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File: 1393taco.val



Document 1393                                      8th November 1993


            The development of a European space-based
                   observation system - Part II
                              -------


                             REPORT (1)

            submitted on behalf of the Technological
                   and Aerospace Committee (2)
                    by Mr. Valleix, Rapporteur
                              -------


                         TABLE OF CONTENTS
                         =================


DRAFT RECOMMENDATION

    on the development of a European space-based observation
    system - Part II


EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

    submitted by Mr. Valleix, Rapporteur

         I.  Introduction

        II.  Activities of the WEU Council

           (i)   The Torrejon satellite centre

           (ii)  Study management team - feasibility study on
                 the creation of a European space-based observation
                 system

       III.  Strategic importance of developing a European
             space-based observation system

       (i)  What is at stake?

           (ii)  Europe's industrial capabilities

          (iii)  The expedience of extra-European participation
                 in space co-operation

      IV.  Conclusions

APPENDICES

       I.    WEUSC experimental phase

      II.    System overview

     III.    System implementation


                              -------


                      Draft Recommendation
                      ====================

         on the development of a European space-based
                 observation system - Part II



    The Assembly,

(i)    Welcoming the inauguration of the Torrejon satellite
centre and the start of the experimental stage of its
activities;

(ii)    Considering, nevertheless, that this is a first step
towards the final goal of implementing a European space-based
observation system which would contribute to the maintenance of
international peace and security;

(iii)    Satisfied that the memorandum of understanding between
WEU and the French, Italian and Spanish Governments has been
signed concerning the supply of Helios space images to the
satellite centre;

(iv)    Welcoming the work done by the industrial consortium,
i.e. the feasibility studies of the main system and the follow-
up and analysis of this work achieved by the study management
team;

(v)    Regretting that the Council has not taken into account
Recommendation 523 of the Assembly with particular regard to the
invitation to inform the Assembly regularly:

    "(a)  about each stage of the entry into service of the
satellite centre, its organogram and the progress of the
feasibility studies;

    (b)  about criteria governing the choice of space industries
to equip the centre and establish the observation system;"

(vi)    Regretting that the software used for the equipment of
the centre is not of European origin, that, furthermore, it is
difficult to obtain more sophisticated versions of the software
that would allow operational activities and, finally, that this
software is not suitable for receiving Helios images;

(vii)    Believing, moreover, that the feasibility study
confirms that the system is viable and corresponds to the
specifications given;

(viii)    Strongly regretting that the ad hoc Sub-Group on
Space, at its meeting on 27th October 1993, objected to the
budgetary provisions regarding the activities of the study
management team and of the industrial consortium in 1994;

(ix)    Believing that this decision in fact runs counter to the
pursuit of the work of the team and of the consortium;

(x)    Considering further that co-operation in space matters
with the CIS countries can be of very great interest for the two
parties concerned and offer reciprocal advantages;

(xi)    Taking account of the fact that the aim of this co-
operation would be to seek to use the technical and human
resources of these countries for peaceful and preventive
purposes;

(xii)    Considering that the European Space Agency has shown
that it was prepared to provide technical assistance for WEU's
programmes and activities in the framework of co-operation
between the two organisations,


    RECOMMENDS THAT THE COUNCIL

1.    Inform the Assembly of the criteria leading to its choice
of equipment for the Torrejon satellite centre;

2.    Keep the Assembly informed of the steps it expects to take
to ensure compatibility between the software now in service with
that to be introduced, in particular when the Helios system is
operational;

3.    Take appropriate decisions to avoid the slowing-down or
paralysis of activities planned in 1994 for the study management
team and the industrial consortium;

4.    Foster co-operation with the CIS countries in space
matters to the advantage of the parties concerned with the main
aim of using for peaceful and preventive purposes the technical
and human resources of these countries;

5.    Contact the European Space Agency without delay in order
to promote close co-operation between the two organisations in
space matters.


