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If you step into the high-rise cleanrooms of Airbus Defense and Space in Leiden, you can easily find engineers adjusting the solar panels of the crew capsule with which NASA wants to return people to the moon. This Artemis mission is an important part of the prestigious space mission for American and European spaceflight, and is manufactured in the Netherlands, not in Germany, France or the United States.
The Dutch space achievements do not end here. Not far from the city of Leiden, in Nordwijk, there is the Etec Technological Institute of the European Space Organization (ESA), which is the most important and largest institute in that organization. Dutch technology also tumbles, flies and dangles above Earth, as part of the most important space missions of the modern era. Consider, for example, the MIRI instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope, a pioneer in international astronomy. Or the Tropomi climate satellite, the world champion in detecting methane emissions, which, as one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, contributes significantly to global warming.
Put it all together, and also look at what's happening at national research institutes like Sron, which launched the Spexone particle measuring instrument on the US Earth observation satellite Pace in February, or TNO, which is involved in the Tango climate space mission that was given the green light at the same time. the month. You quickly get the impression that the Netherlands is at the forefront of international spaceflight, and that we live in a country with global aspirations, in keeping with the high level of its technological industry and national scientific knowledge.
About the authors
George Van Hal is science editor at De Volkskrant. He writes about astronomy, physics, and space travel. Bard van de Weger is the economics editor of the magazine De Volkskrant. He writes about energy transformation and its impact on everyday life.
But the picture within the Dutch space sector is different. Read, for example, the recently published “Netherlands' Long-Term Space Agenda,” a government report listing the country's achievements in outer space and its future ambitions, and a picture emerges of a country that has had a front-row seat for many years. She suddenly discovered that she had lost contact with the rest of Europe.
Big financial payment
The tables show this in black and white: The Netherlands has been at the bottom of European investment rankings for years. “Space is the forgotten backbone of our society,” wrote committee chairwoman Maria van der Hoeven. 'Burning advice' for the next government: come up with an ambitious space policy now and invest big money in it.
Despite the presence of prestigious institutes, the Netherlands invests little in space travel: just over 9 euros per inhabitant per year. Compared to 22 for Germany and more than 39 for France. Now these are the most classic countries in spaceflight, but Norway also invests 33 euros per inhabitant.
The sector needs significant financial support, and the lack of a good space policy has led to the Netherlands losing out on major contracts in recent years, the committee wrote. The Ministry of Economic Affairs considers, among other things, that the Netherlands has not obtained a key position in the CO2M, a project that examines for the first time from space the amount of carbon dioxide2 into the atmosphere due to human activities. It is an important task, especially for the Netherlands, “a leader in emissions control,” according to a spokesperson.
Dutch industry also has a limited role in ESA's exploration missions, as we only work on the solar panels on the Orion capsule. Then there's LISA, an ESA mission to measure gravitational waves, ripples in space and time that allow astronomers to study strange cosmic phenomena like colliding neutron stars and black holes. According to Economic Affairs, the Netherlands has invested heavily in the underlying technology, but there is no budget for Lisa's production. Now other countries are doing this. The Space Agenda notes that the Netherlands is losing its “scientific and technological leadership and position.”
War in Ukraine
“Dutch space policy has been fragmented in recent years and lacks vision,” says Jeroen Routevel, head of Spacened, the umbrella organization for the Dutch space industry. It's a sound that Eric Lahn, a space consultant at Eye on Orbit, recognizes. I have been active in space travel since 1996. The Netherlands has always been a supporter during that time. Traditionally, most attention has been paid to scientific research, for example, astronomy. Although astronomy also has to do with space, and astronomy and space travel often go together, the bottom line is actually something different: astronomers study space from a scientific point of view, and the space sector develops technology that works in… outer space. There has never been a real industrial policy for this sector.
“Space travel is more important than ever,” says Harm van de Wetering, director of the Netherlands Space Organization (NSO), NASA's national counterpart. Many people think that space travel is just about exploring the solar system or sending astronauts to the moon. But it plays a major role in everything that matters now: the war in Ukraine, the fight against climate change, and even our payment transactions. It all depends on the technology above ground.
According to Kees Boijsrog, director of space travel at TNO, space travel faces an image problem in the Netherlands. “If you look at America, everyone there finds space travel incredibly exciting, beautiful and wonderful. That's not the case here in the Netherlands, and I can only guess why. People sometimes say: If you could make a lot of money in space… “You don't need the government, right? But it's about leveling the playing field. The Germans, the French, the Spanish, the Italians and the British do it at the national level. That makes competition difficult.”
