Giuseppe Aridon, Vice President Strategy and Marketing of Telespazio explains: “DC4EU could represent a valuable platform to enable independent European access to LEO through a ‘customized’ European variant of the Dream Chaser spacecraft. We are willing to explore the potential of such a promising solution, that could be a major element for the setting up of the future European LEO service missions ecosystem, that will see the Dream Chaser operating alongside other European assets and infrastructures for first of a kind transatlantic partnership in this field, with true a global perspective!”
When I brought up the topic of DC flying on a non American rocket years back the issue of ITAR came up. How is this a non-issue now? Just curious...
I see several problems with the idea. One of those is ITAR. Another would be European governments writing a huge check to purchase a major component from an non-European company. ESA doesn't usually do this, because its main purpose is to stimulate EU space technology. They would rather pay more to pay for jobs and technological knowledge in Europe.
Quote from: Nibb31 on 10/24/2016 01:17 pmI see several problems with the idea. One of those is ITAR. Another would be European governments writing a huge check to purchase a major component from an non-European company. ESA doesn't usually do this, because its main purpose is to stimulate EU space technology. They would rather pay more to pay for jobs and technological knowledge in Europe.Part of DC will be made in Europe (IBDM's) and since DC is reusable it is probably more palatable than a throw-away design. All Ariane Fairings are Swiss (not EU) and Vega uses the Ukranian RD-843 engine (also not EU) so there is plenty of precedent. The truth is Europe just doesnt have the money to develop this all on their own, so while they might like to do so Europe will benefit more from supporting DC than doing more paperwork for an indigenous system they cannot afford.