                              -------




                     Explanatory Memorandum
                     ======================

           (submitted by Mr. Valleix, Rapporteur)


I. Introduction
---------------

    This report deals with a highly topical political issue.
The security problems that have arisen in the Balkans, Eastern
Europe and the Mediterranean region have made the creation of a
space-based observation system for both military and civil
purposes, that makes optimum use of existing resources, a matter
of the utmost urgency.  This is the way forward for Europe
towards independence in an area of the utmost importance to its
security.

    The time has come for WEU to adopt a realistic and ambitious
programme and to reinforce its contribution to the European
ideal, demonstrating clearly the available opportunities for the
integration that is the goal of the organisation.

    Progress made over the last eighteen months has been very
substantial - of that there can be no doubt.  However
considerable effort is still required and the most difficult
stages are those which still lie ahead.

    The Council has contributed very little by way of
information to this report and that necessary for informing
public opinion and obtaining popular support has been
practically non-existant.  This represents an attempt to
circumvent the inalienable right of parliamentary
representatives and the public at large to be kept informed and
a failure to obtain their backing for government decisions which
will profoundly affect the future of Europe.

    The Assembly hopes that in future information released by
the Council pertaining to the subject-matter of the present
report will be sufficient to enable the former to offer
wholehearted support for the successful conclusion of a
programme of interest to each and every one of us.




II.  Activities of the WEU Council
----------------------------------



(i)  The Torrejon satellite centre



    The Torrejon satellite centre was officially inaugurated by
the Defence Minister of Spain and by the WEU Secretary-General
on 28th April 1993 in a ceremony also attended by the President
of the Assembly, the Chairman of the Spanish Delegation and the
Chairman of the Technological and Aerospace Committee.

    According to the Director of the centre, at the time of the
inauguration, 60% of the staff from seven of the member
countries had already been recruited and present estimates were
that all the staff would have taken up their posts by next
September or October.

    On 27th April 1993, before the inauguration of the satellite
centre, the Spanish and French Defence Ministers, the Italian
Ambassador in Spain and the WEU Secretary-General had signed a
memorandum of understanding for supplying WEU with space images.

    According to the communique from the Spanish Ministry of
Defence, this memorandum authorised the release of images
obtained by the Helios satellite to the WEU satellite centre in
Torrejon for processing, thus allowing it to have adequate
specific items for the accomplishment of its tasks, such as
monitoring disarmament treaties, crisis-management and following
problems connected with the environment.

    Indeed, at the June 1991 session of our Assembly, the French
Minister of Defence, then Mr. Joxe, spoke in the following
terms:

"As you know, France, Spain and Italy are involved in the Helios
programme in which the objective is to have a first observation
satellite in orbit in 1993.  In the WEU context, we hope that at
the next ministerial meeting it will be decided to set up a
centre for interpreting satellite images to which Helios could
contribute."

    It is well known that Helios is a Franco-Italian-Spanish
programme using optical observation satellites for military
purposes (in fact, this will be the first European military
observation satellite).  The launching of the first satellite of
this type is to be in September 1994, with a life expectation of
four to five years.

    The signing of this agreement was an important qualitative
step for the future evolution of the centre and in this respect
mention should be made of Mr. van Eekelen's comments in his
speech at the satellite centre inauguration ceremony:

"... In its experimental phase, the centre will train analysts
in the interpretation of satellite imagery.  This will be done
using data available from commercial sources such as Spot,
Landsat and ERS.  The aim will be to achieve a certain amount of
integration by pooling knowledge and standardising working
procedures.  The work of the centre will be assessed towards the
end of the three-year period and its future development then
reviewed.

Subsequently, the centre could become more operational
particularly for crisis-monitoring and verification by using
data from satellites with better resolution such as Helios - due
to be launched in 1994.  In this context, a memorandum of
understanding has been drawn up under which the Helios partners
(France, Italy and Spain) would make data available to the WEU
satellite centre.  It was signed only yesterday, on the very eve
of the centre's inauguration.  This data could then be analysed
by the image-interpreters trained in the centre, and the results
passed back to national capitals.  In its ultimate phase, the
centre could be responsible for operating WEU's autonomous
satellite observation capability, currently the subject of
medium- and long-term studies."

The political questions raised by these affirmations being
reserved for the next chapter, consideration will now be given
to the installation of equipment in the centre.

