The European Space Agency and the EU
The Queen's Birthday Honours list has been published today, and with it the announcement that Major Tim Peake has become a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for services to space research and scientific education.* The Guardian writes that: "No one has previously been in space when they were given an award by the Queen. In order to be certain Tim Peake would accept his honour, Sir Simon McDonald, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, had to ask the European Space Agency to set up a special phone line to the International Space Station, where Peake has been stationed since December." **
The International Space Station is a collaborative international venture between the USA, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe, to which Europe contributes cargo ships, the Columbus laboratory, and European astronauts.*** This contribution is made through the European Space Agency (ESA), which has overtaken the USA to become the world's major space programme.****
The ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, separate to the EU but with close ties to it because of the increasing role that space plays in supporting Europe's social, political and economic policies; about 20% of the funds managed by the ESA come from the EU.*****
The scientific and research achievements of Europe's space programme enhance the technology that we use in our daily lives, whether it be weather prediction, air quality monitoring, GPS navigation, remote medical intervention, solar panels, automated cars, or simply watching the 3000+ televison channels that are broadcast via Europe's satellites.***
Sources:
* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36492850
** https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jun/10/tim-peake-honours-list-award-queen-space-cmg
*** All U Need is Space, European Commission, 2013
**** address by Sir Graham Watson to the Liberal Democrats (East of England) EU Referendum rally, 20th February 2016
***** http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Welcome_to_ESA/ESA_and_the_EU