Address by Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek to the 10th European Inter-parliamentary Space Conference on 13 October 2008 in the Senate
What does space research really mean for us? During the Cold War, manned space flight was at the center of the superpowers' rivalry. That rivalry was one of prestige but was also military. There was a revision of space plans after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Sometimes luckily. Today, space projects spending is not a main priority in state budgets. We are not playing any more for who, to coin a phrase, will get a dwarf to Venus first. And civil space research is no longer only a by-product of ballistic missile development. Economic questions have come to the foreground, questions of practical results, questions of specific improvements in citizens' quality of life.
Because of this, space has become a bit more commonplace. Or, in other words, it has gotten closer to us. We are resolving the same practical problems up there as we are down here. Governments today are suffering over questions of sufficient supplies of energy and raw materials, security and an aging population, and the securing of economic performance along with those. But it is precisely due to space research that we can find solutions that may not lie directly on planet Earth. For space research, the same rules apply as for science on Earth. We understand it as an investment into the future. An investment that, at the end of the day, will increase the economy's performance. Either through a direct raising of the level of technology or indirectly through scientific knowledge and the raising of human potential.
Space research is a tough measurement of every civilisation and every country's level. It is the Premiere League, the Champions League. Those who want to play must be good at all scientific fields and do so at the top levels. In addition, they must have a technological base and large capital resources at their disposal. It may have been the space race that brought the Soviet Union to bankruptcy. It was simply beyond the communist system's ability to keep up with the others. If we want in today's Europe to increase investment into science, research and development, space cannot be left aside. It has been empirically proven that every civilisation's chances are decided by the ratio between riches that are consumed directly and delayed consumption invested into future development.
Unfortunately, Europe is falling behind not only the USA and Japan, but also behind Asian countries in its investment into scientific research. If we do not turn this trend around, we will change from a small continent that was once a world leader into a region dependent on the import of foreign technologies. We definitely do not want to end up like that. But I would like to emphasise that when I speak here about investments, I am definitely not thinking exclusively or even mostly about public investment. The underfinancing of science and research has mainly been caused by a lack of private resources. Space research is a somewhat specific field, considering the amounts necessary and the period of time needed for return on investment. Nonetheless, just as in terrestrial science and research, what must occur is that in the end, the conquest of space must be financed to a large part by private companies. As a matter of fact, this is where we are now heading. Firstly, due to a re-evaluation of priorities after the fall of the Iron Curtain. And secondly because in those 50 years space research has progressed and new technologies have become interesting and accessible for the non-state sector as well.
Our goal must be to increase the share of private money in manned space flight. Even in major public projects, we must have the issue of practical returns in mind. It must not become a black hole for national or European financing. We must be pragmatic, and the practical uses and profit must always come first; the competitiveness of these systems cannot be saved by public funds. Otherwise we will have lost in advance. In space research, I do not see the role of governments being in the subsidizing of what are essentially commercial projects founded on known technologies. But rather in creating the conditions for basic research especially – and in the context of the overall policy support for education and science. Our future success is not guaranteed by the recipes of the past. Success is borne of ideas that we do not know about today and cannot even predict. International cooperation plays a key role here, of course. For individual European companies and governments, space research on the highest levels are beyond their grasp in both financial terms as well as the necessary scientific and technological platforms. For this reason I welcomed – and we also took part in - the Czech Republic's acceptance into the ESA. It is for me both an acknowledgement of the development of Czech science and industry, as well as a huge opportunity to gain access to the newest knowledge and equipment such as the Southern Observatory.
I appreciate that ESA is fulfilling its role well as an agency thinking practically and which concentrates 90 % on commercially-usable projects. And at the same time, ESA is creating an infrastructure for scientific exploration. I am glad that we have had an opportunity to meet with the ESA director, Mr. Dordain, both in Prague and on my visit to Paris; we understand each other well on this. Including full integration of the new member states into existing structures and their equal inclusion into European cooperation. If the European Union wants to play a meaningful global role, it must also be globally competitive. This means that our innovation performance must be fundamentally increased; we must be capable of producing far more scientific discoveries and patents, and bring many more of the top technologies into action. The European Space Agency may and should significantly assist us. Both in fulfilling specific goals, as well as in the setting of potential directions for future development.
Space cooperation cannot, of course, be limited only to the European continent. The main partner of ESA, the second-largest space agency, is NASA; the largest space agency in the world. For me, this means not only joining the top space league, but also further strengthening of trans-Atlantic ties. Europe and the USA have the same security and economic interests, and cooperation in space joins both. ESA and NASA joining forces is a logical civil supplement to our defence cooperation in NATO. For example, the anti-missile shield is a European security insurance policy and at the same time enables our companies access to American defence research and space technologies.
We have nothing that could replace cooperation with the USA in space research and ensuring security. It will be only good if we strengthen our own performance and become equal partners in civil and defense research. I think that competition is unnecessary. It would be a gross error if the EU continued in the footsteps of the old central planners, who I still remember, the ones who promised: "When you grow up, young Pioneer, the Soviet Union will catch up to the United States and leave it behind…" I think we're beyond that now. In the introduction I posed the question: What does space research mean for us? I think that looking to the skies actually shows us how we are down here on the ground. Space is probably infinite, but for us, in the end human beings, space will be what we make of it. As the Tibetan saying goes: Know a person and you will know all the universe.
Thank you for your attention and I wish you great success with your conference.