    To this end, tenders were submitted by two consortia, one of
which was led by Aerospatiale and the other by Marcol (which
became Cray Systems Ltd. on 1st January 1993) which finally
obtained the contract.  The tender of the consortium led by
Aerospatiale was for equipment and software intended mainly for
the processing and use of images.

    The Falcon consortium (led by Marcol) proposed supplying
equipment intended mainly to train image-interpreters but
offering few operational possibilities.  In view of its mainly
didactic characteristics, this tender was the lowest and the
criterion of cost induced the Council to opt for the latter
tender.

    This choice is worthy of closer examination.  First, the
software chosen is American.  Second, according to information
available to your rapporteur, the equipment is not capable of
handling images from Helios.  Finally, it is apparently
difficult for the Americans to supply more sophisticated
versions of the software which might allow operational
activities to be pursued.

    In Part I of the present report (Document 1304), one can
read that:

"Without knowing the result of the examination of national
tenders, it seems quite right for the Council to give priority
to European space industries with a view to enhancing their
efficiency and competitiveness, which have increased with time,
particularly through European Space Agency programmes.  This
policy is also, and perhaps more, justified in areas which are
still the weak points of European industry, i.e. the development
of data-processing and interpretation, which is the main
vocation of the Torrejon centre."

    The decision reached by the Council, apparently based on
economic criteria, tempts your rapporteur to raise a number of
questions:  over and above economic criteria, are there other
more profound reasons for justifying this decision?  Does the
Council not believe that the decision adopted makes the
satellite centre nothing more than a European school for image-
interpretation which would divert it from its operational task
of a service for European headquarters?  What response can the
Council give to the considerations put forward in the first part
of this report?

    Clearly, as the abovementioned document noted, it will be
necessary to overcome much uncertainty and many difficulties if
this undertaking is to be crowned with success;  our committee
and the Assembly must continue to afford it their full support
and also be vigilant lest it be diverted from its due goals.

    One must also add that it will be necessary to take the
appropriate measures for the centre to be in a position to
process and classify Helios images, hence the need to adapt the
centre and provide adequate financing;  these measures are
justified by the technical characteristics of the images
received and by the degree of secrecy required by the supplier
countries.

    The centre's equipment was being delivered in three stages,
the last being expected at the end of the year.  According to
information given by its Director, Mr. Blaydes, during the
Eucosat symposium in Paris last June, the centre had started
training image-interpreters and had also undertaken experimental
tasking for a number of organisations.

    Mr. Blaydes specified that the centre's missions were,
first, to show the applications of space imagery for treaty
verification, crisis-monitoring and environmental monitoring;
second, to train a nucleus of analysts for interpreting images
and developing computer techniques applied to the interpretation
of images;  finally, "we have the role to supply initial
operational image-interpretation products under these  missions
back to our users".

    Still according to its director, the users of the centre
would first be the Council and its organisations, second, the
member states to assist in their decision-making processes as
part of their involvement with WEU and third, the centre should
satisfy the requirements of the member states themselves.
Finally, other organistions such as the CSCE, the United Nations
or similar institutions might also be users of the centre "if
that is considered appropriate by the Council".

    Mr. Blaydes believed that by the end of the experimental
phase, users should be able to understand the benefits they
could derive from the centre, which would help them to support
the decisions necessary concerning its future.  He believed its
tasks were, therefore, in conformity with the missions assigned
to it and would finally lead to its use in a fully-operational
manner.

    It is clear that progress made so far and the fact that it
is possible to speak of the Torrejon satellite centre as a
tangible reality are important milestones in the development of
a European capability for monitoring the earth from space;
apart from negative judgments that may be made regarding certain
aspects of its first steps, the fact remains that the centre now
exists and for its future development it will be able to count
on the full support of our Assembly provided its comments are
taken into account.




(ii)  Study management team - feasibility study on the
      creation of a European space-based observation system



    The feasibility study for the main system was finally
accorded to the only group submitting a tender, a consortium
composed of almost 30 European firms, led by the German firm
Dornier, of the DASA group.  This feasibility study was
conducted in two phases, the first from May to December 1992 and
the second from March to November 1993.  The results of this
second phase are to be communicated on 2nd December 1993.

