About this episode

Lord Heseltine discusses the formation of the European Space Agency and the geopolitical dynamics of space funding in Europe compared to the US.

Lord Heseltine tells the story of the birth of the European Space Agency. Why post-Apollo, when the US was spending £1.2 billion a year on space, the whole of Europe was spending just £200 million. Why the birth of ESA was driven by the self-interest of three major countries. Why the US general with a $29 billion budget for the Star Wars project wanted to invest in Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Why, the idea that Britain could compete alone with the technologies that were accumulated and available to the American capitalist system was “simply laughable”. Why “being European is not selling out British interests”. And why Margaret Thatcher told him: “If you want to get on and put your budget into this, you can, but you're not getting any of mine."  Join Alice and Lord Heseltine as they pick apart the negotiating contrivances and the wheeling and dealing to circumnavigate “turkeys not voting for Christmas” that ultimately put European space on the map. Contributors: Alice Bunn , President of UKspace  Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn   Lord Heseltine , Member of the House of Lords Key topics covered: Creation of the…

People in this episode

Host: Alice Bunn

Guest: Lord Heseltine

Topics covered

• European Space Agency
• US Star Wars program
• Geopolitical collaboration
• Brexit impact on science
• Space funding
• Negotiation strategies

Keywords

• European Space Agency
• Lord Heseltine
• Alice Bunn
• space funding
• US Star Wars program
• Brexit
• geopolitical collaboration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: European Space Agency, Heriot-Watt University, US, UKspace

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