The war in Ukraine made clear the importance of space travel in one fell swoop, Routevel says. Now that NATO and the Netherlands are demanding more investment in defence, space travel has been attracted, which plays an increasingly important role in defence. This will be the most important pillar of the Dutch sector in the next ten years, estimates Routevel. “A blessing in a very tragic accident.”
He believes defense will be fine, because billions more will be spent there. What is less certain is that other areas will benefit, such as Earth observation and component miniaturization, one of the driving forces behind the development of modern space travel.
Small satellites
There's also something wrong with the national commercial spirit when it comes to space travel, says Chancellor Lane. The Netherlands, for example, is good at using tools to measure air quality from long distances. “This knowledge goes back to the 1990s, but no subsidiary has ever emerged building this type of tool for commercial parties.” While, according to him, those opportunities were there. “But the industry has always looked at ESA as the end point.”
According to Alan, this somewhat talkative attitude is beginning to change, because politics also says more: What does investment bring us? Don't just hold your hand, look for a trade. This is positive. This is also because global commercial spaceflights – such as from the US company SpaceX – have been on the rise in recent years. This creates opportunities.
“We have a lot of small and medium-sized companies that are very good at making components,” says Rotivel, who in daily life is also CEO of Isispace, a company that specializes in building and launching nanosatellites, which are small satellites, often the size of a cardboard box. Smaller size. Of milk or a backpack. They are also exported again to Asia, the Middle East and the United States. This only makes money.
TNO's Buijsrogge also sees a change in sentiment. 'finally. For a long time policymakers have been telling me: Kiss, not much is going to go wrong, is it, if we don't invest more? We as a country have a lot of other major problems that cost a lot of money. Now that the world is on fire, that is changing. Technological sovereignty is becoming more important, even in space.
Politics seems to be more aware of this. In the previous parliament, the proposal to increase the space budget received 85% support. But outgoing Economic Affairs Minister Adriansen leaves it up to the incoming Cabinet to set policy, much to Spacened boss Rottevel's frustration. “Now there is finally a vision with a long-term agenda, and then the government says: we will not discuss it anymore.”
Although more money is coming slowly. The outgoing government is scheduled to invest nearly 400 million euros in ESA until 2025. “A 37 percent increase compared to the previous record,” the economic affairs spokesman said. Although this includes a one-time contribution of $41 million from the Growth Fund.
Furthermore, more than 22 million euros have been made available to enhance the business climate around the space campus at ESTEC in Noordwijk. According to the space agenda, an additional 60 million euros should be added annually, a decision that the next government will have to make.
Electoral programmes
The sector is concerned about whether this will happen. Routevel: We see that the intended coalition partners want to unbundle most of the growth funds. There will probably be a shortage of funds soon and a choice will then have to be made.'
The National Growth Fund, among other institutions, is under heavy criticism. This billion-dollar fund aims to finance the revenue models of the future, and the space sector desperately needs this type of financing to guide companies through the risky start-up phase.
Choosing to travel to space is not an obvious choice. “Political parties hardly put this topic in their programmes,” says Bastian Böhm of Spherical Systems, a young company that designs computer chips that can withstand the hellish radiation of space. “It's easy to view space travel as a cost item,” he says.
You can also see space travel as an investment in safety and future economic power, says Spacened's Rottevel. The problem is that it often takes ten to fifteen years before it pays off. The same applies to the negative consequences of not investing. “So the easiest thing to do is to cut it off politically. Only to find out in ten years that you may have missed the boat.”
Then today's politicians left more often. “In the meantime, you are burdening the Netherlands with consequences the day after tomorrow.”
Buijsrogge also sees this danger. “When I look at the electoral statements of the parties currently sitting around the table, I find it interesting,” he says. “But I also see enough reasons to show the importance of space travel to the new government.” He has previously witnessed that politicians who initially do not want to know anything about space can suddenly change their minds.
“A few years ago I visited an MP from GroenLinks. She said: Oh, space travel… I don't want to have anything to do with that. I don't have to go to the moon and Mars. Well, that's a nice introduction, isn't it? But “She made time for us. She then showed images of how climate satellites are able to distinguish between reported ammonia concentrations and actual measured emissions. From then on, she realized the importance of space travel to achieve her goals.”
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