    The results of the first phase of the study were presented
in Rome in December 1992.  In addition to following the progress
of this phase and making a continuous assessment throughout its
duration, the study management team ensured final verification
of the study and submitted a series of questions and requests
for details to the consortium which were answered after due
analysis.

    In February 1993 the study management team held a meeting
with the Space Group at which analysis and the results of the
first phase were agreed and the start of the second phase
decided.

    The aims of the first phase were to identify preliminary
concepts of the system and various programme options and
evaluate possible solutions;  an inventory also had to be drawn
up of all desirable options for the system.

    According to this study, the elements of the system are as
follows:


    1.  The space sector defined as all the satellites in orbit
belonging to the system.  This sector includes:

      -  nominal satellites, operating in low orbit.  This
category includes two optical satellites and two synthetic
aperture radar satellites;

      -  two small satellites operating at very low altitude as
complements to the nominal satellites.  These small satellites
(also of the optical and SAR type) have a resolution and
lifetime inferior to that of the nominal satellites but they
allow a greater number of images to be taken each day across a
predetermined area.  The number of these small satellites will
depend on their lifetime, the tasks they will be given and their
availability.

      -  two relay satellites in geostationary orbit for
transmitting images taken by various sensors and for tracking,
telemetry and command of the low-orbit satellites;

The study specifies that two satellites of each type are
necessary (except for the small satellites) for meeting
requirements; if this number is reduced, the system could be
used only for monitoring a single crisis area with far less
satisfactory results whereas a greater number would improve the
operational capabilities of the system but obviously at greater
cost;


      2.  The ground sector includes ground-based means and
installations necessary for command and use of the system as
follows:

        -  a processing, archiving and interpretation centre;

        -  a system control centre;

        -  a central station with tracking, telemetry and
command for the data relay satellites and through their
intermediary that of the other satellites.  It seems evident
from the operational point of view that these three
installations must be located close to each other;

        -  two stations possibly at high latitude for
transmitting data and tracking, telemetry and command functions
and which, when using data relay satellites, would be used as
auxiliary stations of the main one or as main stations in the
event of direct transmission;

        -  means of communication capable of connecting all the
installations, transmitting data and receiving requests for data
from official authorities.

    It is clear that the operational aspects of the system are
the most important since they have the greatest repercussions on
its complexity and consequently its cost.  The operational
specifications of the system are set out in the document on the
mission and requirements relating to the payload which was drawn
up at the end of 1991 by a group of experts mandated by the ad-
hoc Sub-Group on Space Questions.

    Regarding the tasks of monitoring disarmament treaties, the
time between passes may be some three days, which certainly
facilitates the use of the system, particularly if account is
taken of the fact that priority areas are located in very
specific places.

    Crisis-monitoring, however, calls for passes at least every
24 hours, which are not confined to a specific area but anywhere
in the world.  There are many other solutions for obtaining
access within the specified time-limits.  While maintaining the
nominal satellites in orbit, one solution is to gather the
greatest possible number of images of the area by means of
sensors and using the most appropriate resolution mode for this
operation.

    Another solution is to place optical and/or SAR satellites
above the crisis area in lower orbit.  This possibility allows
other satellites to pursue their monitoring or supervisory tasks
in other areas, although reducing their input.  Furthermore, a
change in orbit is costly in terms of fuel and considerably
reduces the lifetime of the satellite.  Finally, it is also
possible to resort to small satellites with the specific purpose
of monitoring one or several crises.

    Mention should also be made of an operational problem of
prime importance:  whether or not to use data relay satellites.
Not to use them would mean installing stations for the control
and transmission of images at high geographical latitudes, which
would make it necessary to install efficient communications with
the processing, archiving and interpretation installation and
the system operations centre;  the difficulties of such
communications could be solved only by using a communications
satellite.

    Phase 1 of the feasibility study finally allowed WEU to see
the various solutions for developing a space-based observation
system.  Phase 2, which, as already mentioned, is to be
concluded at the beginning of December, has been devoted to
closer study of the solutions adopted and cost-assessment.

