we will stick to the agreement.]
There is no doubt that even though there could be waves in some countries about major or minor support, we will go on that.
What is it like to speak for an organization that is composed of 14 diverse nations? What are the pleasures and difficulties?
The pleasure is the fact that we together -- 14 nations -- we are trying to build and we are continuing to build something very new; we are not exactly the same countries which make up the European Union.
This [lifts our spirits], because we know we are building something new. We have to be aware of the needs of each of these member states when we speak on their behalf.
We need to be sure that we are not creating any problems for each of our countries; on the contrary, we should be helping our countries.
I would think that this is something that is not a peculiarity of what we are doing. I'm [rather] sure that in the U.S. when the president is talking, he is representing a number of different entities, not purely one nation. We are trying to do the same.
Where does the ISS rank on the European Space Agency's priority list?
I cannot see that there is a priority, this is a must. We have made a commitment. We are sticking with that commitment.
I don't see a reason why we have to rank it because it is something that is going according to our plans. We don't see for the time being a difficulty in meeting the schedule we have.
What is the current status of Europe's contribution?
The major contributions of Europe are on schedule.
Is it a political goal of Europe to bring Russia into the mainstay with this project?
As far as Russia is concerned, this has been a political goal not specifically for Europe but for the international community, starting from the United States.
We as Europe are not playing a substantial role, even though it's important -- we are still eight percent of the space station. Our role is limited to this size.
I think that the political importance of working together in the space station is more linked to the cooperation between the United States and Russia.
We are doing, together with the United States, a number of things to be sure that the cooperation with the Russians continues. We, on our side, are making some agreements whereby we use some part of Russian technologies.
There have been some concerns about the status of the Russian service module, Zvezda, which is an integral part of the station. Do you think it will be built and launched?
I have no doubt they will launch. In the past, as you know, there has been delay for some of the Russian units, but that was mainly due to some budgetary problems in Russia.
In terms of confidence in reliability, in terms of quality, I have no doubt that as they have performed very well in the past, they will continue to perform well.
I don't see any indication for the time being of any delay in the launching of the Russian service module. We are very proud, by the way, that on this module there is some European hardware, which is quite essential for the life of this module.
I cannot exclude, in principle, that there could be some delay.
What will be the role of industry in the European contribution to the ISS?
The role of industry has been essential. We as an agency are not building anything ourselves.
The European industry is working very hard on the space station. They have developed new technologies.
We will continue to be a part of this endeavor in the future. We will be part of 20 out of 45 flights. The effort of the European industry is very substantial.
Industry can play different roles if we talk about industry in the large sense.
Manufacturing is today working on the building of the space station. Another industry could be involved in the exploitation of the space station.
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