    Two other contracts are also under way.  The first covers
special studies, the need for which became evident in the course
of the feasibility study and is being conducted with the
participation of the industries composing the consortium.  The
second is concerned with image simulation studies and has been
passed with various European research institutes.  The
simulation of panchromatic images is achieved with DLR, ONERA,
NLR and IDS and thermal infrared with NLR, INTA and CELAR-ONERA.

    The results of this work will be available in December 1993
and January 1994 respectively; the first phase of the study will
thus be completed.  In April 1994, the study management team
will present a complete review of the results of the feasibility
study of the industrial consortium and of the special studies
and benefit assessment studies concerning the simulation of
images we have just mentioned.

    The study management team and the industrial consortium have
already submitted to the WEU Council a programme of work with a
budget for 1994.  In both cases, planning is on the assumption
that the WEU Council of Ministers will decide next year to start
an earth observation programme.  This decision will have to
indicate a preference for one of the solutions proposed in the
feasibility study.

    In this case, a special study will be made of the preferred
solution, i.e. phase A will be started and continued throughout
1994.  This phase will allow both the space and ground sector to
be studied, including the operation of the system and the
interim system.  According to the industrial consortium, the
budget for this phase would be 15 million ecus.  Phase A is also
intended to fill out the cost estimates of subsequent phases:
phase B, a detailed definition of the system and relative
specifications;  phases C/D, development, integration and
testing;  phases E and F, implementation and operation.

    A crucial stage is being started in the elaboration of the
system, during which the decisions to be adopted will have
immediate and fundamental repercussions on the role and position
of Europe in the world and consequences of exceptional
importance for world security.  Special attention will be paid
to this in the following chapters.



III.  Strategic importance of developing a European space-based
      observation system.
      ---------------------------------------------------------


(i) What is at stake?


    Two of the main challenges facing Europe in the immediate
future: guaranteeing military security and the provision of a
large-scale satellite service backed by a wide-ranging network
will be met by the creation of a single integrated system,
capable at one and the same time of providing a service for
military purposes and information for civil use within a
European information network spanning the entire continent.

    The first such challenge - guaranteeing military security -
has become the more urgent following the problems that have
recently arisen in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the
Mediterranean region.

    The second is linked to the development of the world market
in satellite services and technologies.  Taking a realistic view
of the situation, it is obvious that countries which do not, in
the near future, develop the ability to innovate and integrate
further will remain technologically dependent.

    It is now time for WEU to adopt a realistic and confident
attitude towards a more sophisticated concept of its
contribution to the European ideal through more positive
development of opportunities for integration - such integration
being the organisation's principal objective.

    At the present time and bearing in mind WEU's current
activities, principally in the course of this year, a
possibility might be a mixed integrated system capable of
carrying out military observation by satellite  (anti-missile
surveillance, for example) as well as civil operations:
computerised land surveys by sector (agriculture, natural
resources, infrastructure networks etc.) supplemented by
facilities for detecting objects and a network for processing
all types of information for civil, public or private use
thoughout Europe.

    The challenge therefore is to integrate military and civil
aims in order to achieve optimum use of existing resources,
which would not be sufficient to create independent systems.  In
point of fact, resources made available from national budgets
and by European institutions are inadequate for building
simultaneously two technologically advanced observation systems
- the one for military, the other for civil purposes.

    It will therefore be necessary to find ways and means of
bringing together the at present dispersed financial
contributions of WEU member countries, in order to overcome this
difficulty.

    There is a need to move rapidly from the drawing-board to
translating ideas into practice in order to establish WEU's
contribution both to its own military mission and to a
technological achievement which will contribute to a stronger,
more integrated and more competitive Europe, as compared with
other world powers.



(ii)  Europe's industrial capabilities


    From the 1970s and more especially the 1980s, Europe
regarded space as a fundamental area for research and industrial
development.  Today Europe occupies an intermediate position
between the American space industries on the one hand and the
Japanese on the other.

    The European space industry's initial development was
largely in the telecommunications sector. It then extended into
earth observation.  Over the last few years, European nations
have made substantial investment in space, mainly through the
programmes of the European Space Agency, but also through
additional initiatives at national level.  Thus Europe has
achieved outstanding ability in the industrial and technological
spheres.

     Europe has concentrated its efforts on the following areas:

    -  satellite launch systems
    -  satellite telecommunications systems
    -  meteorological and earth observation satellite systems.


    A whole series of programmes have therefore been started and
are operating very successfully:

    -  Ariane (launch system)
    -  Eutelsat (satellite telecommunications system)
    -  Meteosat (meteorological satellite system)
    -  SPOT (French earth observation satellite)
    -  ERS 1 (first European remote sensing satellite)

    Mention should also be made of a scientific 150 infrared
observation programme which, although not used for earth
observation, demonstrates European expertise in this technology.

    Europe is a major partner in international space programmes.
It occupies a first rank position on the international
satellite-launch market with more than a 50% market share and
already has a 25% share in the telecommunications satellite
sector.  Europe is also rapidly expanding its position in the
sector of earth observation.  It is recalled that this is a
relatively new sector.

    The Ariane programme demonstrates Europe's capabilities in
launchers.  Ariane 5 is currently under development and is
scheduled to become operational by end 1995.  Earth observation
programmes, and especially the SPOT and ERS programmes,
are of particular interest to the present report.  SPOT is a
French programme undertaken in cooperation with Belgium and
Sweden and operational since 1986.  The programme includes full
ground facilities, as does ERS.  ERS is the first European Space
Agency satellite for monitoring the earth from a polar orbit.

    Other programmes for the near future are already underway.
These include the Artemis programme, approved by the European
Space Agency, for an experimental data transmission satellite.
The first generation DRS will provide efficient
telecommunications services to the various parts of the European
space infrastructure.  It is anticipated that the DRS will come
into service at the end of the current decade at the same time
as ESA's polar platform.

    A further programme - Envisat - is currently under
consideration.  This will provide continuous cover for
observation programmes which started with ERS-1 and were
continued with ERS-2.  Envisat will be used for observation and
study of the terrestial environment, especially climatic change,
and for meteorology.

    Finally, in the military space sector, the initiatives taken
have been principally national or in certain cases bi- or
trilateral.  Only the United Kingdom has a military space
communications system, with its own network of satellites
(Skynet).  France has developed the Syracuse system, with a
military communications payload on the Telecom civil satellite
system.  Spain has also launched its own programme, Hispasat,
whose satellites carry a military communications payload and
Italy, too, is proceeding with its own military communications
programme by satellite (Sicral).

    For earth observation, the first European military
satellite, Helios, is the result of co-operation between France,
Italy and Spain.  It should be emphasised that the operational
advantages Helios offers Europe will be much greater than the
necessary investment, which itself is far lower than the amount
the United States has allocated to this sector.

    The space budgets of the European countries in relation to
GNP and compared with the American space budget are extremely
modest, a factor which is bound to have a major influence on
their industrial development.

    Additionally, the space industry has penetrated world
markets with fair success.  As stated previously, Europe is a
front-runner in launch systems, largely due to a coherent policy
which aims to attain a high level of international
competitivity.  However the satellite industry has not yet
achieved this goal, no doubt for a lack of a real strategy for
industrial co-operation at European level and due to
fragmentation of national markets which has led to the relevant
industrial facilities being dispersed with the consequent
reduction in competitivity.

    In any event, Europe has succeeded in developing a first-
ranking space industry - located moreover throughout the
continent.  The economic difficulties now experienced by the
industry the world over are also affecting Europe.  However the
European space industry is the spearhead for the rest of
Europe's industry; it is highly competitive and has the
necessary expertise in all the technologies required for the
operation of a European space observation system.



(iii) The expediency of extra-European participation in space
      co-operation



    Europe must give consideration to the problem of extra-
European participation in space co-operation; quite apart from
such co-operation with the world's greatest power, the United
States, Europe must give careful thought to the space industry
in countries of the former Soviet Union.

    There is little need to point out that the space industries
in such countries, especially in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan,
are of prime importance because of their know-how and
achievements to date, despite the problems currently facing them
because of their domestic economic situation.

    Europe would undoubtedly derive both technological and
financial benefit from co-operation with those countries.  Other
factors that could render such co-operation even more productive
also have to be taken into account: firstly, virtually all
Soviet scientific and industrial activity and particularly in
relation to space was directed towards armaments production and
had, in any event, a military dimension - hence the existence of
a substantial number of highly-qualified experts and of systems
capable of making a valuable contribution from a financial point
of view to the development of a space-based observation system.

    Moreover the disarmament process and the economic
difficulties of converting the armaments industry of these
countries to civil uses have produced a situation of extreme
insecurity for such experts who fear for the loss of their jobs.

    Additionally, the need to avoid the spread of technologies
for the production of highly offensive weapons or weapons of
mass destruction makes it necessary to examine the desirability
of exploiting such technological and human resources for
peaceful and deterrent purposes.

    The opportunity presents itself for a major European
contribution to the process of converting the former Soviet
armaments industry to civil ends and turning the former Soviet
Union towards a market economy, through mutually beneficial co-
operation which, beyond all doubt, would have both economic and
technological advantages for Europe.




IV.  Conclusions
     -----------


    First of all your rapporteur is gratified that the Torrejon
Satellite Centre has been inaugurated and has already embarked
upon the programme planned for the experimental phase.  Having
said this, we should not lightly dismiss concerns that the
software selected for the centre is not of European manufacture
- contrary to the wish expressed in Document 1204 to which
reference has already been made several times.

    These concerns are the more pressing given that it would
appear that the American manufacturer is having problems about
supplying more sophisticated versions of the software and
furthermore the equipment installed is hardly operational and
has no facility for processing Helios images.  As regards the
feasibility study, careful note must be taken of the opinion of
the study management team confirming the feasibility of the
system, in accordance with the given specifications, in both its
provisional and final configurations.

    Moreover, it should be noted that in France, the prime mover
in the project for the creation and development of a European
space-based observation system, it has been noted that the
centre, its management and the study management team have all
been awarded to countries or individuals without taking into
account France's leading role in the programme or the size of
the French contribution to the organisation's budget.

    Additionally, according to information available to your
rapporteur, a meeting was held in Paris on 27th October last of
the WEU Council's ad-hoc Sub-group on space and the study
management team.  The purpose of this meeting was inter alia to
plan activites in 1994, in view of the fact that industry
participation in the second phase ends in December 1993 or at
the latest in January 1994 once the study management team has
completed its assessment.

    The latter envisages a series of activities for both the
industrial consortium and outside consultants within a budget of
8 million ecus.

    Because of certain objections to the budget and pending a
ministerial decision due around May 1994, the programme runs a
very serious risk of being closed down altogether, or, at the
very least of a postponement of certain dead-lines which are
already very difficult to meet;  the hard-won efforts of the
organisation might thus be reduced to the creation of a training
and data-interpretation centre, which, although important in its
own right, is nevertheless only the first stage of an ambitious
and realistic programme which, in any event, is vital for the
security of the continent of Europe and its independence.

    The Committee and the Assembly should therefore give urgent
consideration to initiatives which might help overcome the
obstacles, uncertainties and difficulties now besetting this
undertaking.

                     ------------------

  (1)1.  Adopted unanimously by the committee.

 (2)2.  Members of the committee:  Mr. Lopez Henares (Chairman);
MM. Lenzer, Borderas (Alternate for Mr. Palacios) (Vice-
Chairmen);  MM. Atkinson, Biefnot, Mrs. Blunck, MM. Boehm, Bosco,
Curto, Davis, De Paoli, Dimmer, Gottardo, Mrs. Guirado Perez,
MM. Guzzetti (Alternate:  Paire), eambrun, Le Grand, Litherland
(Alternate:  Cunliffe), Menzel, Pocas Santos, Roger, Sarens
(Alternate:  Monfils), Sir Donald Thompson, MM. Tummers,
Valleix, Verbeek.


                              -------


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